The Treasurer
He scratched the scar, shifted in the chariot, and read the passage again.
He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before the shearer is silent,
so He did not open His mouth.
In His humiliation He was deprived of justice.
Who can recount His descendants?
For His life was removed from the earth.
“Is Isaiah talking about himself?” he wondered. He unrolled the scroll a little farther, hoping for some margin notes. “Lord,” he prayed, “How can I understand your word without a teacher? I accept my lot. I am unclean to the rabbi. But I have felt your presence since I was a boy. I believe you have room for me, though I am not deserving. I want to know you.”
He heard only the wind and felt disappointment creeping in. If only God had written in a numerical language. He was confident with numbers. Word, not so much.
“Greetings in the name of Jesus of Nazareth!”
The voice started him. He was not expecting anyone to disturb him. He looked for his guards and remembered he’d sent them for supplies. “I’m quite busy,” he said, a little more grouchily than he intended.
“Oh forgive me. I did not mean to startle you. I see that you have a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, and wondered, do you understand what you are reading?”
“How can I,” he said, “unless someone guides me?”
“I’m Philip, perhaps I can help.”
“I am but a servant of Her Majesty Candice, Queen of Ethiopia, please come up and sit with me.”
I’ve been playing with the text of Acts 8, imagining two men, one trying to understand the Bible, and the other, the Apostle Philip, following the direction of the Bible’s author. I wonder how many busy people, highly skilled in their arena, struggle to understand the Scriptures? Evidently, it’s quite a lot in the U.S. because we just do not meet a lot of biblically informed people, but we sure meet a lot of busy ones!
I wrote Hunger as a devotional commentary for people like the Treasurer of Ethiopia. So, maybe I’m kind of playing at being Philip.
Since I started this blog, I’ve been dropping pages from my book, hoping you’d find them helpful. The book is in quarterly volumes, and volume one is now available on Amazon, linked here. Like the treasurer, you will find no greater blessing than to understand God’s word, but (like him and me) you may need a little help.
The treasurere got what he needed. He connected with God through the prophet Isaiah and Philip introduced him to Jesus. Soon after, he was baptized, and tradition holds that he took the Gospel home and started a church that still exists. I’ve found that when we hunger for God, He shows up, and when we follow Him, our lives becomes very interesting!
If I may be helpful to you, I’d love that. Let me know your thoughts and questions.
