Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Here we observe how a student of Jesus opens the possibility of enrollment in the University of Jesus to another. By telling about Jesus!
Philip finds the treasurer of Ethiopia sitting in a chariot on his way home. The man was reading from the prophet Isaiah. A prophecy about Jesus!
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter and as a lamb before the shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice…For his life was taken from the earth.
This is one of an estimated 300 prophecies about Jesus found in the Old Testament. For example, Micah 5:2 foretells Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus and Isaiah 7:14 predicts the virgin birth.
Psalm 22 describes Jesus’ death by crucifixion in advance, a method of execution not yet invented in David’s time. That Jesus fulfilled each of these 300 prophecies is evidence Bible writers were inspired by God.
Today most would begin to share about Jesus by reading in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. But since the New Testament was not yet written, Philip teaches about Jesus from the Old Testament.
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
The Ethiopian man’s response to the good news of Jesus? - Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized? Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.
A consistent pattern of response to the Good News of Jesus is emerging in the Book of Acts. At the beginning in Jerusalem, in Samaria, and now in the desert, those who decide to become students of Jesus are baptized. As Jesus said – Go make students…baptizing them…
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