Acts 8:26-40

Preaching to the Ethiopian

At this point, Luke told Theophilus that Philip was directed by an angel of the Lord to go south to a place along the Jerusalem to Gaza road where no people lived. When an influential Ethiopian came along, the Spirit directed Philip to "go near and overtake this chariot." Luke also explained that this man was a eunuch serving under the great Queen Candace of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasury. He was on the road because he had been to Jerusalem to worship. While he was riding along, this Ethiopian was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8.

As Philip ran alongside the chariot, he asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The official's question in return, "How can I, unless someone guides me?", indicates just how open his heart was. Philip accepted his invitation to sit with him in the chariot and answered his most important question, "I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?" Philip started proclaiming Jesus as the Christ from that very scripture. He must have preached baptism, since the Ethiopian nobleman asked, "See, here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?" Though verse 37 is omitted from the most reliable texts, it is obvious from other scripture that one desiring the Lord to confess his name before the Father will confess Jesus before men (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 10:9-10). After the eunuch commanded the chariot to stand still, both Philip and the Ethiopian went down into the water and Philip immersed him.

Immediately following their coming up out of the water, the Spirit caused Philip to be gone from the presence of the rejoicing eunuch. On his journey back to Caesarea, Philip preached in the coastal cities along the way. Specifically, Luke mentioned Azotus, or the ancient city of Ashdod (Acts 8:26-40).