Acts 8:34–40 (ESV)
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Part 2)
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. 36 And as
they were going along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?” 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and
he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to
all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
In yesterday’s reading, an angel sent Philip to meet up with an Ethiopian Eunuch. He was invited up into the chariot to explain the scriptures he was
reading which was from the prophet Isaiah. In today’s reading, you get Philips interpretation of the scripture to the Eunuch. “35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”
Philip connects the old testament prophet (Isaiah) to the New Testament fulfillment... the Messiah, Jesus Christ. As they were traveling down the road, they come by some water and the Ethiopian wants to be baptized. This is great! Christians
should want to be baptized. A Christian that doesn’t want to be baptized is a Christian with spiritual problems. Philip baptizes the Eunuch. Now what happens next is really freaky! The Scripture states: “the Spirit of
the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.” What the Bible is saying is that Philip just vanished, sort of like he teleported away without Captain Kirk or Spock. Poof!... he was gone.
Now, it could mean that he simply left, but the Greek word means “caught up.” Who knows, with God... anything is possible. Philip pops up in Azotus which is 20 miles away. Wow... where am I??? So what did he do?
He preached the Gospel there.
I pray: O Lord, help me to follow your direction and guidance and to preach the Gospel, whether local or where ever I pop up. Lord, shape me and mold me to
carry out your work. I pray Thy will be done. Amen.