”And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Acts 8:37King James Version (KJV)
Acts 8:37 Devotional (Daily Bible Verse)
Jesus Christ is the Son of God
In Acts 8:37, the Ethiopian eunuch declared that he believed that “Jesus Christ is the Son of God” and he commanded his chariot to stop (Acts 8:38a). Then, he and Philip went into the water, and Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38b).
Background
The great persecution against the Church in Jerusalem
After the brothers had chosen Philip to serve in the early Church (Acts 6:1-6), and Stephen had been stoned to death (Acts 6:8-8:1a), a great persecution arose against the Church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1b). The believers, except for the apostles, were, therefore, scattered throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1b).
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
God’s angel then commanded Philip to go southward from Samaria to the road that went down from Jerusalem to Gaza (Acts 8:26). And there, the Holy Spirit commanded Philip to go and join an Ethiopian, a eunuch, in his chariot, where he was reading Isaiah (Acts 8:27-29).
Philip, therefore, ran to the Ethiopian Eunuch and heard him reading Isaiah 53:7-8. He, therefore, asked him if he was understanding what he was reading (Acts 8:30).
The eunuch confessed that he wasn’t understanding the reading because there was no one to guide him. And he invited Philip to sit with him (Acts 8:31).
Consequently, the eunuch asked Philip who Isaiah was talking about (Acts 8:32-34). And Philip, beginning with the Scripture the eunuch was reading, told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:35).
As they were going along the road, they came to some water, which the eunuch pointed out to Philip while he wondered if there was anything that would have prevented him from being baptized (Acts 8:36). Philip, therefore, told him if he believed with all his heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, then he could be baptized (Acts 8:37). And the eunuch commanded the chariot to stop, and they went into the water, and Philip baptized him (Acts 8:38).
Philip’s witness to the Ethiopian Eunuch
Therefore, the Eunuch believed and confessed that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, according to the preaching of Philip. For Jesus was The Christ or Messiah (John 9:22), and consequently the Son of God.
Consequently, the eunuch confessed his belief (Matthew 10:32 and Romans 10:9). For confessing Jesus Christ means that you believe that He was raised from the dead to become Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). And it is also a confession that Jesus is the Son of God, thus, God (1 John 4:15).
Important Note on Acts 8:37
It’s important to note that if you’re reading a modern English translation of the New Testament (NT), you will notice that Acts 8:37 is either omitted or bracketed. Thus, there will be a footnote saying that early manuscripts do not contain this verse.
This is because verse numbers were not assigned to the biblical texts until the year 1551. The printing press had been invented about one hundred (100) years earlier.
Consequently, there was a subsequent increase in the printed copies of the Bible. At that time, the scholars who were translating the Greek NT into other languages only had a small number of ancient manuscripts to use in their translation. But these documents were primarily dated from the ninth through twelfth centuries.
They, therefore, contained the text that was assigned to verse 37. For the next five hundred (500) years, this verse was included in most Bibles. But in the twentieth century, archaeologists began discovering much older Greek NT manuscripts dating as far back as the second century. These older documents dated from the second through fourth centuries did not contain verse 37.
Therefore, given the discrepancies between the earlier and later manuscripts, scholars have to decide which variant most likely represents the original Book of Acts as written in the first century. And the consensus has been that the original version did not contain the words from verse 37. Regardless, scholars do believe that the contents of verse 37 likely reflect the practice of second-century Christians.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I confess that You are Lord. I worship and exalt You in Your Name, Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
2 Kings 4-5 (see How to Read the Bible in One Year or How to Read the Bible (for Beginners))
