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.” 34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
8:32
The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
Philip explained to the Ethiopian Isaiah 53:7-8 (LXX). Isaiah 53 is a crucial Messianic passage in the Old Testament.
“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before its shearer is silent, So He opened not His mouth.
The eunuch was probably confused about the identity of the person led as a sheep to the slaughter. The person was Jesus, whom the Romans led to the cross. This “sheep” went to the slaughter voluntarily; He wanted to die for the sins of the world.
8:33
In His humiliation His justice was taken away, And who will declare His generation? For His life is taken from the earth.”
The Romans were not just in their crucifixion of Christ.
8:34
So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?”
The eunuch humbly responded to Philip’s interpretation, then asked a specific question. The upshot of his question was whether Isaiah spoke of himself or someone else.
8:35
Then Philip opened his mouth,
Philip was ready to give the Ethiopian an answer from Scripture.
and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him.
Philip preached Jesus’ substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection to the Ethiopian beginning in Isaiah 53:7-8. The Isaiah passage speaks of the substitutionary suffering Messiah.
PRINCIPLE:
Every Christian should be proficient in the Word of God.
APPLICATION:
Philip knew enough Scripture to interpret Isaiah 53 for the eunuch. He admonished each believer always to be ready to give an answer on behalf of the gospel (1 Pe 3:15).
Irenaeus, who wrote in the second century, indicated that the Ethiopian eunuch became a missionary to the Ethiopians.
