Slices
Prepare
‘I pray that you would open the eyes of my heart, so I may know the hope to which Jesus has called me, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people. Amen.’
Bible passage
Philip and the Ethiopian
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means ‘queen of the Ethiopians’). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ Philip asked.
31 ‘How can I,’ he said, ‘unless someone explains it to me?’ So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
‘He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.’
34 The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptised?’ [38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Explore
Look again for a moment at the book you have just read from. Some of its writings date back 3,500 years. Translated into over 3,000 languages, there are an estimated five billion copies in print – the bestselling book in history. Made up of disparate genres including poetry, history, letters and prophecy, it has an indisputable coherence.
To some the Bible is just words. It can be read, studied and critiqued, and leave the reader untouched. But to others, like the Ethiopian official, it is the door to a new life. It’s not just words; it is the Word of God. The Bible is a gift to the church. The Ethiopian needed help to understand what he was reading. Philip was there to put Isaiah’s prophecy in context and to show how it pointed to Jesus. For me, and likely for you too, there have been people along the way who have helped me understand the Bible.
Through the centuries since this encounter, God has used the Bible to nourish, correct and guide the church. His written word is yet another reason we will always be unstoppable.
Respond
Thank God that you have access to this ‘Book of books’ – and for the people who have helped you to understand it. Who might benefit from reading it with you, and how could you make that happen?
Deeper Bible study
Praise God for your salvation and ask him how to share it with others.
The ‘Acts of Philip’ are concluded with the conversion of the Ethiopian eunuch. He was probably a God-fearer or a proselyte, returning from Jerusalem after the feast, and probably a black African. This tells us how the gospel reached Ethiopia, which was for a long time a Christian kingdom. The great theologian of the fourth century, Augustine of Hippo, was also a black man. God pays no heed to the colour of our skin and welcomes all into his kingdom! In this case the Ethiopian was probably the first non-Jew converted, predating Cornelius.
There are similarities to the story told in Luke 24 of Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus and expounding the Scriptures to them. From Philip’s missionary activities we can learn some principles. First, we should not remain in our comfort zones but should look for opportunities to take the gospel to new groups of people. Second, evangelism is most effective when taken to people with similarities to the communicator. The Samaritans worshipped the same God, revered the same Scripture of the Pentateuch and awaited the Messiah. Third, our methods should suit the context. Finally, numbers do not matter, but the guidance of the Holy Spirit does. By evangelising one Ethiopian eunuch, a country was reached.
We too need to contextualise our message. The basic failure of Western orthodox theology was that it was based on the context of Europe and when Western missionaries brought the Christian gospel message to India they brought with it their own culture and encouraged the converts quickly to adopt Western cultural practices. This process effectively closed the gospel to most other Indians, especially high-caste Hindus.
Pray for missionaries involved in cross-cultural mission and support them as you can.
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Esther 8–10; Luke 13
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for SU’s Steve Hutchinson as he formulates plans and thinks about detailed programme ideas to develop the outdoors bushcraft activity further at the Barnwood Youth HUB in Gloucester.
