Acts - 23

Acts - 23

Acts 8:26-40

Introduction

Disappointment is what you experience when you want something to happen, or think something should happen, but then it doesn’t happen. In your head, you had an appointment with something, and then there was a dis-appointment…it didn’t happen. Disappointment comes from unmet, or unrealistic expectations. You expected something should happen or would happen in a certain way, and then it didn’t. John Cheever in Leadership Magazine wrote, “The main emotion of the adult American who has had all the advantages of wealth, education, and culture is disappointment.”

What if it didn’t have to be that way? What if your life could be free of disappointment? Maybe the answer is to have more realistic expectations. Maybe the answer is to be less selfish, that if something doesn’t go your way then you’re miserable. Or maybe there is a way to live your life, to view your life, what does happen and what doesn’t happen, that wouldn’t cause you to be overwhelmed by disappointment, but by gratitude and a sense of adventure. Philip shows us how to do just that.

Let me remind you of the context. Philip is an evangelist who has taken the gospel of Jesus Christ to Samaria and is watching God do some amazing things. In the city of Samaria, the capital of the region of Samaria, seemingly the entire city has repented of their sin and responded to his preaching with faith in Christ and are being baptized left and right. The apostles Peter and John are dispatched from Jerusalem to come verify that God is indeed saving Samaritans, something that was unimaginable to them. But it’s happening. The Holy Spirit falls onto the Samaritans just like He did at Pentecost in Acts 2. Revival is breaking out in the most unlikely of places.

Peter and John apparently stay awhile and help disciple these new believers. Verse 25 - So, when they [Peter and John] had solemnly bore witness and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were proclaiming the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. Things are going incredibly well. Apostolic verification. Gospel reception. Constant baptisms. The movement is multiplying…this is not just happening in the city of Samaria, but now throughout the entire region as the apostles take the gospel to all the villages in Samaria. But what of Philip? God has a new assignment for him.

Acts 8:26-40 - But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)

27 So he rose up and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship,

28 and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.

29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

30 And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“As a sheep is led to slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He does not open His mouth.

33 In humiliation His judgment was taken away;

Who will recount His generation?

For His life is removed from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him.

36 And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

37 [And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”]

38 And he ordered the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him.

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

While this account certainly ends well, it doesn’t necessarily begin that way. Philip is in the capital city of a major region of Israel. It’s a large, metropolitan, population center. People are everywhere. And on top of that, he is experiencing huge success. And what does God do with that? He sends him to the middle of nowhere. V. 26 - But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, “Rise up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road). Up to this point, Philip has been heading north out of Jerusalem and into Samaria. He’s been building on the ministry of Jesus and has explosive success. But God sends him the opposite direction, away from the crowds and the thriving church in Samaria, to the desert! Do you know what is in Gaza, the southernmost city of Israel? Nothing. On the other side of it is the desert that leads to Egypt, the wilderness the OT Israelites were in for 40 years.

This is not where Philip planned to be. He’s with the crowds and having a grand old time. But now he is here, isolated and alone. Do you think maybe Philip could have easily responded with disappointment? Absolutely. God just stripped away his successful ministry. God just isolated him. According to Philip’s calendar, there was an appointment with success. But that didn’t happen. It was a dis-appointment. But we don’t have any hint at all of Philip’s disappointment, or bitterness, or resentment. In fact, we have the opposite. We have faithfulness. We have obedience.

V. 27 - So he rose up and went…He does what God tells him to do, no questions asked. We will come back to that. And what does Philip find in the barren wasteland of Gaza on the desert road? He finds one man. He’s got an entourage for sure, but it is still one guy. Not the crowds of Samaria. One man. But oh does God have something great in store for them both!

V. 27b - …and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had come to Jerusalem to worship…

If it was controversial for God to save a Samaritan, imagine how overwhelmed Peter and John would be that God is about to save an African! He is from Ethiopia. In that day, Ethiopia was not a country like it is today, but more of a region. It is much of sub-Saharan Africa. Today we would call it the Sudan. A huge region far away from Israel. And he is a eunuch. A eunuch is a man who has been (mostly) voluntarily castrated. It was common to have government officials in ancient kingdoms to be castrated. It could be forced if you had been conquered and captured after a war. Or you could volunteer. It was the corporate fast-track to high-ranking government positions. Eunuchs were seen as more trustworthy because they aren’t distracted by sexual desire and devote all their time to success in their jobs.

