THE STORY OF THE BEST MAN

TEXT: ACTS 8:32-35

INTRODUCTION

Acts 8:32-35 (ESV) 32 Now the passage of the Scripture that he was reading was this: “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. 33 In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” 34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.

As we continue our survey of the salvation event experienced by this African nobleman we know as the Ethiopian Eunuch we are thrilled to watch God work in His providence to connect a seeking sinner with a sincere soul-winner so that salvation can take place. Aren’t you glad that if you seek the Lord, I mean if you diligently seek Him, you will be rewarded?

We will discover that this brilliant business man on a search for salvation was rewarded by being introduced to the best man the world has ever known. He will discover what all those who have named the name of Christ, have been washed in the blood of the Lamb, and have been added to the body of Christ, the Church of Christ have discovered. He discovered that salvation is something to shout about.

Of all of the passages this man could have been reading we find him reading from the scroll of Isaiah’s prophesy about the Christ. This indisputably tremendous and incredibly tall text of scripture we know as Isaiah 53 has been called “the Mt. Everest of messianic prophesy.” There is no clearer, surer or dearer word in all of the Old Testament that so specifically speaks of the redemptive work of Christ on that skull shaped hill.

Scholars and students of scripture have some doubt as to whether or not the Jews understood Isaiah to be speaking of the Messiah. It was Jesus Himself who applied this piercing and profound prophesy to Himself. Jesus declared He would give Himself as “a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

Isaiah 53 contains one of the greatest pictures of Calvary ever painted. With tender and touching strokes the prophet paints the most drama filled event ever to happen in human history. It is the most impressive and instructive record of our Lord’s suffering to be found in the bible. Every word given to this messianic mouthpiece gives us a glimpse of the crucified Christ.

Come close now and let us study along with the Eunuch in his quest to learn the story of the best man to ever walk these mundane shores. I declare Jesus is the best man. The intellectual genius of Einstein is dismissed to an isolated island of the inconsequential when compared to Jesus. The military greatness of Caesar, Alexander the Great and Napoleon are all relegated to the deserted dimensions of the discredited when compared to Jesus. The social status of the world’s best and brightest are all sidelined to the solitary space of the shallow when compared to Jesus. I declare Christ is the best man to ever live. So let’s discover His story.

As we unpack the passage to uncover the principles there are two truths threaded into the tapestry of the text. They form the substance of the sermon and offers the homiletical hinges on which this message swings. Notice THE SACRIFICIAL SURRENDER WAS AGONIZING, and THE SPECIAL SILENCE WAS AMAZING.

I. THE SACRIFICIAL SURRENDER WAS AGONIZING

Acts 8:31-33

And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:

"He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. 33 In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth." NKJV

What a meaningful and magnificent metaphor the text uses. The nine words which form the opening phrase are like a string of precious pearls. There is a triad of thought provoking truths regarding Christ. The powerful picture of Christ as a lamb speaks of the sacrifice of Jesus on a hill of horror and on a summit of sacrifice. In this instructive image we are being taught about Jesus’ surrender of self in an indescribably, incomprehensibly agonizing sacrifice.

A. IT WAS VOLUNTARY- Notice that the bible declares that Jesus was “led”. Jesus the Lamb of God was led not:

· Forced

· Pushed

· Coerced

· Driven

· Dragged

Jesus went to the cross willingly. He went to die for you and for me and He did so voluntarily. Oh my brothers and sisters no one took Jesus life He gave it. John 10:17-18

"Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father." NKJV

Jesus was not driven to Calvary, He was drawn there by the love of God. Oh the immeasurable, incredible love of God that would send Jesus to die so that we might live. No wonder the bible says “God is love.” Love pours from his every word. Love fragrance his every act. Love is found in his every motive. God is love personified God is love exemplified God is love intensified God is love purified God is love magnified God is love glorified God is love dignified,

Yes, oh yes, hallelujah yes, God is love

I declare Jesus’ death was voluntary. He died because He loves us. Somebody ought to hear me Jesus didn’t have to:

He came down from the adoration of heaven to the abominations of earth.

He came down from the blessedness of Heaven to the bruises of crucifixion tortures. He came down from the coronations of Heaven to the condemnations of earth. He came down from the delights of Heaven to the defamations of earth. He came down from the Excellencies of Heaven to the executions of earth. He came down from the favor of the Father's face to the fury of men's faces. He came down from the glory place to the gory place. He came down from the hallelujahs of Heaven to the hisses of earth. He came down from the majesties of Heaven to the miseries of earth. He came down from the nobleness of Heaven to the nothingness of earth. He came down from the riches of heaven to the ridicules of earth. He came down from the songs of Heaven to the sneers on earth. He came down from the virtues of Heaven to the vices of earth.

