June 27, 2025

Today's Reading: Acts 8:26-40

Daily Lectionary: Joshua 2:1-24; Acts 8:26-40

“And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.” (Acts 8:38)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

The Ethiopian Eunuch was missing something. He had worship; He had the scroll of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 53), and yet it did not make sense to him.

Now, to be clear, Philip is not the pastor who can unlock the secrets of Scripture with his wicked interpretation skills. Philip is the pastor who gets to proclaim the key to all the scriptures—the key that opened up the scriptures to Philip and all the disciples. This key, of course, is that perfect Sunday School answer type of key. I’m talking about Jesus!

Philip, brought by the Spirit, had to be ecstatic when he saw he could talk to this guy about Jesus. The eunuch hears the Gospel. He hears of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who was led to the slaughter and did not say a word. That Jesus who died for sinners by taking their sin and making them His own. The Lamb Jesus who silently takes our punishment that brought us peace, and by His wounds, we are healed.

This Gospel, the Good News that God justifies sinners by the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, is that Word of the Lord that does not return empty. The Holy Spirit, through Philip, the pastor, preaches the Gospel that creates faith in the Ethiopian Eunuch.

Then, water comes into the scene. Faith and Baptism go hand in hand. The Holy Spirit works faith by the hearing of the Word, and the Word that works faith is joined to the waters of Baptism. The eunuch understood and was brought to faith by the work of the Holy Sp,irit who called him by the Gospel. That faith in Christ saves, and he wanted to be united to the Word made flesh that went like a lamb to the slaughter to save Him. Philip, the pastor, baptizes him, and the rest is history.

Rejoice in the daily reality of your Baptism, where the Holy Spirit created faith in you, and in those words and promises of God in and with the water, you were united to Christ, your Savior. Surely as He died, you died. Surely as He has risen from the dead, so you also will rise again. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes, Who made the atoning sacrifice, And calls the souls with guilt oppressed To come and find eternal rest. (LSB 580:2)

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.