This eunuch is very high-ranking. He serves as the treasurer for Queen Candace of Ethiopia. He is powerful as one who serves in the presence of royalty. He is wealthy as he is in charge of the wealth of a large portion of Africa. And he is a worshiper. He’s just come from Jerusalem where he had been at the temple to worship the God of Israel. What a small world! What a coincidence! He is what the book of Acts will refer to later as a God-fearer. He is not Jewish. He can’t be. He cannot be circumcised…for obvious reasons, the covenant mark of becoming Jewish. Therefore, he is limited in his access to God and to the Jewish people. According to Deuteronomy 23, eunuchs could not enter the inner sanctuary of the temple, but had to remain in the court of the Gentiles. And while they could attend synagogue services and discuss religion with the rabbis, they were not allowed to offer sacrifices. So though he believes in the one true God, though he worships God, he is very much at a distance from God.

But he is committed. The power and influence of his position has allowed him the ability to make this trip to Jerusalem, perhaps for one of the Jewish festivals. Riding in a chariot (ox-drawn carriage) this is a 5-month journey each way. That is dedication. And while there, this eunuch has picked up quite the souvenir. V. 28 - and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. That is no small thing. Handwritten scrolls were incredibly valuable and would cost today’s equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars. While in Jerusalem he is so committed that he splurges to buy the Isaiah scroll to be able to read God’s Word for himself.

V. 29-31 - Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” And Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

What an amazing coincidence! What opportune timing! God takes Philip away from the crowds to isolate him next to one man. But it just so happens that this one man is one of the top few most powerful and influential men in all of Africa. And he just so happens to be a God-fearer, and he just so happens to be reading from Isaiah! That is the most Jesus-y OT prophet! And you have to admire Philip’s courage…do you understand what you are reading? That’s a bold question to ask someone of the eunuch’s power and station in life. And to his credit, the eunuch is as honest as he is confused. I don’t know what this guy is talking about! Come up here and guide me. Perhaps the eunuch can see from Philip’s clothes or hear his accent and know he comes from a Jewish background or Jewish area. How convenient! Philip just so happens to be led to this influential God-fearer. And the eunuch just so happens to be led to a man familiar with Judaism to help him understand the Jewish scriptures. What an amazing coincidence!

V. 32-34 - 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:

“As a sheep is led to slaughter;

And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,

So He does not open His mouth.

33 In humiliation His judgment was taken away;

Who will recount His generation?

For His life is removed from the earth.”

34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you earnestly, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?”

The passage the eunuch just so happened to be reading from is Isaiah 53:7-8 about the Suffering Servant of Yahweh. What a coincidence! That is the most Jesus-y chapter of the most Jesus-y prophet in the entire OT. This Suffering Servant is a sheep led to slaughter. He is a sacrificial lamb whose life is taken away. In fact, if we assume that the eunuch started at the beginning of Isaiah and read straight through, listen to the verses he just finished reading mere seconds before Philip runs up to his chariot.

Isaiah 53:4-6 - 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore,

And our sorrows He carried;

Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our peace fell upon Him,

And by His wounds we are healed.

6 All of us like sheep have gone astray,

Each of us has turned to his own way;

But Yahweh has caused the iniquity of us all

To fall on Him.

What a coincidence! He has just read the most Jesus-y text in existence in his day. And now it just so happens that a Christian who knows the OT scriptures is sitting with him in his chariot out in the middle of nowhere. And he asks a great question: who is this talking about? When he says I ask you earnestly he uses a word that means beg/plead, sometimes translated as pray. I beg you to tell me who this is talking about. He is genuinely seeking. He wants to understand the text. And there is a reason he asks this question in particular. There are two primary ways to interpret who is the subject of Isaiah 53 according to the Jews. First, it is talking about Isaiah himself. He is rejected and cast out. Second, it is talking about Israel and the fact that the pagan nations have rejected God’s people as a whole.

