The physician Luke wrote how, “the angel of the Lord spoke unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goes down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship, was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join yourself to this chariot. And Philip ran there to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, do you understand what you read? And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth. In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray you, of whom speaks the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?”, and in chapter eight and verse thirty-five of the book of Acts Luke shared how Philip, “preached unto him Jesus” where we read:
Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.
The verse begins, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, ...” Luke began with the words, “then Philip opened his mouth” which means “at that time Jesus' apostle named Philip whose name means lover of horses opened the orifice in his face used for eating and speaking”, “and began at the same scripture” or “and started and initiated speaking to the Ethiopian man from the selfsame portion of Holy writing”, and did the following. Luke shared how “Philip” began to share with the Ethiopian man, and he began instructing the man from the “scripture” where he was reading.
The verse continues, “and preached unto him Jesus.” Luke added the words, “and preached unto him” which means “and announced, brought word and proclaimed to the Ethiopian man about”, “Jesus” whose name means “Jehovah is Salvation” and is “the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate”. Luke shared how “Philip” “announced and proclaimed” “Jesus Christ” to the Ethiopian man.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn how “Philip” began to teach the Ethiopian man” about “Jesus” from the very Holy Scripture and prophesy from which he was reading. The Bible says, “Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me” (See Psalm 40:7), and again, “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.” (See Hebrews 10:7) which declares that the whole Bible is about Jesus Christ coming to the world to save mankind from their sins. God sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross and be raised three days later so people could be forgiven of their sins and live eternally with Him. Let everyone who begins anywhere in the scriptures understand, the Bible is God's plan of redemption to mankind, and His purpose was to save them through His Son Jesus.
Next time Luke shares how the Ethiopian asks Philip, “what does hinder me to be baptized?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment