Do You Understand What You are Reading?
May 18, 2003
Acts 8:26-40
5th Sunday of
Easter
Galena-Warwick United Methodist Charge
Warwick & Galena, Maryland
Rev. Dr. Lawrence D. Jameson
larry@larryjameson.com
back to our church home page
Acts 8:26-40
Philip and the Ethiopian
26Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road--the desert
road--that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27So he started out, and on his
way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the
treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to
worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of
Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near
it."
30Then 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.
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about,
himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of
Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
"Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop
the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip
baptized him. 39When 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. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about,
preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
In the Book of Acts
we read that Philip the Evangelist
was one of seven men
who were chosen to be “deacons”, servants in the early church.
He was described as someone “full of faith and the Holy Spirit.”
Later on, persecution against Christians broke out in Jerusalem,
so Philip found himself traveling.
He went to Samaria. God used him there in a mighty way.
Many people become Christians because of Philip’s testimony.
Acts chapter 8
tells us about Philip and a man from Ethiopia.
The Bible says the an angel spoke to Philip
and told him to walk on a road,
that goes from Jerusalem to Gaza.
Philip obeyed.
As he walked along the busy highway
he saw the chariot a very wealthy foreigner.
The foreigner was an African, probably a black man,
who held the office of Treasurer in Ethiopia.
Being the treasurer of an entire country is
a prestigious position.
If you look at US paper currency,
you will find the signature of the treasurer of the United States
in the bottom left.
Today, Rosario Marin is Treasurer of the United States.
She is the highest-ranking Latina in the Bush Administration
and the first U.S. Treasurer born outside of the country.
The Bible says:
This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28and on his way home was sitting in
his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. 29The Spirit told Philip,
"Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the
prophet.
Now I know,
a lot of people don’t like to read in a moving vehicle.
It makes them dizzy, and it can give them a headache.
Isn’t that right?
And here is something I have never personally seen:
someone who has to say every word they read, out loud.
Listen to verse 30 again.
30Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the
prophet.
The Ethiopian was reading out loud.
I’d like to tell you why.
It was the common practice of that day
and it was based on the technology they used.
Hebrew scrolls didn’t have the following:
punctuation marks such as commas or periods
capital letters
to denote the first word in a sentence or proper names
spaces between the words
The technology of writing
for Jews in the first century AD and earlier,
required that the reader speak out loud
because all the text ran together.
Reading out loud helped you figure out where words
and sentences began and ended.
That sounds odd, but it is true.
It is an historically accurate detail
that Luke recorded.
The Ethiopian was reading out loud.
30Then 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.
The Bible story goes on to say:
32The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."
34The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about,
himself or someone else?" 35Then Philip began with that very passage of
Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
What did Philip do right?
First of all
he was open and obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Philip let God put him in the right place, at the right time.
Dear ones,
God has placed you in the right place, at the right time.
There is someone you are supposed to be a witness to.
I don’t know who it is. You don’t know. But God does.
If you are faithful, and open to the leading of the Holy Spirit,
you will make a difference!
Secondly,
Philip started with something that he and the Ethiopian
had in common.
In this case, it was Hebrew Scripture.
Philip built a bridge. That’s critical.
Whenever we want to share Jesus with someone
the first thing we look for is common ground.
You start from there, and then you build.
I learned this principle from Bill Bright,
the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.
It’s a profound and simple truth
that applies to every successful evangelist.
Philip didn’t know the man from Ethiopia.
Philip was from a different culture,
had a different income,
had a completely different set of life experiences,
but God bridged all those things
by giving these two men something in common.
In this case, it was a love for Hebrew prophecy.
Isn’t that wonderful?
Our God works wonders.
The Gospel builds bridges across the most amazing differences.
The third thing Philip did right was this:
after he built a bridge of common ground,
he talked about Jesus.
Apparently, the Holy Spirit had prepared
the Ethiopian Treasurer so much,
that in a short time, he was willing to be baptized.
36As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said,
"Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38And he gave orders to stop
the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip
baptized him. 39When 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. 40Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about,
preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
As far as I know,
this is the only miracle of its kind in the Bible.
I call it the “beam me up, Scotty” miracle
because it was as if God just
put Philip in a transporter beam
and sent him to Azotus.
It is exciting to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.
You never know who God is going to ask you to witness to.
The Lord may ask you to talk to someone of another culture.
Or, he might ask you to give your testimony
to your boss, or your best friend.
Whatever the situation,
it’s great to know
if we are willing to obey, God will bless
if we will look for common ground, God will reveal it
if we simply talk about Jesus
God is going to make a miracle happen.