But Philip knows a third way to interpret Isaiah 53, the right way. V. 35 - Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. Yeah he did! How could you not?! This isn’t talking about Isaiah. This isn’t talking about Israel. This is talking about the Messiah. The Jews had no concept of a Suffering Servant as Messiah. They wanted a conquering ruler. And He is…just in a way they didn’t expect. By His sacrificial death He would conquer the greatest of enemies…not Rome, but sin and death. He stood in the place of sinners like us. He was killed to pay the penalty for our sins. He is the sacrifice that invites us into God’s presence.

I imagine that was a particularly meaningful message for a eunuch. Remember, the OT law had forbidden that eunuchs enter into God’s presence. They could not offer sacrifices to have their sins covered over. So here is the message from Philip to the eunuch, the gospel (good news)…your decisions have kept you out of God’s presence. Your decision to mutilate your body in the name of a successful career, power, wealth, has barred you from God’s presence. You can’t go into the temple and offer a sheep or a lamb to cover over your sins. But Jesus…Jesus is the sheep led to the slaughter. Jesus is the sacrificial lamb. He is your sacrifice. And He invites you directly into God’s presence. He forgives your sin. He welcomes you to God.

That’s the gospel right?! That is the good news for us. Your decisions have kept you out of God’s presence. Your sin has separated you from God and there is nothing you could do on your own to change that. You are eternally condemned. But Jesus…Jesus is your sacrifice. Jesus forgives your sin. Jesus welcomes you to God. This is our hope. This is the centerpiece of our faith.

Well, Philip obviously continues to teach this man. He talks about the gospel and how to respond. Perhaps he even recounted Peter’s sermon from Pentecost in Acts 2. Because when they see some water, the eunuch explodes in excitement…v. 36 - “Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?” Nothing. Quick side note…verse 37 has brackets around it, meaning that the oldest and best manuscripts do not have that verse in them. It was added by some scribe at some point later. If you believe with all your heart, you may…I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

We understand that. After seeing Simon’s false conversion last week in Acts 8, we understand why some scribe wanted to ensure that before this guy gets into the water, there is a clear profession of faith in the Lord Jesus. Because without a clear profession of faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, being baptized into His name is meaningless. The verse is good theology, so we leave it in. Chariot stops, they go into the water, Philip baptizes him, and then whoosh Philip is gone. V. 39 - When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing. You know that phrase spirited away? This is where that phrase comes from. The Spirit takes Philip out of the picture. The evangelist is gone, but the evangel (the gospel) remains.

Philip is now gone, in a different city, continuing to be faithful, v. 40 - “proclaiming the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.” According to Acts 21, Philip makes his home in Caesarea where he gets married and has four godly daughters. So how about now? Do you think Philip is disappointed? Do you think he is upset that God took him out of Samaria? Of course not! If God left him in Samaria with the crowds and the success, this eunuch never becomes a Christian. This eunuch, who according to the early church fathers Irenaeus and Eusebius, becomes the first missionary to Ethiopia. If God left him in Samaria with the crowds and the success, he never would have gone south to the desert. He wouldn’t have preached in the all these other cities. He would not have landed in Caesarea. He would not have met his wife and had his daughters.

Do you think he is disappointed? Do you think he is upset with God that his plans didn’t work out like he wanted? Nope. His plans, as good as they may have been, were terrible by comparison to God’s plans. God said in Isaiah 55 that His plans, His thoughts, His ways, are higher than ours. Better than ours. Which Philip certainly learned. And we certainly need to learn.

So what do you do when your plans don’t work out the way you want them to? Do you have dis-appointment? Or maybe would it be better to view your life as in the hands of a good, loving, sovereign God who knows what He is doing with your life? Whose plans for you are better than your plans for you? It is obvious with Philip’s story here…God has clearly orchestrated all of this and has intentionally changed Philip’s plans. He does the same with you. Instead of viewing your life as a series of dis-appointments, view it as a series of Divine Appointments. God has orchestrated this. I may not have chosen this, but apparently God did. So in this scenario He has ordained for me, I will obey. I will be faithful. That will flood your life with gratitude and sense of adventure.

Proverbs 3:5-6 - 5 Trust in Yahweh with all your heart

And do not lean on your own understanding.

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will make your paths straight.