By John Stott
Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
Acts 8:35
This story is so well known that perhaps it does not need to be rehearsed in detail. Suffice to say that, after his visit to Samaria, Philip received a fresh commissioning, this time to go south to the desert road that led ultimately to Egypt. Providentially, he met an Ethiopian public official who was evidently Jewish, for he was returning in his chariot from one of the annual festivals in Jerusalem and had the Isaiah scroll open on his lap. Out of Isaiah 53 Philip told him the Good News of Jesus and at his request baptized him.
Luke has deliberately brought together two examples of Philip’s evangelistic labours. The similarities between them are obvious; it is the differences that are instructive, especially in the people evangelized and the methods employed. Take the people evangelized. They were different in race, rank and religion. The Samaritans were of mixed race, half Jewish and half gentile, and Asiatic, while the Ethiopian seems to have been a black African, though Jewish by birth or conversion. As for rank, the Samaritans are likely to have been ordinary citizens, whereas the Ethiopian was a distinguished public servant in the employment of the crown. That brings us to religion. The Samaritans revered Moses but rejected the prophets, whereas the Ethiopian had a strong attachment to Judaism and was reading one of the very prophets the Samaritans rejected. Yet despite their differences in racial origin, social class, and predisposing religious condition, Philip presented them with the same Good News of Jesus.
Consider next the methods Philip employed. His mission to the Samaritans was an early example of “mass evangelism,” for the crowds heard his message, saw his signs, paid attention to him, believed, and were baptized (vv. 6, 12). Philip’s conversation with the Ethiopian, however, was a conspicuous example of “personal evangelism,” for here was one man sitting alongside another man and talking to him out of the Scriptures, privately and patiently, about Jesus.
It is noteworthy that the same evangelist was adaptable enough to use both methods, namely public proclamation and private testimony. But, although he could alter his method, Philip did not alter his message
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For Further Reading: Acts 8:26-40