(Jean’s Good Friday sermon)
Text: Isa 53, Acts 8:26-40
There’s a colloquial expression that is used in Singapore English, or what we call Singlish – that expression is: “confirm plus chop”. It means to be extremely sure of something. It’s not certain how this expression came about, but one could guess it had to do with the way legal contracts were executed – signed and then stamped, or chopped, with the seal of the company or government authority. In a conversation, one friend might ask another: “hey, you’re coming to my birthday party this Saturday right?”, and that other friend might reassure her by saying: “Yea, I’m coming, confirm plus chop”.
Have you ever felt insecure about something someone promised? Like you weren’t sure if they would keep to their word? I imagine that for many, if not all, of us, keeping promises matters – whether it’s a verbal promise, a pinky promise or a full-blown legal contract. We don’t want to be on the receiving end of a broken promise.
Today’s passages are about a promise that has been kept and is continuing to be kept; a great promise to us made by the greatest promise-keeper of all time, God. The main idea of the two passages is that God promised and provided a sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world, in the person of Jesus. We’ll first explore the two scripture passages, and then I would like to offer 3 points of encouragement arising from the passages.
Let’s set the stage for our two scripture passages today.
In the foreground is the narrative in Acts 8:26-40, where Philip the evangelist guides a God-fearing Ethiopian eunuch to understand the good news about Jesus. The events took place after Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. Philip was a member of the early church in Jerusalem. At this time, the gospel was mainly circulating among Jewish Christians in Jerusalem. In this passage, [v26] an angel from the Lord told Philip to go on a desert road going out from Jerusalem to a place down south called Gaza. Now, someone else was also travelling down that desert road – [v27] an Ethiopian eunuch, who had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was at that time returning home along that same road. That man was a foreigner and a eunuch, which meant that he had a marginalized status in Jerusalem and faced restrictions on how he could participate in worship in the temple. In God’s providential timing, Philip met the Ethiopian eunuch just as the Ethiopian eunuch was reading the prophet Isaiah. [v28-35] The Ethiopian eunuch was reading, but he didn’t understand. It’s not that he was illiterate – in fact, quite the contrary, he was likely well-educated and capable, since he was an official responsible for the financial affairs of the queen of a wealthy state. What couldn’t he understand in Isaiah? This brings us to our second passage, Isaiah 53.
Operating in the background of the story, but no less significant, is the scripture passage in Isaiah 53, in which the prophet Isaiah speaks of God’s promised servant who would die to bear the sins of many. Isaiah 53 contains the section of scripture that the Ethiopian was reading when he met Philip. Oh, spoiler alert – do you know who is the promised suffering servant, the slaughtered lamb, that Isaiah described in that passage? It’s Jesus. This connection to Jesus is what Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch to understand.
Who is the promised one, despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief? [v 3] Jesus.
Who is the promised one, who was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities even though he himself had no sin? [vv 5,9] Jesus.
Who is the promised one, who poured out his soul to death, bearing the sin of many so that we can be counted as righteous before God? [vv 11-12] Jesus.
Indeed, after Philip explained to the Ethiopian eunuch that the scripture passage pointed to the good news about Jesus, the Ethiopian eunuch finally understood. The Ethiopian eunuch expressed his faith in Jesus through baptism [vv36-38], and continued back home, rejoicing continually all the way [v39]. After Philip’s timely encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch, Spirit of the Lord led Philip away to other places where he continued to preach the gospel. [v40]
Based on these two passages, may I offer three points of encouragement.
The first is – believe.
Believe what? Believe that Jesus Christ is the promised lamb of God who suffered and died on your behalf to take away your sins. Why do we need Jesus? Because we have sinned against God. Like the prophet Isaiah described in 53:6, we are like sheep gone astray. We want to go our own way, do our own thing, without heeding the summoning voice of our good shepherd. God promised that Jesus would come to address the problem of sin. What did Jesus do to address the problem of sin? He died for us, bearing the punishment that we deserved.
