Isaiah Saw Christ
Acts 8:29-33
Many evangelists give out New Testaments to non-Christians, in order to share God’s Word and the Gospel. The idea is that if people start at the beginning of the Bible, with the Old Testament, they might never get to the Good News of the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus. There is some truth to this. But it’s easy for us to forget that, during the time of the disciples, there was no “New Testament.” The only Scriptures any Jew or Christian had were the Torah of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings.
But the Old Testament is clear in its testimony to the coming of Jesus. One of the clearest prophetic passages about Christ is found in Isaiah 52:13-53:12, the very passage the Ethiopian eunuch was reading. And out of all the verses in that passage, the one he was reading asks the question, “Who can describe his generation?” Ironic, since, being a eunuch, the Ethiopian official would have no biological children. Just like Jesus, as prophesied by Isaiah.
But the eunuch would have spiritual children. Ethiopia would become one of the first places outside Israel where the Gospel would really take root. Jesus’ generation, in the same way, would be a family of spiritual children spanning history and the globe. He was led to the slaughter for us, and by his stripes our sins have been taken away.
Gracious Lord, may I esteem my spiritual family as highly as I esteem my biological family. Amen.