“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.) So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah.” (Acts 8:26 – 28)
There have been many times in the past years that I have planned for one thing/one way for things to be and plans/schedules to work out; and then have it all changed! This used to upset me, a few years ago, but I have learned that there is always a good reason for the change. I just have to be patient until the Divine reveals it. I do so, and am amazed!
“Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him.” (Verses 29 – 31)
Does this qualify as a miracle? That Philip was called to the exact place at the exact time to be lead to the Ethiopian who could/would carry the Good News of the Christ to Ethiopia where generations later a strong faith presence would be established?
When we set our feet on the path that Jesus walked, it is not just a path that leads to faith. It is a path that interwoven with other faith paths and journeys leads to believe and hope. Each step and actions is used by the Divine to bring about the purpose it was intended to. Each step in a plan to expand the Kingdom of God. The Divine uses all things – things we would never consider possible to use.
“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. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” (Verses 32 – 34)
The Ethiopian asked a good question; was Isaiah talking about someone else? For Philip the question of who was easily answered. We know or surmise Isaiah was not talking about himself. It points to the Messiah; the same Messiah that directed Philip to this road at this time. We are hard pressed to think of who else the prophet Isaiah would have been talking about. And in answer the question of whether it was a miracle, it is a coming together of tangents that no one could have foreseen, except the Divine. So, maybe it was!
“Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 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?” He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, 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 snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.” (Verses 35 – 40)
Philip must have condensed a good bit in his instruction to get to the point where the Ethiopian recognized a baptism of water as an outward sign of inner transformation. My pondering mind has to wonder what there might have been to prevent the Ethiopian from being accepted into the family of the Divine.
He was a foreigner, not of Jewish lineage. He was according to this scripture passage not whole in his body, which might have been another deterrent. I am sure strict Jewish traditions would have found more. But the point is that his faith alone qualified him for renewal, or more likely, new relationship in the Divine – I think.
He was in Jerusalem to worship. He might have been Jewish, or somehow came into the Jewish faith. “Eunuch” might have meant something different. We do not know his backstory. And quite honestly the purpose of the writer of Acts might have been to show that people of all sorts were coming to faith. That the Holy Presence was very active. I just know, from personal experience, that Ethiopia, as a nation, was converted in advance of missional journey to Africa. And I like thinking about this as one pivotal event that lead to that.
Miracles happen, beloved reader, in ways far beyond usual understanding. Beyond human understanding, that is. But for the Divine, it was always in the plan to begin with. Shalom & Selah!
A Simple Desire 
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