"The Eunuch And Isaiah 53"

Our text for this lesson comes from Acts 8:32-33 which reads; (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.'" (NKJV)

Philip, who was a servant, is the one whom The Holy Spirit sent to accomplish this work. Under His guidance, Philip was ready and able to do great work for God. A servant is always under orders. The Christian will never be happy until they are where God wants them to be and doing what God wants them to do.

Philip ran to the chariot and was tactful in his approach to the Eunuch.The Eunuch said he needed someone to 'guide' him in what he was reading. This simply means we need people, Christ's Church, to be there to help others understand God's Word. This will never happen unless His Church knows His Word intimately. 

This Eunuch needed to have the Old Testament Scriptures explained. He had the scroll of Isaiah but he did not have the New Testament. Philip told him about Christ and how Isaiah prophesied about Him.

Evangelism is nothing less than being where that individual is and telling them about Christ and what He has to offer in eternity (1 Tim. 1:15; 1 Cor. 15:3; 1 Pet. 2:24). This is the very thing we should do first. Often this is one of our failures in evangelism. We tell them everything else.

When we preach and teach Christ the result is the church making other disciples. Preach Christ before you preach anything else. As we look at Acts 8, are we generally happier that baptism is there than we are that Philip preached Jesus to him? Baptism, or for that matter repentance, without Christ is not Biblical.

The Gospel is not the conditions first but 'The Christ' who gave them. How did the Eunuch identify Christ with Isaiah 53?
First of all, go and read Isaiah 53:1-3. Isaiah points out the ugliness of sin.

It makes no difference if this man is black or a Jewish man in a foreign country, he was still in need of Christ. He was an outsider and probably treated as less than human by some cultures.

The Jew could never accept Jesus as a 'nobody from nowhere.' From Nazareth? A man unlearned from Galilee? A man being crucified? Jesus would never have made the cover of any magazine or newspaper. He would not be among those of popularity. Isaiah tells us there is nothing in Christ, worldly speaking, that is of beauty or attracts a person to Him.

The Eunuch seems to identify and appreciate that fact as told from the O.T. writings. To him, only another servant could be the solution to his sin.

Now read Isaiah 53:4-6 for this next thought. These verses show the guilt of sin. Isaiah teaches substitution here as well as imputation.  Jesus stepped in and took our place. He paid a debt He did not owe as we owed a debt we could never pay. When looked at properly this is truly "Amazing Grace." 

Jesus Christ, The Son of The Living God, died for our sins! Never forget that fact because this, again, is the very heart of The Gospel. God knows our need and cares at every step. 

Remember, the Eunuch has a Bible he did not understand and is searching for a God he did not know. He could identify with a loving God and a Savior who was compassionate.
We notice next the pressure in Isaiah 53:7-8. 

The Eunuch had traveled in a chariot or wagon for a thousand miles in order to worship God under the O.T. covenant. He seems to have patience and courage in taking the step to honor God. Philip preached to him Jesus and told him this Christ was "The Lamb of God." 

This Lamb seemed to have the courage and patience to honor god as well. This Lamb had no reaction, no retaliation or revenge. There is no politics, no war and certainly no power struggle.

In Matthew 26 Jesus instituted The Lord's Supper. He was in agony even into His death on that cross. In Gethsemane the sweat dropped like blood. Without a cross there could be no crown. This is the power and wisdom of the cross (1 Cor. 1:17-25).

This Eunuch could identify with being powerless under an authority.
Last of all in Isaiah 53:9-12 we read of the death. Jesus was literally bruised. This means, at least, that He was crushed, devastated, hurt and wounded.

The work of a prophet was to preach and proclaim God's spoken word. The work of Christ was to ultimately die. He was born into this world for that purpose, to die a terrible death for mankind.

Jesus turns worldly values upside down. Life comes by death, you win by losing. Jesus is the divine servant, substitute, sacrifice and satisfaction. There was no manipulation or deception in Acts 8. There was no invitation in Acts 8.

All through the book of Acts people are confronted with the cross of Christ and baptized as a result. I do believe there is a great lesson here for us of the 21st century.

God bless until our next time together...