He came down from a beautiful throne to a blood soaked tree

I know that Jesus didn’t have to come and die for a sinner like me, but I’m so glad that He did. The hymnologist in piercing poetry declared “Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut His glories in, for Christ the mighty Maker died for man the creature’s sin.”

Jesus went to that bloody summit because of the purpose of God and because of His passion for people.

B. IT WAS VICARIOUS- When Isaiah 700 years before the coming of Christ spoke of a “lamb” he no doubt was thinking of the Paschal lamb. In the theology of the Old Covenant, you remember that first Passover when the people of God were slaves down in Egypt. The last meal in Egypt before God would break the stubborn will of Pharaoh by sending the death angel after the first born. The people were told the following provisions: (1) the taking of a lamb, or kid without blemish, for each household on the 10th of the month; (2) the killing of the lamb on the 14th at even; (3) the sprinkling of the blood on doorposts and lintels of the houses in which it was to be eaten; God promised that when He saw the blood He would Passover that house in mercy when judgment came on Egypt.

John that wilderness preacher with unusual dress and peculiar diet would later announce on the banks of Jordan as Jesus approached, “behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:36).

In a way deeper than I can ever explain out there on that summit of sorrow, that hill of horror Jesus took our place as our sacrificial Lamb. He died for you and for me.

· He paid a debt He didn’t owe because I owed a debt I couldn’t pay

· Got under a load I was meant to carry

· Received the penalty and punishment for a crime He never committed, so that I wouldn’t have to

This is what the Theologians call “substitutionary sacrifice.” That’s just a fancy way of saying Christ died for me and He died for you. He took our place, suffered our sentence, endured our shame, died our death.

Oh my brothers and sisters that is the great and glorious news of the gospel. 1 Cor 15:1-4

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you — unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, NKJV

I don’t know how you feel about it but I have staked my future and risked my destiny on that tiny three letter word “for”.

· Heaven’s best died for earth’s worst

· The Lamb died for the wolves

· The sinless died for the sinful

· The perfect died for the pathetic

· The renown died for the ruined

· The righteous died for the rebellious

· The Creator died for the creature His hands had made

I think I ought to tell somebody this thought ought to move you at the very center and core of your being. Christ came and died for you and me. He left heaven.

· Left His rich home in glory

· Stepped off His throne in the sky

· Lowered His kingly head

· Wrapped Himself in our humanity

· To be born beneath the blinking stars of a Bethlehem sky

· On a mission of mercy just to see about me

· He cramped eternity into time

· Got the everywhere into the right there

· Got in touch with His lowly opposite

· At last went up that skull shaped hill to die

· He beat back the powers of hell

· Bruised the devil’s head

· Defeated death

The bible declares that He did it all for you and for me. The death of Jesus was vicarious.

C. IT WAS VICIOUS- The text declares that Christ was led “to the slaughter.” The Greek word is sphaga, it means “to butcher.” What an awful word to use in reference to the death of Jesus. He didn’t just die, He was butchered.

In Israel every care was taken to insure that the lambs were all killed in a humane way. Not so with the Lamb of God. For who can:

· Measure the depth of His agony

· Gauge the severity of His pain

· Estimate the awfulness of His shame

· Calculate the trauma of the torture He endured

Christ was:

· Beaten almost beyond recognition

· Scourged until His back was furrowed like a farmer’s field

· Humiliated when a crown of thorns was thrust upon His brow until blood ran down his face like a crimsoned stream

· Nailed to a cruel tree and lifted up to die

· Agonizing minutes raged on until 6 hours of physical and emotional torture runs their course

· In complete command and control Christ dismisses His Spirit

· In his dying hour in barbaric brutality someone thrust a spear into His side

He died:

· As a stunned creation looked on

· Until nature couldn’t take it anymore and shut its eyes in the cover of darkness

· Until the sun punched out early and took a 3 hour bereavement leave of absence

· The darkness punched in early and worked 3 hours of overtime

· Until the earth shook

· Until it seems God Himself could no longer stand to watch so He threw a blanket of darkness across the whole proceedings

· Until the price was paid

· Until atonement was made

· When they bruised Him He blessed us

· When they hurt Him He healed us

· God turned His back on Jesus so that He could turn His face toward us

· Our debt was canceled

· Our disease was cured

· Our darkness was cleared

· Our defilement was cleansed

I think I ought to tell you to look at that hill shaped like a skull is to know just how far God was willing to go to redeem us and to receive us as His own.

II. THE SPECIAL SILENCE WAS AMAZING

This is the greatest piece of heroism the world has ever been privileged to witness. What amazing and astounding poise, all that He went through at the hands of cruel men. He suffered the intensity of hatred and hostility and the barbarity of crucifixion. While being treated with such hostility Jesus in the words of our forbearers, “never said a mumbling word.”

