"Do You Understand?" Sermon: Acts 8:26-40

“Do You Understand?”
[Acts 8:26-40]
October 18, 2009 Second Reformed Church

This morning we meet Philip for the second of three times in the book of Acts: we saw his encounter with Simon Magus, who desired to buy the ability to give the Gift of the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit, and now we are told that an angel of the Lord told Philip to go south – remember he was in Samaria in the north – to the road that went from Jerusalem to Gaza.

This was an old route that was not used as often as others at that time – it went from Jerusalem, which is northeast of the Dead Sea, and extended down to the port city of Gaza, in what we now call the West Bank. This road went through a section of desert. So, since it was an old road and a road that went through the desert, we might well expect that it was lightly traveled.

For whatever reason, in the Plan of God, there was an Ethiopian eunuch on that road. He was a court official of Candace, the Queen of Ethiopia. He was a man of power – in charge of the treasury of the Queen. And he had come to Jerusalem to worship – he had made what would have been about a twelve-day journey by chariot from Ethiopia to Jerusalem to worship. He was a Gentile believer in the God of Israel. He was one of the few at that time outside of Israel who was a faithful follower of YHWH. And he was a fulfillment of prophecy:

David wrote, “Nobles shall come from Egypt; Cush shall hasten to stretch out her hands to God” (Psalm 68:31, ESV). Ethiopia was once called Cush.

And Isaiah wrote, “Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say, ‘The Lord will surely separate me from his people’; and let not the eunuch say, ‘Behold, I am a dry tree.’ For thus says the Lord: ‘To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 56:3-5, ESV).

Both as a nobleman from Cush (Ethiopia) and as a eunuch who believed in the God of Israel, this man was part of the fulfillment of the prophecy that God made that He would bring eunuchs and Gentiles – and specifically those from Ethiopia – into His Kingdom. And we know from reading the whole history as it is presented in our text that this man believed in the Savior that God sent.

And Philip saw the chariot, and the Holy Spirit told Philip to run and catch up to the chariot – it must not have been going very fast – and as he ran up beside the chariot, he heard the eunuch reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Now let’s consider what that tells us: This eunuch was a powerful man, he would have had his own servants, servants who could have read to him, but we are told that he was reading the scroll himself. We can assume that he was also holding the scroll as he read. There were not many scrolls of the Scripture in existence, so it would have been costly to obtain. Yet, here he was, with his own copy of Isaiah, reading it himself, out loud, as he was being taken home.

Consider: first century chariots didn’t have shock absorbers or air-conditioning. He was on an old road – probably bumpy – going through a desert part of Israel, reading what was likely a Greek scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

If he didn’t want a servant to read the scroll to him, or if he didn’t have a servant with him to read the scroll to him, why didn’t he just wait until he got back to the palace, where he could be more comfortable to read? Why was he reading in a chariot on a hot, bumpy road? Why wasn’t he doing everything he could to make the ride home comfortable?

There can only be one reason: he wanted to read the Word of God – Isaiah – right then and there, uncomfortable as it was, because reading the Word of God was a top priority for him. He desired to read the Word of God whenever and wherever he could, even if the conditions weren’t optimal, because the Word of God was that important to him.

Many of us have seen each other’s homes. Most of us have comfortable places to sit and read. We sit and read the newspaper, and we sit and watch TV, ... do we sit in our comfortable chairs and on our comfortable couches and read God’s Word? We read Nora Roberts and James Patterson, do we read the Word that contains the Way to eternal life?

In a strange way, it is a comfort and quite disturbing to know that nothing changes:

St. Chrysostom, in the fourth century, made this comment: “Consider, I ask you, what a great effort it was not to neglect reading even while on a journey, and especially while seated in a chariot. Let this be heeded by those people who do not even deign to do it at home but rather think reading the Scriptures is a waste of time, claiming as an excuse their living with a wife, conscription in military service, caring for children, attending to domestics and looking after other concerns, they do not think it necessary for them to show any interest in reading the holy Scriptures” (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament V: Acts, 98).

