Whatever you call it, this was one of the stranger occurrences found it scripture.
The story in Acts chapter 8 begins a lot like other biblical stories: God instructs Philip to go southwest on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza, sometimes called the Wilderness Road. Along that road, Philip encounters a very important person riding in a chariot, a eunuch from Ethiopia. This eunuch is a court official of Ethiopia, in charge of Queen Candace’s entire treasury. He is returning home from recently worshipping in Jerusalem (Passover has just ended).
As Philip nears the moving chariot, he notes that the eunuch is reading aloud from what we would call Isaiah chapter 53. [You should stop, here, and go read that chapter before continuing on.] Most christians would recognize this passage of scripture as describing the last days and hours before Jesus died on the cross. But, when Philip asks the eunuch if he understands what he is reading, the fellow says, “How can I, unless someone guides me?”
The eunuch invites Philip to join him in the chariot. And then, as the chariot eats up the miles, traveling along that Wilderness Road into Gaza and on toward Ethiopia, Philip explains. Starting with this scripture, Philip proclaims to him the good news (gospel) of Jesus as the Messiah (Christ). After a while, now believing what Philip has been teaching about Jesus, the eunuch spies a body of water and says, "Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?"
He commands the chariot to stop, then he and Philip enter the water and he is baptized by Philip.
Like I said, the story starts out pretty straight forward. God sends Philip. He meets and instructs the eunuch on a prophecy that tells of Jesus being the Christ. Finally, having now become a believer, the eunuch asks for and is baptized.
Here is where it gets a little strange.
As they are returning to dry land, “the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.”
Let me unpack that for you: Philip disappears right in front of the eunuch and then finds himself over 30 miles away in Azotus (a town situated west of Jerusalem, near the Mediterranean Sea).
Did God teleport Philip to his next assignment?
You will not be shocked to discover that scholars, of course, are divided on this. Was it a miraculous event or was Luke just describing a quick exit for Philip? But, this is hardly the only instance of such miraculous transportation in the Bible. Consider when Jesus appeared to His disciples as they were gathered, post crucifixion, in locked rooms. Jesus just appeared in the midst of them. I tend to agree with those who think it was a miraculous event, mostly because of the phrase, “the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away.” The original language there for “snatched” is the same as for the “rapture.” Sounds pretty miraculous to me.
But, what is the point of all this? I think our takeaway is really found in the “bookends” of the story. It begins with God sending Philip to proclaim the good news to someone. And how does it end? Apparently unaffected by his miraculous journey to Azotus, Philip just heads north and keeps on telling folks the good news about Jesus.
And isn't that always the point?
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PHOTO: https://curiosity.com/topics/theoretically-passing-through-space-and-time-in-a-wormhole-curiosity/
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fifth Sunday of Easter (April 29, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//
Acts 8:26-40
Psalm 22:25-31
1 John 4:7-21
John 15:1-8
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Join us Friday morning at 8:00 for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We spend that hour in the function room of the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant eating, praying, discussing scripture, and enjoying each other’s company. Lotta laughter, too.
Blessings,
Steve
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