Philip and the Ethiopian Official

Context

The book of Acts begins in Jerusalem, but the good news about Jesus keeps moving outward. Its advance does not happen only through speeches to crowds. Sometimes the Holy Spirit directs one messenger toward one traveler with an important question.

Philip is a follower of Jesus who announces the good news. The traveler he is about to meet is an Ethiopian court official, a eunuch entrusted with the queen’s treasury. He has made the long journey to Jerusalem to worship and is now returning to his own country. As he travels, he is reading the writings of Isaiah, one of Israel’s prophets. He can read the words, but he needs help understanding whom they describe.

Story

An angel of the Lord gave Philip a clear direction: get up and take the road heading south from Jerusalem toward Gaza, the desert road. Philip got up and went.

On that road, an Ethiopian traveler was making his way home from Jerusalem. He was a eunuch and a high-ranking official under the queen of Ethiopia, responsible for all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship. Now he was seated in his chariot, reading from the prophet Isaiah as he traveled.

The Spirit directed Philip to go over and stay near the chariot. Philip ran up beside it and heard the official reading. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

The official answered honestly: “How can I, unless someone guides me?” Then he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

The words before them pictured someone led away like a sheep to be slaughtered. Like a lamb silent before its shearer, he did not open his mouth. He was humiliated and denied justice, and his life was taken from the earth.

The official asked Philip whom the prophet was describing. Was Isaiah speaking about himself, or about someone else?

That question gave Philip his starting point. Beginning with the very Scripture the official had been reading, Philip told him the good news about Jesus.

As they continued along the road, they came to some water. The official said, “Look, here is water. What prevents me from being baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. Philip and the official went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away. The official did not see him again, but he continued on his way rejoicing.

Philip appeared at Azotus. From there he traveled through the towns, preaching the good news until he reached Caesarea.

What We Learned

• God directs Philip toward one traveler on a quiet road, showing that the spread of the good news includes personal encounters as well as public preaching.
• Philip responds promptly to both the angel’s command and the Spirit’s direction. His obedience places him where he can help.
• The official asks for guidance instead of hiding his confusion. Honest questions can open the way to understanding.
• Philip begins with the Scripture already being read and leads the conversation to Jesus.
• The official receives baptism and continues with joy, while Philip keeps preaching from city to city. The good news changes one journey and then keeps moving.