Acts 8:26-39
(sermon note:
26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 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 silent before its shearer,
so he does not open 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 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing.
This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about how Jesus was worried about the drug epidemic plaguing the world. In an effort to solve this dilemma, he decided that a few disciples would return to earth and fetch a sample of each drug, so they could understand what these substances did. Two days after the mission was implemented, the disciples began to return. Jesus was waiting at the door and after the first knock, he asked, “Who is it?” “It’s me, Matthew. Let me in!” Jesus opened the door. “What did you bring, Matthew?” “I went all the way over to Latin America and found some marijuana from the country of Colombia.” “Very well, son, come on it.” After a little while, there was another soft knock on the door. Again, Jesus asked, “Who is it?” “It’s me, Andrew. I’ve got something.” Jesus opened the door. “What did you bring, Andrew?” “I, too, went to Latin America and managed to get my hands on some cocaine from Bolivia.” “Very well, my son, you may come in.” Not long after, another knock came to which Jesus asked, “Who is it?” “C’mon hurry up! It’s John!” Jesus opened the door. “Yessss, and what did you bring, John?” “I went to America and it didn’t take me long to find some crack in New York City.” “Ahh, I’ve heard how this one is particularly nasty!” said Jesus. “Very well, come on in, John.” Not soon after, someone began pounding on the door. “Who is it?” cried out Jesus. “It’s Judas, Lord!” Jesus cracked the door ever so slightly. “And what did you bring, Judas?” “FREEZE! THIS IS THE DEA!”
And we wonder how Judas could have betrayed Jesus to the Jewish leaders?! Obviously, he had a history of betraying Jesus! Probably not but it’s kinda funny imagining him ratting out Jesus and the rest of the disciples to the DEA. What’s also funny is the idea that Jesus needed help understanding the drug epidemic. Jesus doesn’t need help understanding the sin of the world. Of all the people who have ever lived in this world, Jesus is the least likely to not understand the sin of the world. Friends, Jesus gets it! Jesus gets it so well that he was willing to give up his life as an atonement for it. Jesus understands that sin is at the root of all that is bad in this world. Jesus understands that sin is what separates us from the Father. Jesus understands that sin is what distinguishes this world from our heavenly home. Well, sin and death. There is neither sin nor death in our heavenly home. There is only life and joy and peace and harmony. So we ask ourselves, why must we be subjected to this world of sin and death? Why not just forever exist in our heavenly home and forego this world altogether? Unfortunately, I don’t have answers to these questions. Only God knows why we must experience a world of sin and death. Maybe so that we might appreciate life and love more. But if that’s the case, was there a time when we didn’t appreciate life as much as God expected us to? And why…why didn’t we appreciate life? Jesus may understand these great mysteries, but we certainly don’t. There are a lot of things we don’t understand that we need help to better understand.
Which is why I appreciate our reading for this morning. We heard of a man, an Ethiopian eunuch, and his first encounter with the wisdom of scripture. He just happened to be reading from the prophetic book of Isaiah. Of course, prophetic writings are some of the more difficult types of writing to understand. They have multiple layers upon layers of meanings and can be interpreted in a variety of ways. Isaiah’s writings are particularly difficult when they describe a Christ-like character, a so-called “suffering servant.” He wrote about this character hundreds of years before Jesus was born. Now then, Jesus’ life and ministry seemed to imitate that of the suffering servant. Was Isaiah foreshadowing Jesus in his writing? More importantly, was Jesus simply taking his cue from Isaiah’s writing? I believe that the suffering servant Jesus was around long before Isaiah and long after. Isaiah didn’t create him in his writings, he only described him in his writings. The historical Jesus, the Jesus that existed 2,000 years ago, has actually existed since the beginning of time and will exist to the end of time. I know, I know, these are difficult things to understand! The point is that the Ethiopian eunuch is not alone in his lack of understanding. We are all, to some degree, lacking understanding. We all need someone like Philip, prompted by the Holy Spirit, to come along and help us to better understand the mysteries around us.
We are continuing along in a season of great mystery as we reflect on Jesus’ resurrection. How was it even possible that Jesus could die and be resurrected three days later? Isn’t Jesus God? How can God die? How is there life after death? Again, questions I cannot answer and questions that have racked the minds of many great thinkers over the years. What I can tell you with a fair degree of confidence is that our God is a revealing God. Not in the sense of a voyeuristic God but rather in the sense that He wants to reveal the answers to all his great mysteries. Our God wants us to have understanding. Our God sent Philip to that Ethiopian eunuch to help him better understand. Philip explained that Isaiah wasn’t writing about himself when he wrote of the “suffering servant.” Isaiah was writing about Jesus and it had such a powerful effect on the eunuch that it made him want to claim Jesus as his own Lord and Savior. Hence, why he wanted to be baptized. He wanted to be forever clothed by Christ, cleansed of his sins, and adopted into God’s family. But wait…how does that all happen through baptism? Oh, the irony of wisdom! Once we understand one thing, then we’re cast into yet another mystery! Only the truly wise people understand just how little they understand…
Wisdom and understanding are gifts from God. God is generous with his gifts but also values faith. Just as He wants us to understand, He also wants us to have faith and trust in him. If He reveals too much, then we lose our faith. Likewise, if He doesn’t reveal enough, then we lose faith. Be assured that He knows just the right amount to reveal. Friends, have faith! James wisely wrote, “If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you.” (1:5) Our God is a good and generous God and for that we give thanks! Thanks be to God!
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
