Miracle Atmosphere

C.S. Lewis once defined a miracle as “something unique that breaks a pattern so expected and established we hardly consider the possibility that it could be broken” (Miracles, Eric Metaxas).

Open Acts and you step into a miracle atmosphere! Though Acts’ early chapters span at least many months (if not a few years). the extent of miracles is still breathtaking: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit (2:1-4) . . . the conversion of 3000 at Peter’s preaching (2:41) . . . the healing of the lame beggar (3:1-10) . . . the prayer-meeting-place shaken as Holy Spirit again fills the believers (4:31) . . . the church’s sacrificial unity selling possessions to give to their poor (4:32-37) . . . the God-judgment deaths of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11) . . . the many signs and wonders done by the apostles’ hands (5:12) . . . the prison rescue (5:17-21) . . . and the signs worked through Philip (8:6,7).

Today we come to Acts 8:26-40 and find the air again breathing with miracles . . .

Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road– the desert road– that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. The eunuch was reading this passage of Scripture: “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 speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea (Acts 8:26-40).

Miracle #1–An Angel Giving Directions

The way author Luke writes, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road– the desert road–that goes
down from Jerusalem to Gaza'” , you’d think a direction-giving angel was as common as a cop on the corner. The established pattern would be an apostle plotting the spread of the Gospel sending a courier to Philip in Samaria with his next assignment. Instead, a God-sent ministering spirit (Hebrews 1:14) is dispatched from God. By faith, Philip went.

Miracle #2–A Perfectly-Timed Meeting

The road from Jerusalem to Gaza was about 50 miles long. Philip was walking; the Ethiopian was riding. Yet the timing of Philip leaving Samaria, reaching Jerusalem and then apparently coming up behind the Ethiopian in his chariot after he had left Jerusalem was perfect. An observer, not knowing the angel direction-giver, would have called their meeting “chance”. But God who exists outside time, works precisely within it. So much so that Philip appears at the very time when the Ethiopian may have been wishing for an Old Testament teacher on that wilderness road!

Miracle #3–The Ethiopian Prophet-Reader

Why wasn’t the Ethiopian reading Exodus? Or any one of the other 65 chapters of Isaiah? Instead, he was reading the most powerful, descriptive prophecy of the Messiah’s death! When Philip asked if he understood the words and the Ethiopian said, “I need help” and invited him to sit with him, Philip “told him the good news about Jesus.” When the Ethiopian spotted water, he wanted to know why he couldn’t be baptized right then and there! Doesn’t that all sound suspiciously as God-at-work?

Miracle #4–Spirit Transportation Service

Gotta admit this next one is pretty peculiar: When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

Twenty to thirty miles north to Azotus. Reasonable walking distance in those days. But maybe the Lord had mercy on Philip’s tired feet. Maybe the Lord wanted Philip in Azotus faster than Philip’s feet could take him. Or maybe the Lord just wanted to give Philip a thrill-ride for the joy of it. Whatever the reason, “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away” and he “appeared at Azotus.”

Miracle #5–The Gospel to Afric

You have to ask, “Why did the Lord work so miraculously to get that Ethiopian the Gospel?”

First, I think to show that the Gospel is to include “the ends of the earth.” The Ethiopian was (obviously) from far-off Ethiopia in northern Africa (bottom right, green). He was dark-skinned. In Christ there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, black or white! In the end worshipers will come “from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Revelation 5:9).

Second, I think the Lord wanted the Gospel planted in Africa. And look who he chose to do the planting! This man was powerful, the chief treasurer of a kingdom wealthy from iron smelting, gold mining and trading. “It was a conduit for goods from the rest of the continent” (A Commentary on the Book of Acts, William J. Larkin, Jr.). Can we doubt that this Ethiopian joyfully took the Gospel back home?

Miracle #6–?

Theologians of a particular bent relegate that miracle atmosphere to a unique non-repeatable dispensation. Preachers of a particular mind-set peddle miracles for a profit. Most the rest of us pray for a miracle, but never see one—at least not the kind Acts shows us. So how shall we respond to this “miracle atmosphere” in Act?

One, give in to the deep (and maybe hidden) desire in our hearts for a life more full-of-wonder than we can even imagine. Certainly one more wonderful than just “the normal” and “the natural.” We do that by admitting our sin against this miracle God and trusting our lives to the crucified, risen and reigning Lord Jesus Christ. A simple prayer like that straight from the heart will set us on the way.

Two, keep praying for a miracle. Some of us have given up, because of some God-limiting theology or because years of praying have produced nothing. I have questions about why often God seems silent in the face of great need, but I don’t want to limit him with boxing-God-in theology or my own hopelessness. It’s time for us to go to God like little children who trust that