Editorial July 26, 1941 Issue

Consent

Evelyn F. Heywood

There is perhaps no incident in the Bible where the immediate spiritual needs of the individual were seen to be more quickly and satisfactorily met than in the case of the Ethiopian eunuch, as recorded in the eighth chapter of Acts. He was on his way through the desert from Jerusalem to Gaza, and may well have heard something of Jesus of Nazareth, of his mighty works, his crucifixion, perhaps even of his reported resurrection and ascension in the city from whence he had just come. And now he sat reading and pondering the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the Christ. It was here that Philip came to him.

Philip had had the unique experience, as recorded in the first chapter of John's Gospel, of being chosen by Jesus to be his disciple even before he had approached him. In that first day of his conversion Philip had perceived that this was the Messiah, foretold in the law and the prophets. There had been no resistance to Truth on the part of Philip, for with him both reason and revelation had consented to the call, and now he was to enlighten another who sought spiritual as well as intellectual explanation of what he read. Thus it came about that these two, the one who had found and the other who was seeking the fulfillment of prophecy, the advent of the Messiah, sat there together in the desert.

In response to the Ethiopian's earnest request, Philip "preached unto him Jesus." Evidence of the completeness of the eunuch's acceptance of what he heard is seen in the fact that when they came to some water in the desert he requested that he be baptized. Philip's only demand upon him was made in the words, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest."

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