When the prophet paints this picture of Christ as a silent sheep before the shearer what is it he intended to communicate?

A. CHRIST IDENTIFICATION WITH US- We are told that the Good Shepherd is also a sheep, the Lord is also a lamb. What an amazing expression of grace.

In Isaiah’s prophesy we are reminded that “all we like sheep have turned astray..” So by referring to Jesus as a silent sheep the prophet subtly teaches us how Jesus came to identify with us. At His baptism He identified with our struggle with Satan and sin. Calvary is the culmination of His complete identification with us. In some mysterious moving and meaningful way He gathered up our sin and made them His own. Let the free flowing waters of this truth refresh your spirit; 2 Cor 5:21

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. NKJV

Oh my beloved North G. family Jesus has completely identified with our human condition. No wonder in that helpful homily we call Hebrews the writer declares; Heb 4:15

15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. NKJV

Yes, oh yes, hallelujah yes! Christ identifies with:

· Our times of testing and temptations

· Our seasons of sorrows and struggles

· Periods of pain and problems

· The times when our families misunderstand us

· The occasions when our friends let us down

· The moments when our haters plot our downfall

B. CHRIST HUMILIATION FOR US- To watch a sheep’s wool being sheared is a moving experience. The aim of the shearer is to strip the sheep of his beautiful wool covering.

In a very real sense that is what happened to Jesus. He was stripped of all He had, stripped of His rights, honor, humanity, dignity, clothes and even His life.

In humiliation Jesus died publically exposed to the elements. His enemies could have shown the decency to allow Him to keep his clothes. No, they stripped Him of his clothes and at the foot of the cross they gambled for the few pieces of clothes that He had.

Oh how those hard hearted and hard headed men humiliated Jesus the best the world has ever seen. They:

· Strip Him of His garments

· Slap Him in the face

· Spit on Him

· Mock him

· Killed Him

Over and over again Jesus had to deal with their:

· Rude sarcasms

· Gruesome insinuations

· Defiant rebukes

· Vulgar gestures

· Hypocritical mockeries

· Severe beatings

· Perverse harassment

· Barbaric brutalities

Oh my brothers and sisters to see how they humiliated Jesus the best thing that ever has happened to me, sometimes it causes me to tremble.

C. CHRIST SELF-ABNEGATION FOR US- I declare Jesus resisted the temptation to strike back. He took it all, He suffered in silence. All the while one word from Him and His haters would have been ground into dust.

In Isaiah’s prophesy we three times read Jesus was “silent”. Twice we read He was “dumb.” The Greek word is aphonos. The root word gives us our English word phone. The term means, “voiceless.”

When we consult the Gospels account of the Lord’s illegal and unjust trial we discover the accuracy of Isaiah’s prediction and prophesy.

· Before the Jewish leaders who hated on Him His entire ministry, He held His peace.

· Facing that political pipsqueak Pilate, He answered nothing

· In front of that insolent and indulgent Herod, not a word

Why did Jesus who spoke the creation into existence, spoke and the blind began to see and the dead returned to life, why did Jesus not speak up in His own defense. The Psalmist answers that question for us. Ps 39:9

I was mute, I did not open my mouth, Because it was You who did it. NKJV

Jesus suffered in silence because He knew He was doing His Father’s will. He was accomplishing the great and monumental purpose that had brought Him into the world. The Lord’s death was not deserved but it was decreed. Isaiah declared; Isa 53:10

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. NKJV

Jesus could have harassed those who were harassing Him, scorned those who were scorning Him, killed those who were killing Him. That is how most of us react when we are being mistreated. Not Jesus He graciously, lovingly, patiently, tenderly, compassionately and completely fulfilled His Father’s will.

Conclusion

I declare this African nobleman was reading the best man’s story. I wonder do you know this story. DO YOU KNOW HIS STORY:

He’s the master of the mighty, He’s the captain of the conquerors, He’s the head of heroes and He’s the overseer of the overcomers. He’s the prince of princes, He’s the Lord of lords, and He’s the King of kings.

He’s enduringly strong, He’s eternally steadfast, He’s imperially powerful, and He’s impartially merciful.

He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers the captives and He defends the feeble. He’s the doorway of deliverance, He’s the pathway of peace, He’s the roadway of righteousness, He’s the highway of holiness, and He’s the gateway to glory.

The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him but they couldn’t stop Him. Satan tried to tempt Him but found he couldn’t trip Him. Pilate placed Him on trial but found no fault in Him. The Romans crucified Him but they couldn’t take His life. Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.

One Sunday morning He got up from the grave and announced He had a monopoly on power. He declared to death, hell, the grave, the devil and all that would seek to rise up against His people, “all power is given to me..”