04 | Basics: Baptism

I want to share a story about an encounter between one of Jesus’ apostles named Philip and a man that we only know as the Ethiopian eunuch. The gospel writer, Luke, retells this story in the book of Acts, and there is a good chance that Philip himself is probably Luke’s source for retelling this story.

(This story is recorded in Acts 8:26-40.)

In this particular story, Philip receives a message from the Lord to head south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza, and so he obeys and goes. On that same road, there happened to be an Ethiopian man, who was a eunuch and an important official in the royal family of Ethiopia. He was actually the one in charge of all the treasure held by the mother of the reigning family.

Apparently, this man had traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel and was now returning on his long trip back to Ethiopia. We are told that he is seated in his chariot and that he is reading the OT book of Isaiah.

Philip, who is now traveling this same road, is told by the Holy Spirit to go over and join this particular chariot. So Philip runs to catch up with the chariot and once he gets close enough, he hears the Ethiopian man reading from the book of Isaiah and so he asks the man, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”

The Ethiopian responded graciously and invited Philip to come up and sit with him in order for Philip to help him understand what he is reading.

Now the passage of Scripture that he was reading was from Isaiah 53 which said this:

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken away from the earth.”

And so the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? Is he talking about himself or about someone else?”

And Philip answers by using this passage of Scripture to share the good news about Jesus.

And as they’re traveling down the road they came to some water, and the Ethiopian eunuch said, “Look, here is some water! What prevents me from being baptized?”

And so he immediately commanded the chariot to stop, and he and Philip both went down into the water and Philip baptized him. Once they came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit led Philip away, and the Ethiopian eunuch continued on his way rejoicing over what just took place.

Now, I want us to take a minute and examine some of the things surrounding this Ethiopian man’s decision to be baptized.

Revelation

First, we can clearly see that the Holy Spirit is at work in this whole process. The Holy Spirit leads and guides Philip to a particular place in order to have him encounter a particular person whose heart and mind is prepared and ready to embrace the good news of Jesus Christ.

This Ethiopian man was a eunuch from one of the most remote regions of the known world at that time, and he was an important official for the royal family. He was certainly not the normal worshipper of God. He was a foreigner from a distant land, but we are told that he had just traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship Israel’s God. He had come to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel, and now he was returning on the long road home back to Ethiopia.

Now, we don’t know any details about how he ever came to believe in the God of Israel, but what we do know is that he was committed enough to travel all the way to Jerusalem to worship, and that he was curious enough to be reading the Old Testament Scriptures on the road home. We can see clearly that his heart was ripe and ready to receive the revelation of what God had done through Jesus.

And this is something we shouldn’t overlook: It is always a work of the Holy Spirit that makes our hearts ripe and ready to embrace the revelation of what God has done in human history through Jesus.

And so, Philip approaches the chariot and hears this foreigner reading from the prophet Isaiah. He asks the Ethiopian man if he understands what Isaiah has written, and the Ethiopian humbly invites Philip up into the chariot to explain it to him. Philip then starts with the passage that the Ethiopian had been reading and uses it as an easy springboard into sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Reborn

The passage that the Ethiopian just happened to be reading was a passage from Isaiah 53 which describes in detail the Suffering Servant who would be appointed by God and sent by God to one day secure salvation for all people.

Since the eunuch responded by initiating a conversation about his own baptism, we can pretty much assume that Philip must have followed his presentation of the gospel with an appeal for the eunuch to repent and be baptized. This would have been very similar to how the apostle Peter followed his presentation of the gospel in Jerusalem when he ended with these words:

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Regardless, upon hearing the good news of Jesus, this Ethiopian eunuch is compelled to be baptized, and Philip immediately baptizes him as soon as they find water.

Baptism

In his last words here on earth, Jesus commanded his followers to, “Go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Baptism is the symbolic act of uniting yourself with Jesus by participating in his death and resurrection. It outwardly demonstrates the inward transformative work of God that has given you a new life united to Jesus and reconciled to God. You are buried in the water to put to death the old you, and you are raised up out of the water with the power to live a new life united to Jesus.

Baptism should not be seen as something that is mystical or magical, but it should not be reduced to something that is simply symbolic either. Scripture consistently portrays baptism as a fundamental component of conversion. It doesn’t mean that baptism has the power by itself to bring anyone into a right relationship with God, but it is something that is heavily associated with the spiritual rebirth of those who are captivated by God and committed to following Jesus.

So why should we be baptized?

To put it simply, it is confirmation of our union with Christ and with his people. And not only that, it is something that Jesus received himself and something that he commanded us to do and therefore something that we should sincerely honor and obey.

Who should be baptized?

Every single person who God has called and led to repent and believe the good news of Jesus. Everyone who desires the forgiveness of sins and who wishes to receive the Holy Spirit should be baptized.

There are so many debates and points of view on baptism and how it should be done and who is qualified to administer it and what age is appropriate for receiving it and so on that it is easy to get a confused perspective on the act itself. It is a mysterious act but not a magical one; it is a symbolic act but also a supernatural one.

Baptism provides confirmation of our union with Christ, and it is a command from Jesus himself. And so, like the Ethiopian eunuch, when God transforms our hearts and minds through the revelation of the gospel, and we experience the spiritual rebirth that supernaturally takes place the moment we repent and believe, the Scriptures declare that the appropriate response is to be baptized.

Rejoicing

The Holy Spirit had made the Ethiopian’s heart ripe and ready to embrace the revelation of what God has done in human history through Jesus. Once he embraced the good news of Jesus Christ, the Ethiopian responded and immediately received baptism.

The story ends with the Ethiopian continuing on his way home, but now he is rejoicing.

We can only speculate here, but it is very interesting to wonder whether or not the Ethiopian eunuch picked up where he left off in the book of Isaiah. Because if he did, it would have only been a few minutes later that he reached Isaiah 56 and read these words right here:

“Let no foreigner who has united himself to the Lord say, “The Lord will separate me from his people.” And let not the eunuch complain, “I am only a dry tree.” For this is what the Lord says: “To the eunuchs who choose the things that please me and hold fast my covenant, I will give in my house and within my walls a monument and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 56:3-5)

If the Ethiopian eunuch was rejoicing before, just imagine how he might have felt after reading that!