Many people wonder why Christian believers often... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

I ask you, of whom, does the prophet say this, of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this scripture, preached Jesus to him.
Acts 8:34.35.

Many people wonder why Christian believers often speak of persons and events from the Old Testament and then say it is about Jesus Christ. And what have the extensive regulations about the service of God in the law of Moses to do with Christ and the faith of Christians nowadays? The evangelist Philip's conversation with the high Ethiopian court official, from which today's verse is taken, is a useful help for such questions.

This important man had come to Jerusalem to worship there. He had learned enough about God to realise that in the world of heathen gods he could find no rest and peace for his soul. God so arranged things that he obtained a scroll of the book of Isaiah; for no prophet announced the coming of the Saviour and His redemptive work more clearly than he.

On his return journey to his own land the court official was reading the verse: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and as a lamb before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth" (v. 32). Now comes the decisive point: this could not refer to Isaiah himself, but must apply to "some other man" - but to whom?

Philip was able to help: this "other man" is Jesus. And the preaching arising from this verse was so effective that the Ethiopian found faith in Philip's presence. Since then many have accepted Jesus as their Saviour as a result of reading the same chapter: Isaiah 53.

Today's reading: Exodus 36:35-37:16 · Luke 17:1-10