NT Doctrine — Acts 8:26-40

The first treasure door had been opened. The gospel message had gone to Samaritans, and it was confirmed that Christ included them in His treasury of souls, because they received the Spirit of Christ. There were more doors to open. At this point, I rely on my previous commentary of this passage.

At the height of his success, Philip was commissioned to a special task. An angel ordered him to take the roads southward, and follow specifically the route between Jerusalem and Gaza. Most of it ran through dry terrain. On that road he met up with a very powerful man in a chariot. He was the Royal Treasurer for a nation we now associate with Nubia, northern Sudan. As a eunuch, this man would not be permitted full conversion to Judaism, but was faithful. Heading home from a worship trip, the man was reading Isaiah aloud. The chariot would have been rather slow moving, with a large entourage on foot for such an official. Philip would have been able to hear what the man was reading, and could simply walk fast to keep pace. Led by the Spirit, Philip did so, and asked if the man understood what he read. They would have conversed in Greek, and Luke quotes the official reading from the Septuagint (Isaiah 53:7-8). The man seized the opportunity for teaching at his own convenience.

The passage was known even then among Jews as a puzzling text about the Messiah. Philip pointed out that it was fulfilled in Jesus. For a eunuch who had struggled to find a path to embrace the God of Israel to now hear that he was welcomed as a full member of Christ was clearly joy beyond words to him. Philip’s message would have been an obvious call to repent and embrace Jesus as the final offering for all sins. The eunuch signaled his readiness to be baptized, showing that he understood the meaning of the Jewish ritual of repentance [and cleansing in order to stand before the Lord]. Once the act was complete, the eunuch was free to serve Christ as he had never been under ritual laws, and Philip was snatched away to a city some 20 miles (32km) north, called Azotus. Preaching all the way, Philip simply continued up the coastal highway through Joppa, as far as Caesarea.

Thus Luke shows that the command of Christ was fulfilled by stages. Once the Jewish leaders had made their final rejection of the Messiah, it was time to carry the Word farther. First came the Samaritans. Jesus had already preached among them, but now it was no longer mere repentance, but the power and presence of God Himself in every man who repents. The final stage of carrying the Word out to the larger world of Gentiles required a two-pronged approach. It needed the one man best fitted for the task, which was none of the Twelve, yet the senior Apostle must be the first to cross the barrier and bring the Spirit among Gentiles.