Most people I ask either say they don’t read the Bible because they don’t have the time or because they don’t understand it. The excuse of not having time is a silly excuse, as we can understand from Chrysostom’s quote – we make time for what we believe is important. And as far as not understanding the Bible, I find that most people say that but have never even tried to read it, or they pick up an old King James Bible and get thrown by the language. If you have trouble understanding the language of the Bible you have, ask me, and I will at least recommend another.

Still, there are some who have difficulty understanding even so – that is in part due to the fact that there are difficult passages in the Bible. But most of it is straightforward, so, if you need help in understanding something – ask me, look it up in a good reference book, etc., don’t let go of something of importance in the Scripture.

We need to read our Bibles every day to be healthy Christians. I find it helpful to have a plan or a system for reading. I used one that is in the daily devotional that I read that has an Old Testament and a New Testament reading for each day – a total of about three chapters a day – which, if you flip through the Bible, you’ll see is not much. I just began Jeremiah and I Timothy. We have shorter reading plans in Freeman Hall – take them, they are free. If you start one, you may slip up and not do a reading one day. That’s okay, just go on to the next day. I find doing my reading first thing in the morning helpful, both for my state of mind and so I won’t get busy and forget to read. Do what works for you, but read. If Jesus and His Salvation – if the Word of God is a priority in your life – and if you’re here this morning, I assume it is – read you Bible.

If you’re not a Christian – if you haven’t believed in Jesus Alone for salvation, you will find the Bible even more difficult to understand, and that’s understandable – you can’t understand God’s Word until you believe it, and then God the Holy Spirit lives in you and helps you to understand.

Philip ran up to the chariot and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

Isaiah 53:7-8, “Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before his shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from earth.”

And the eunuch answered, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” “Of course I don’t understand it. I have been in Jerusalem and listened to the rabbis, and they argue amongst themselves as to what the text means. I don’t understand it myself – their arguments all seem equally valid to me – I need someone who really understands to guide me through – to explain the text to me.”

God has done something very strange. God has given the world a book with everything it needs to know for salvation and life, and God has made it impossible to understand until it is believed. God has ordained ministers to preach the Word of God – and teachers will tell you that monologues – speeches – sermons – are a terrible way to convey information. (I can see your mind wandering right now.)

Paul wrote, “For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on him whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news ’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:13-17, ESV).

Philip joined the eunuch in the chariot and sat with him. And the eunuch asked, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” The rabbis of the time were scrambling to make sense of this text, because it had been understood to be about the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior – and the Christians were claiming it was about Jesus of Nazareth – the Crucified – so the rabbis were saying it must be a prophecy about Isaiah, himself, or someone else – which of course makes no sense.

So Philip, like Jesus on the road to Emmaus, opened the Scriptures to the eunuch, and showed him that this text was part of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Paul would later write, “...Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:5b-11, ESV).

Philip opened the Scriptures and explained to the eunuch that Jesus is the Savior that God sent for all who will believe. God sent His Son to earth as a human being, Jesus of Nazareth, and He lived, suffered, died, rose, and ascended back to His throne in Heaven, having secured the salvation of all who will repent of their sins and believe in Him Alone for salvation.

And the eunuch believed savingly in Jesus Alone, and when they happened upon some water, the eunuch said, “See, here is water What prevents me from being baptized?” The eunuch did not want to wait until he got back to Ethiopia to be baptized in a clean lake or river, or in a baptismal font or pool. No, as soon as he saw a small amount of dirty water on the side of the road in the desert, he desired to obey Jesus’ command to be baptized: “See, here is water What prevents me from being baptized?” His nobility was put aside – he was now a servant of Jesus Christ and desired to jump to obedience.

Did you notice as we read the Scripture that the text jumps from verse thirty-six to verse thirty-eight? Verse thirty-seven is in a footnote. It reads, “And Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart, you may.’ And he replied, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.’” The verse is in a footnote because we do not know whether it is authentic, or whether it was added later. However, the point is moot: Philip would not have baptized the eunuch unless the eunuch repented and confessed faith in Jesus Alone for his salvation. So, whether or not those were the exact words he said, the eunuch did confess his faith, they stopped the chariot, and Philip baptized the eunuch in the water by the side of the road.

