Isaiah 53 in the Great Isaiah Scroll
It is in Acts 8:26-38 we find the story of Philip and the Ethiopian official from the court of Candace. The Spirit directs Philip to ‘go down from Jerusalem to Gaza’ and talk to the man. Here was the last watering hole before the desert on the route from Jerusalem to Egypt, from where he would go on to the ancient Nubian kingdom south of Aswan on the Nile.
The man was probably a God-fearer – ‘he had come to Jerusalem to worship.’ He was ‘seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah.’ This was unusual for an outsider, a Gentile. He had, nevertheless, been to Jerusalem and would have heard of the crucifixion, of the events at Pentecost, and might have witnessed the beginning of the Christian Diaspora. What would he have seen and heard that would draw him to Isaiah 53?
Philip is instructed to join the man’s chariot, which he did and found himself invited to come up and sit with him. What if it had been Charles Russell in that chariot? What would he have told the man?
‘I see you’re on the way home via Egypt. You really must drop in on the pyramids, they have immense significance in the plan and purpose of God. Do you have a tape measure with you?’
What if Joseph Smith had been invited into the chariot? What would he have said?
‘Oh, that book. Put it away, I’ve got something much better here. Have you ever heard of the Nephites and Lamanites?’
In any event, the Ethiopian official ends up being baptised by Philip - vv 36-38. What did Philip share with him that he should act so decisively, immediately? What was he so determined to be committed to that he should insist on baptism?
‘Philip opened his mouth and beginning with this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus Christ.’ -v35
He told him the good news about Jesus Christ. What is the good news about Jesus? Paul tells us:
‘For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared…’ 1 Corinthians 15:3-5
This same Paul begins his letter to Corinth saying, ‘I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.’ 2:2
To the church in Galatia Paul wrote, ‘Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.’ Galatians 6:14
To Corinth he writes dismissively of, ‘the wisdom of the wise,’ who regard the cross of Christ as foolishness. 1 Corinthians 1:18-28
He goes on to explain, all this is, ‘so that no man might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’’
It was at Caesarea Philippi that Jesus began to unfold his determined purpose:
‘...that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again’ Mark 8:31. From Caesarea Philippi he set his face to Jerusalem, where all he said would come to pass, where he would assault and break down the gates of Hades, and rise in triumph over sin and death, ‘leading captivity captive’ (Ephesians 4:8; cf Ps.6818) by the work of the cross.
It was to this message the Ethiopian responded, this message sent him down into the waters of baptism. It was this message he, no doubt, took with him back to the court of Queen Candace. The Ethiopian Church was established in the early centuries of the Christian Church and is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox churches.
We are told in no uncertain terms that Jesus preached the good news of the kingdom. We are also told that entry is only by way of the cross of Christ.
It is characteristic of the cults to emphasise the kingdom, emphasising organisation, putting themselves in charge, insisting they alone have the insights to lead us there, knowledge known to no one else in the world. They alone have been to the mountaintop, to the majestic halls of heaven, their authority, their priesthood, their status alone as the elect ensuring we ‘get it right.’
The good news about Jesus Christ itself may be, and is, used to build kingdoms for men. Kingdoms defined, shaped, and delineated after men’s own image. We see it in the governing body of the Watch Tower Society, with their failed prophecies, changed doctrines, shunning, and fear-mongering that keeps people in check. We see it in Mormonism, with its complicated and unbiblical priesthood system, its vaunted authority to speak for God, and its esoteric cosmology and temple system.
The good news about Jesus Christ is just that, about Jesus Christ. It isn’t Jesus plus an organisation, Jesus plus gnostic mysticism. Anything added takes away from the good news.
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