Scripture Daily

Context No. 638 of 4322 · Acts

Context · Reflection

Acts 8:34-40: in context

34The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?” 35Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus. 36As they went on the way, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?” 38He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing. 40But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

An Ethiopian official is riding home in his chariot, reading aloud from the scroll of Isaiah, and he is stuck. He has come to the passage about a lamb led to the slaughter, and he does not know who it is about. Is the prophet speaking of himself, he asks Philip, or of someone else? And Philip, who had been sent by the Spirit to this exact road at this exact moment, does something that unlocks everything. Beginning from that very Scripture, the text says, he told him the good news about Jesus. He shows the eunuch that the passage he was puzzling over, the suffering servant of Isaiah, was pointing all along to Jesus. The Scripture that had been a closed door opens, and behind it is Christ.

That is worth noticing, because it is how the whole of Scripture is meant to be read. The eunuch had the text but could not see its center; Philip showed him that it led to Jesus, and suddenly it made sense. And look at the response it produced. The man does not need to be argued into anything further; the moment the Scripture opens onto Christ, he wants in, right away, here is water, what prevents me from being baptized? He believes, is baptized, and goes on his way rejoicing, all because a puzzling passage turned out to be about Jesus.

That asks how I read the Scriptures I find hard or closed. It is easy to get stuck as the eunuch was, puzzling over passages, holding the text at a distance because I cannot see the point of it. Philip's method is the key: the Scriptures, rightly read, lead to Christ; he is their center and their meaning. When I come to Scripture, especially the parts that puzzle me, do I read it looking for how it points to and opens onto Jesus, and does what I find there move me, as it moved the eunuch, to glad and immediate response, or do I leave the scroll rolled up, puzzled and unmoved?

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