Do you want to please God? Do you want to obey Him? Do you get excited reading His Word – hearing it read and preached – and want to act on it? Some of you have asked me why I spend so much of much vacation time going to conferences and lectures – because the Bible excited me – God excites me – Jesus excites me – this Gospel that we believe in excites me – and I want to know it and know our God better – both for my sake and so I can serve you better. Pray that you would want to understand more. Pray that you would want more of Jesus.

And then Philip was gone – the Spirit of the Lord carried him to Azotus – thirty-four miles up the coast – and the eunuch saw him no more. We have a few records of supernatural transportation in the Scripture. There’s not much more we can say about it than that: it was supernatural.

And the eunuch went on his way rejoicing. He was full of the joy of his salvation. He went back to Ethiopia, rejoicing, knowing that the Savior he had hoped for had come. He believed in Jesus and brought the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Ethiopia. “...you will be my witness in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8b, ESV). This eunuch was the beginning of the spreading of the Gospel to the ends of the earth. His name is never even mentioned, but we will know him in the Kingdom.

Philip continued preaching the Gospel, beginning at Azorus, continuing up through all of the towns until he came to Caesarea. Once he got to Caesarea, as we find out later in the book of Acts, he gets married and has four daughters, and they entertain the “soon-to-be” Apostle Paul as he preached the Gospel in that city.

What does this history tells us?

First, we ought to desire to read the Word of God. If we love our God and Savior, how can we not be drawn to His Word and want to know it better and Him through it? If you have or had a spouse, didn’t you want to talk with that spouse and know him or her better? If you have a best friend, don’t you want to talk with him or her and get to know him or her better? We have access to the Word of the Almighty and Immortal God and Savior of the Universe, don’t you want to know Him better?

Then, second, we ought to have reading the Word of God as a priority. Not everyone is called to be a pastor or a theologian. Not everyone is called to spend the majority of their lives studying, reading, praying, teaching, and preaching the Word of God, as I have, but doesn’t it make sense that reading God’s Word would be a priority for every Christian? Shouldn’t that be something we all look forward to doing every day? Don’t we long to know what God will say to us in the next chapter?

Then, third we ought to ask for help in understanding the Word of God, both from other Christians and God. Ask me about translations. Come to Bible study. Read good Christian books. Ask me questions – and if I don’t know, I will get back to you. Ask other Christians that you believe have a good understanding of the Scripture. And pray that God will help you to understand. God had given you God within you – God the Father and God the Son have given God the Holy Spirit to live in every Christian. Remember what Jesus said, “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26, ESV). God will help us understand what God has said.

One warning: although God has promised to help us understand His Word, we may make mistakes and the devil seeks to mislead us. So, as we read the Scripture, let us be aware of what the Church has always taught, and if we come up with something that has never been taught by the Church before, or goes against two thousand years of accepted teaching, consider whether you may be mistaken – perhaps inspired by green leftovers...

Fourth, we ought to respond promptly to the Word of God. As we read and understand the Word of God, if we love God, we ought to respond promptly to what He has said. If our response is, “Oh, I don’t believe that” or “Aww, do I have to?” there is something wrong with us, not God, not the text. If we love God, we ought to put ourselves and our preferences and predilections at the feet of Jesus, humbly submitting to what He says – for He is God.

Consider your favorite sin – I have a favorite sin – it is something that we get enjoyment out of doing, but we try not to do because God has said not to do it. For example, a murderer, at least in some sense, enjoys murdering, but God says not to murder, so when a murderer comes to faith, he must humble himself and submit to God and not do what God has forbidden.

But we are also to do those things that God says to do. Love our neighbor – even to creepy ones. Even the ones that are nasty to us. Worship. Pray. Fellowship with other Christians. Jesus said these things are a light burden (cf., Matthew 11:30) compared to the burden we have carried in our lives as slaves to sin.

And that leads to our fifth and final application, we ought to find ourselves rejoicing in Jesus as we follow the Word of God. The Christian life will not always be a happy life, but if we live life through the lense of the Gospel of Jess Christ, it will be a joyful one. If we rightly follow the Word of God, we will have joy.

Do you understand?

Let us pray:
God of Love, Who has given us Your Very Word and the indwelling of God Himself, draw us more closely to You. Make us like that eunuch who just had to read Your Word and then rejoiced and responded in joy when he understood it. Do not let us find comfort until we find comfort in You and in all that You have said. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.