Commentary on Acts 8:31-38

By Bob Myhan

³¹ And he said, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

Perhaps seeing this encounter as the providence of God, the eunuch invites Philip to sit with him for the implied purpose of explaining the passage. The following quote from R.C.H. Lenski is very interesting.

“It was surely the Lord’s providence that had place Isaiah, the evangelist of the Old Testament, into this devoted proselyte’s hand and had led him to turn to the very choicest part of the book of this prophet at the time of Philip’s approach. God had prepared this pupil for his new teacher. He was reading aloud, perhaps with some difficulty, for the ancient manuscripts did not write the words separately, had no punctuation, no breathings, and no accents. His copy must have been made from Greek LXX, and Philip conversed with him in Greek, the language everywhere current” (Commentary on Acts, page 340).

³² The place in the Scripture which he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ³³ In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth."

The passage being read by the Ethiopian eunuch was Isa. 53:7-8. This section of the scroll of Isaiah was a very difficult one for the Jews (even the chief rulers and priests) since it presents a suffering servant, which seems to contradict the triumphant king. It is a paradox but not a contradiction. Jews - with their “geo-political kingdom” mentality - just could not understand that the suffering is the means by which He would triumph.

³⁴ So the eunuch answered Philip and said, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?"

The Ethiopian is still responding to Philip’s question, "Do you understand what you are reading?" There was a lot of confusion over some Old Testament prophecies because the Messiah was spoken of in many different ways (prophet, priest and king). It was not certain to the Jews whether these all referred to the same person. Hence the priests and Levites were sent to inquire of John the immerser as to who he was.  

Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, "I am not the Christ." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the Prophet?" And he answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you, that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?" He said: "I am 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Make straight the way of the LORD," ' as the prophet Isaiah said." (John 1:19-23)

Thus, the eunuch is unsure as to whether the passage in question is a prophecy concerning the Messiah (Christ), Elijah, the forerunner or the prophet himself.

³⁵ Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.

God knew in advance just where the Ethiopian eunuch would be and just what he would be reading and how to get Philip there at precisely the most convenient moment. Philip has been preaching in Samaria and may very well have used this particular passage. We cannot know whether Philip was inspired or had come to know the gospel via natural teaching but he was able to confirm his preaching as true. He did not need to perform a miracle on this occasion because of the providential timing. Taking advantage of the situation, he began at Isaiah 53:7-8 and “preached Jesus to him.” We are not given the details of the sermon but we do have his text. Some have made the observation that Isaiah wrote as if he had been transported through time to the day of the crucifixion for he accurately describes many of details of that cruel unjust punishment of our Lord.

³⁶ Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?"

The presence of water is evidence that this was not a barren place. The desire on the part of the eunuch to be baptized is evidence that to “preach Jesus” includes the subject of baptism. He most likely referred to the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:14-16; Luke 24:44-49), as well as Pentecost (Acts 2:1-38). The eunuch knows he needs to baptized and wonders whether he is a fit candidate. He is most likely “hoping against hope” at this point.

³⁷ Then Philip said, "If you believe with all your heart, you may." And he answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God."

He makes the good confession that was first made by Peter and later by thousands of Jews, proselytes and Gentiles. Even our Lord made the good confession before Pilate.

When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, "Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" So they said, "Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered and said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus answered and said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (Matt. 16:13-18)

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep this commandment without spot, blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ's appearing. (1 Tim. 6:12-14)

³⁸ So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him.

That both men got out of the chariot and “went down into the water” is consistent with the action of immersion. If Philip needed only to pour or sprinkle a little water on the head of the eunuch, that could have been performed without either man getting out. It is only by necessary inference that we know Philip baptized the eunuch, rather than the other way around.

(To be continued)

Miraculous Elements in First Century Conversions (Part 2)

By Bob Myhan

Saul of Tarsus saw and spoke to Jesus on the road to Damascus. He was “blinded by the light.” (Acts 9:1-8) For three days he was “without sight, and neither ate nor drank.” (Acts 9:9) During that time, he was praying and had a vision of a man restoring his sight. (Acts 9:10-12) This man was sent by Jesus to tell Saul what he “must do.” (Acts 9:6) After restoring his sight, the man told him, “Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 9:18; 22:12-16) Saul was not saved until his sins were washed away in baptism. This is in line with what Jesus said, as recorded in Mark 16:15-16. Saul’s seeing Jesus was not an essential part of his conversion, but was necessary to qualify him as an official witness to the resurrection (Acts 1:15-22; 22:14-15). The restoration of sight was not evidence of salvation but confirmation that what Ananias would tell him was true. When Ananias told him to “be baptized,” he knew that was what he “must do.”

Sometime after the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, a Gentile named Cornelius saw an angel who told him to send to Joppa for Peter, who would tell him what he “must do” to “be saved” (Acts 10:1-6; 11:13-14).

Just before the men sent by Cornelius arrived in Joppa, Peter had a vision which taught him there was no longer a distinction between Jews and Gentiles, as far as salvation was concerned (10:9-16, 26-28).

After Peter arrived in Caesarea, while he was preaching, “The Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.” (Acts 10:44-47; 11:15-16) This enabled the Gentiles to “speak with tongues and magnify God” but this was not proof that they were saved for Peter had not yet told them what they “must do.” After “the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on” them, Peter commanded them to be baptized (Acts 10:44-48).

Jesus had told His apostles,

“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me.” (Matt. 10:40)

“He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.” (Luke 10:16)

When one sent by Jesus issues a command, the command must be carried out, for to refuse to obey one sent by Jesus is to refuse to obey the Lord. Thus, when Peter commanded them to be baptized he was telling them what it was that they “must do.”

When Peter later related these events to the apostles and elders at Jerusalem they said, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” (Acts 11:15-18) This was the purpose of the reception of the Holy Spirit on this occasion. The angel appeared to get the preacher and the prospect together, so the latter could be told what he “must do.”

Yes, there were miraculous elements in first century conversions but these were not directly related to the salvation experience. Rather, they had to do with the fact that the gospel was just beginning to be preached and needed to be confirmed. But now that it has been confirmed there is no need for these miraculous elements. People in the twenty-first century are required to do whatever people in the first century were required to do for salvation but no more. &