NOTES for Act 8:26-39
26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert. |
27 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, |
28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet. |
29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot. |
30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest? |
31 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. |
32 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: |
33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth. |
34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? |
35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. |
36 And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized? |
37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. |
38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him. |
39 And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. |
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God's providence is an astonishing thing. On the one hand, it cannot be understood at all, and it may even seem that it is not worth trying, because the Lord Himself says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isa 55:8). On the other hand, the Lord says that "whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother" (Mark 3:35), and through the mouth of the apostle Paul the Spirit commands us: "Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of God is" (Eph 5:17).
So what should we do? How are we to grasp what, by definition, we cannot contain within ourselves? There is only one answer: call into yourself the Author of this design. And if He is in you, then the question of discerning God's will simply does not arise. Because the closer you are to God, the purer your heart is, the more you see God (see Matt 5:8), and the more your own desires turn out to be what God is in fact placing in your heart. It is immensely difficult to give yourself to God so completely that you are always led by the Spirit. Perhaps it is even painful: painful to one's own selfishness and vanity, which very much do not want to give up ground. But it is possible. It is possible to live a full life.
And today we see one such happy person, the deacon Philip. Philip is so open to the "breathings" of the Spirit that without hesitation he agrees to set out without knowing for what or where. And the Spirit rewards him fully for this, breaking the order that had existed until then and granting him a new gift: to "transmit" baptism with the Spirit.
Readings for 30 April 2026
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