IT'S ALL ABOUT THE GOSPEL”
Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 29, 2018
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
The eunuch asked Philip, "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with the Scripture he and told him the Good News about Jesus.
Acts 8:34, 35 (ESV)
Quite a number of years ago a member of one of our congregations shared with me an article that appeared in the Easter issue of a national news magazine. The title of the article was "Why Jesus Was Killed" and it was supposedly a report on all of the various factors and motivations that went into the crucifixion of our Lord some two thousand years ago. As usually happens when I read this kind of article in a secular magazine or newspaper written by their religion editor or one of their staff "religious experts," I became frustrated and pretty close to being infuriated. The article talked at great length about the jealousy of the religious leaders of Jesus' time, the Romans' sensitivity to political opposition and their insensitivity to the religious issues of their subjects, the unfair accusation of "deicide" made against the Jews throughout history by some Christians, and a host of other matters, but nothing at all was said to even suggest that Jesus was the sacrificial Victim who suffered and died as a result of the judgment of a perfect God against the cumulative sin of all humanity.
This experience points out something that we need to remember always in our own study of the Scriptures as well as in our sharing of the Scriptures with others, and that is the simple fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the key to understanding God's Word. The Holy Spirit Himself is the Author of the Bible, and therefore He is the only One who is able to interpret it correctly. A person has understanding when he reads Scripture as the Spirit interprets it for him--that is, only if that person has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Without a knowledge of the Gospel, the Word of God makes no sense at all. That is why, in the text before us, the Ethiopian eunuch who was reading the famous fifty-third chapter of Isaiah (which speaks very graphically about the suffering Servant of the Lord) couldn't quite understand what the prophet was saying. Let's seek the Spirit's guidance this morning as we remember that the Gospel of Christ is indispensable for understanding the prophets and for understanding the Law.
The eunuch who was reading Isaiah in his chariot certainly isn't alone in not being able to correctly understand the prophecy that he was reading. The people who rejected Jesus in His own time read the words of the prophets but they didn't really understand either, even when the Fulfillment of what they had read many times and supposedly believed was staring them in the face. Even the disciples of Jesus didn't make the connection. They believed that their Master was the promised Messiah, but His frequent reminders to them that His mission would find its ultimate fulfillment only through His death and resurrection seemed to fall on deaf ears. They were devastated when Jesus was put to death and they were incredulous when they heard that He had risen from the dead. It's not that the prophecies weren't clear; it's just that the light of the Gospel had not yet illumined their eyes and hearts and minds to the real meaning and significance of the prophecies that they knew so well.
Does anyone doubt that many in our own time are likewise unable to understand what the prophets have written? Many of God's ancient people in our day are still waiting for a Messiah who has already come and are seeking a deliverance that He has already accomplished for them. Likewise many modern-day Christians misinterpret prophecies because they fail to read and study them in the light of the Gospel of Christ. They are looking for things to happen in our day that won't happen because they have already happened in the life and ministry of Jesus. They are seeking the fulfillment of promises in our day that won't be fulfilled because they already have been fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus. They wander about aimlessly because they fail to see the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the heart and center of all the Scriptures--the light in which all of Scripture must be interpreted and applied.
And it's not just the prophets that need the Gospel of Christ for their proper understanding. The Law of God--another major division of the Old Testament Scriptures--is also frequently misunderstood because it is not seen through the window of the Gospel. Most Lutherans are at least somewhat familiar with the threefold use of the Law: It is a curb to discourage coarse outbreaks of sin in society; it is a mirror to expose the sin of the person who looks into it; and it is a guide or rule to tell believers how to please God in their lives. The first use is merely a civil one, not directly connected to the Gospel, but the other two need the Gospel as an absolute necessity or else they will be misinterpreted and the Law will consequently be misused.
The Law can be used as a mirror only in preparation for the Gospel. Without the Gospel the only message you get from the Law is that you are a miserable sinner who has rejected God and His will and is therefore condemned to hell for all eternity--not exactly the kind of message that's going help people deal with life. Judas Iscariot committed suicide because he heard the Law without the Gospel, and I suspect that countless others throughout history have experienced similar despair. The Law by itself works like a mirror does: It exposes the problem but offers no solution. Likewise the Law can be a guide only to someone who stands before God already convicted by the Law and acquitted by the Gospel. A person who doesn't know, understand, and believe the Gospel and yet tries to use the Law as a guide or rule will find himself in the futile and pitiful position of trying to earn his way into heaven.
We are told in the verses that follow our text that, after Philip "told him the Good News about Jesus," the Ethiopian understood not only the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, but everything that he needed to know for spiritual life. He was baptized and, after Philip was miraculously taken from him, he "went on his way rejoicing" (Acts 8:39). It's amazing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can give people a new perspective--the correct perspective. The Law and the prophets--indeed all of the Scriptures--are about Jesus Christ. He is the One who came to fulfill the Law and the prophets and He did it perfectly. He took the place of sinners in obeying the Law of God perfectly and in suffering God's just punishment for sin. Because of this, the Holy Spirit has given to sinners like us the forgiveness of sins, New Life in Christ, and the sure hope of everlasting life. That is the Gospel. The same Spirit of God who makes these things happen blesses us always with the understanding to see our Savior as the heart and soul of God's Word and to share Him with everyone who seeks the truth. And He does this in and through that very same Gospel.
Amen.
May the God of peace, who brought again from the dead that great Shepherd of the sheep, our Lord Jesus, by the blood of the everlasting covenant equip you thoroughly for the doing of His will. May He work in you everything which is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, to whom be honor and glory forever and ever. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.