Perhaps this is your first time hearing about what Jesus has done on the cross for you. I encourage you find out more about who Jesus is and how much he loves you. Or perhaps you’ve read or heard parts of the bible but don’t really understand the meaning of what you’re reading, or how the pieces fit together. I encourage you to keep seeking, and maybe even ask Christians who, like Philip, would be eager to journey alongside you and shed light on what the Word of God says.
The second point of encouragement is – be assured.
Be assured of God’s promise of salvation for those who believe in Jesus. Why can we trust this promise?
Because what God promised in Isaiah 53 was in fact fulfilled nearly 700 years later by Jesus Christ. So, the proof is in the pudding. Jesus’ life and death is direct evidence showing that God’s promise came true. Philip understood this, and helped the Ethiopian eunuch to see this too.
Two features of the text in Isaiah 53 highlight the certainty of God’s promise. First, in v10, it is written that it was the will of the Lord to crush the servant. It was God’s divine purpose and good intention to deploy an effective sufferer, the perfect lamb, to make the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus’ death was not by accident. What God had divinely purposed was accomplished through Jesus. Second, the grammar of the Hebrew used in Isaiah 53 intensifies the certainty to this promise. Notice that in Isaiah 53, the descriptions in the entire body of the passage are in the past tense. For example, v3 – he was despised, v5 – he was pierced, crushed, we are healed, v7 – he was oppressed, afflicted, opened not his mouth. Why use the past tense to describe future events? The Hebrew grammatical construct that is used in this passage is the “prophetic perfect”. This means that to the mind of Isaiah, what he depicts is so vivid and sure of occurrence that he sets it forth as though it had already having taken place. In other words, in Isaiah 53, Isaiah knew he was not speaking about the past, but about a very certain future. Indeed, around 700 years later, what God willed came to pass.
From this, we can see that God is a promise-keeper. What God says he will do, he will certainly do – confirm plus chop. Do you ever doubt God? Have you had moments when your world seems full of darkness and despair, and you wonder – where is God and what is he doing? Does God really love me? Am I really forgiven? Is there really the hope of life after death? Be assured and take comfort that God is faithful, and his promises in his word are secure. Yes, God loves you; yes, your sins are forgiven because of Jesus; yes, whoever believes in Jesus has eternal life.
The third and final point of encouragement is – be a part.
Be a part of the outworking of God’s promise of salvation to all nations. God’s mission is that the good news about Jesus be proclaimed to all people, across geographical, ethnic, cultural and social boundaries. The death of Jesus inaugurated the new covenant under which all who believe in Jesus can be saved from their sins. Those who were formerly excluded from the worshipping community in Israel, like the Ethiopian eunuch, are now welcomed into the household of God. In Isaiah 56:3, God promised that foreigners and eunuchs would be welcomed into God’s temple and blessed by God. Passages like Isaiah 65 point forward to a time when the Gospel would be brought to the Gentiles. Indeed, the book of Acts shows how good news about Jesus spread from Jerusalem to what was considered at that time the “ends of the earth”. Jesus himself commissioned us to go and make disciples of all nations. God’s saving mission on earth continues even till today. Don’t be an apathetic Christian. Share the good news.
But, one might say, “what if I’m too afraid, or too unsure about how to share the good news about Jesus with others?” We can take heart from a key spiritual truth from the Acts passage. The passage is book-ended by divine direction. At the start, God directs Philip to the place of his coincidental encounter with the Ethiopian. At the end, God leads Philip away to his next preaching destinations. Divine action and human action intertwine, where God directs Philip and Philip obeys God’s direction. So, take heart that God’s Spirit is in, with and guiding us as we proclaim the good news about Jesus.
In conclusion, God promised and provided a sacrificial lamb who takes away the sin of the world, in the person of Jesus – confirm plus chop. Believe that Jesus is the promised lamb. Be assured of God’s promised salvation for those who believe in Jesus. Be a part of the outworking of God’s promised salvation to all nations.
God invites you to participate in the great mission that he is doing now – will you answer his call?