Day 77 — Starting with Their Question

Day 77 · Making Christ Known · Acts 8:26-40 (NET2)

Philip meets a traveler reading Isaiah and begins with a simple question. Invited to explain, he starts with the passage and tells the good news about Jesus. This is attentive, Scripture-centered witness rather than a rehearsed speech that ignores the listener. God is already at work. We can listen carefully, explain what we understand, and seek help when a question goes beyond us.

Request

Father, make me attentive to the people and questions before me. Amen.

Read

Acts 8:26-40

²⁶ Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go south on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.) ²⁷ So he got up and went. There he met an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship, ²⁸ and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. ²⁹ Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” ³⁰ So Philip ran up to it and heard the man reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked him, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” ³¹ The man replied, “How in the world can I, unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. ³² Now the passage of scripture the man was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
³³ In humiliation justice was taken from him.
Who can describe his posterity?
For his life was taken away from the earth.”

³⁴ Then the eunuch said to Philip, “Please tell me, who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?” ³⁵ So Philip started speaking, and beginning with this scripture proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. ³⁶ Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me from being baptized?” ³⁸ So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ Philip, however, found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through the area, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

Reading note: NET2 does not include Acts 8:37 in its main text; the verse numbering follows the translation.

Scripture: NET Bible, Second Edition (NET2).

Reflect

1. How does Philip listen and connect the passage to Jesus?
2. What would it look like to begin with someone’s real question rather than your planned answer?

Restate

Describe patient witness that listens before explaining.

Respond

Let the passage guide your prayer. Use these prompts in your own words:

• Praise: Praise God for drawing people to the good news.
• Thanksgiving: Thank him for Scripture’s witness to Jesus.
• Confession: Confess speaking without listening.
• Intercession: Pray for someone seeking to understand the Bible.
• Petition: Ask for clear explanations and humility when you do not know.

Carry it into today: Ask a thoughtful question about someone’s beliefs and listen without interrupting.