The 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. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth."
The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch 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, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
The story is that Philip was looking for what he was supposed to do next for the Lord. The Lord responded by telling him to follow the chariot of the Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip followed, he heard the eunuch struggling to understand Isaiah 53:7,8. Philip asked the eunuch if he understood what he was reading, and the eunuch responded asking "How can I unless someone explains it to me." Philip took a seat on the eunuch's chariot to discuss the passage. The eunuch asked Philip to please tell him. The eunuch was honestly trying to figure out who this person in Isaiah 53 was. "His hands were pierced... " "...he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Who was this? The eunuch wanted to know and was seeking an answer, to a point of asking a complete stranger to sit on his chariot with him. That's like asking a person you don't know a thing about to get in your car after he yells something at you. That's crazy and dangerous, but the eunuch was too desperate to give up an opportunity to know who this person could be.
When someone, regardless of there position seeks God, God gives the means for that person to know Him. This seems like a broad statement that is hard to grasp, and that seems unlikely. That is because it is. No one person of earth has been in the same situation as everyone else or knows how anyone else personally came to God unless they told them the story. We can't know. Such things are, as David said, "to great for us to understand." But we know how we have come to God and what He has taught us, and that we need to share that with as many people as possible around us. Philip understood this. Remember, Philip did not know the eunuch either, he could have been in trouble if he got on the chariot. But he took a seat anyways, because He knew that He had to explain the One written about in Isaiah 53. Philip told the eunuch the good news about Jesus having died on the cross, and that He was the One written about in Isaiah 53.
As they moved on and spoke, they passed by water and the eunuch said, "Why should I not be baptized?" So they stopped the journey and Philip baptized the eunuch as a display of the eunuch's faith in Jesus Christ. When they came out of the water, the Holy Spirit took Philip away and the eunuch never saw him again. How crazy would that be to see someone disappear in front of you and never see him again? But the most important part for this post is what came after. "... but the eunuch went on rejoicing." That "but" in the sentence implies two things. The first is that they went separate ways to follow God in their own way. The second is that their separation was not a crutch. Even though Philip had just told the eunuch about Jesus Christ and had a mass of other knowledge about Him and His teachings, God Himself made it evident that Philip himself was not necessary to help the eunuch stay faithful to Jesus alone. That's not saying, go tell someone about Jesus and walk out of their lives forever, no. It's just that it's not necessary. Why? Because the relationship of someone and God depends on just those two: God and the individual. That's how it has always been and always will be. Are we called to continue to encourage other Christians around us? Yes. And Philip did so, but where he was sent. Even though he told the eunuch first about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it was because God asked Him to and because the eunuch was earnestly seeking Him out. Philip was just a tool in that moment for God to work through for the eunuch. The eunuch's faith depended on Him and God's relationship, not on Philip.
We Christians like to believe we are responsible for whether someone believes in Jesus or not. We have nothing to do with it at all. A relationship's value depends on the people involved and no one else. A Christian telling someone about the Gospel is the equivalent of telling someone they should be with this person. It's up to the person to accept God's proposal. We tell other people of Gospel and of our story with God. That is what the great commission commands us to do. But then God comes in. We are not necessary to do God's work. God did not need Philip to bring the eunuch to Him, but Philip was willing to be used by God, so God used Him. We should be willing to be used God for any and all reasons. We should be without fear, and abandon ourselves to do His work. We must not take credit for anything He does through us, but thank Him that we could be used for something so Joyful and praise Him that we could experience Him work. Then we can go on rejoicing to find the next thing we can do for God, just as Philip and the eunuch did.
Thank You For Reading
Long Live Jesus Christ
Amen
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