Life Changing Words
—Isaiah 53:7-8
The Holy Spirit commanded Philip to meet a man from Ethiopia. He was the queen’s treasurer and had been to worship in Jerusalem. As he sat in his chariot on his way home, travelling the lonely road, he was reading from the book of Isaiah. The passage he was reading when Philip ran up to his chariot and greeted him, was Isaiah 53:7-8. The words he read were about to change his life forever (Acts 8:26-39).
The Passage in Isaiah
"He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
Yet he did not open his mouth.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
And like a sheep silent before its shearers
So he did not open his mouth.
In humiliation his judgment was taken away.
Who shall describe his generation
For his life is cut off from the earth
For the transgression of my people."
(Isaiah 53:7-8 as quoted in Acts 8:32-33)
1 The Right Questions
Philip and the Ethiopian’s Questions
Philip and the Ethiopian ask each other the most direct questions (Acts 8:30-31,34) which get right to the heart of the words of (Isaiah 53:7-8).
Philip doesn't ask, "Nice day isn't it?" but rather, "Do you understand what you are reading?"
The man in the chariot doesn't come in at a tangent either. He fires three questions at Philip:
- A rejoinder, "How could I understand unless someone guides me?"
- An invitation. He asks Philip if he will sit beside him in the chariot and explain?
- Then the heart of the matter, "Please, of whom does the prophet speak, of himself or of someone else?".
This dialogue is full of question marks, but not in any sense that it is vague or uncertain. Both men know exactly what they want. Philip wants to teach the man from the scripture, and the man wants to understand the scripture. Both have their hearts in the word of God. So Philip starts talking, and the Ethiopian starts listening, each having the highest regard for the other’s part in the process.
2 The Right Responses
Philip’s Response to the Ethiopian
Philip responds in exactly the right way. "Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture (in Isaiah) he preached Jesus to him." (Acts 8:35).
We don't know what other passages Philip used, but he showed the Ethiopian that Jesus is the Lamb of God led to the slaughter for the sins of the world. In the passage from Isaiah that the Ethiopian was reading, Philip could have pointed out the prediction of the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, and shown the Ethiopian that Jesus died to bear the sin of many, including him (Isaiah 53:9-12).
There is something that Philip taught as "he preached Jesus to him." which we observe from the Ethiopian's fourth question which was a response to what Philip had been saying.
The Ethiopian’s Response to Philip
The chariot is making its way along the road, and comes upon "some water" (Acts 8:36). This prompts a fourth question from the Ethiopian... "Look! Water! What prevents me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36).
This sudden question from the Ethiopian implies that Philip had been preaching baptism as a part of preaching Jesus. I will be blunt here. Nobody preaches Jesus if they do not preach baptism.
Baptism and Christ’s Death
Now how does baptism relate to the passage in Isaiah and to the preaching of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ? Paul explains this in Romans 6:3-11. Jesus Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins, and when we are baptized into Christ, we are "baptized into his death... buried with him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:3-4).
We see therefore that baptism is "for the remission of sins" (Acts 2:38) because through it we come into Christ’s death which was "a guilt offering" by which he "bore the sin of many" and was able to "justify the many" (Isaiah 53:5-12)
Philip’s Next Response
Philip did not hinder the Ethiopian from his wish to be baptized, nor did he try to delay it. If the Ethiopian believed with all his heart what Philip had preached to him, then Philip was ready to baptize the Ethiopian there and then. The Ethiopian confessed faith in Christ saying, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God" (Acts 8:37). The chariot was halted, and Philip went down into the water with the Ethiopian, and Philip baptized him in the water (Acts 8:38).
3 The Right Result
The Ethiopian’s Joy
In one Bible study, the Ethiopian progressed from puzzling over who the "lamb led to the slaughter" might be, to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, which led to his obedience to Christ in baptism for the forgiveness of his sins. No wonder he "went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). The words of Isaiah which had been explained to him had totally changed his life. Your life can be changed in the same way.
Footnotes
It is not essential to read these notes to benefit from the lesson. However there are some matters concerning the texts under study that you may wish to note
- 1. Luke tells us that the Ethiopian was reading from "the prophet Isaiah" (Acts 8:28). Some theologians hold a theory about authorship of Isaiah that contradicts not only Luke, but Matthew, John, and Paul —who also attribute Isaiah 53 to the prophet Isaiah (Matthew 8:17, John 12:38, Romans 10:16). It is not these Bible authors who are mistaken, rather the theory that contradicts them is in error.
- 2. You might also notice some differences in the wording between the passage in Isaiah and the quotation in Acts. The passage in Isaiah is translated directly into English, whereas the passage in Acts is a Greek translation which is then translated into English. So in Acts we have a translation of a translation, hence some difference in wording occurs. Remember, however, that when scripture is translated in scripture, the translation is inspired by the Holy Spirit. We can therefore trust both the original words in Isaiah and the quotation in Acts.
- 3. You may have a verse missing in your copy of the passage we refer to in Acts. Some translations do not include verse 37, because it is missing from certain manuscripts which predate the many which include it. There is no reasonable doubt that the verse should be included. Rather than consign the verse to the margin, it should be placed in the text with a note in the margin. This has in fact been done in some later editions of the versions at fault.