Philip in Samaria and the Ethiopian (Acts 8:4-40)
The believers who scatter from Jerusalem do not go silent. They go preaching. Philip, one of the seven servants chosen in Acts 6, travels to a city in Samaria. Samaritans are people most Jewish people have avoided for generations. Philip walks straight in and proclaims the Messiah. The crowds listen eagerly. People with unclean spirits are set free. Those who are paralyzed and lame are healed. And the whole city is filled with joy.
Then an angel of the Lord speaks to Philip: "Rise and go south to the road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza." That road is a desert road. Philip does not ask why. He gets up and goes. On that empty, sun-baked road, he spots a chariot moving slowly ahead of him. Inside is an important official, the treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia. This man has traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship and is now heading home, reading aloud from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah as he rides.
The Holy Spirit says to Philip: "Go over and join this chariot." Philip runs to catch up. He hears the man reading out loud and asks, "Do you understand what you are reading?" The official looks up and says, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" And he invites Philip to climb up and sit with him. The passage he is reading is Isaiah 53: "Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter; and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth." The official asks: "About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?"
Philip opens his mouth. Beginning with that very passage from Isaiah, he tells him the good news about Jesus. They ride along together, Philip explaining what Isaiah had been pointing to all along. Then they come to some water, and the official says, "See, here is water! What prevents me from being baptized?" He orders the chariot to stop. Both of them go down into the water, and Philip baptizes him. When they come up, the Spirit of the Lord carries Philip away. The official never sees him again. But he goes on his way rejoicing. And the gospel has just reached Africa.
A Curious Question
The Holy Spirit told Philip to leave a whole city of excited, rejoicing people and go alone into the desert. Why do you think God would ask someone to leave something that looked so successful to go somewhere that looked so empty? What does that tell us about how God measures what is important?
Old Testament Connection
The Ethiopian official was reading Isaiah 53, written more than seven hundred years before Jesus was born. The passage describes someone being led to the slaughter silently, justice denied to him, his life taken from the earth. Think of it like a photograph taken hundreds of years before the subject was even born, and when the subject finally arrives, you hold up the photo and say, "That is him." The official's question is one of the best in all of Scripture: "Who is this about?" Philip's answer is the answer the whole book of Isaiah had been building toward: Jesus the Messiah. The prophet Isaiah had also written that one day foreigners from distant lands would be gathered in and welcomed by God. The Ethiopian official was exactly that kind of person. What looked like a chance meeting on an empty road was actually a seven-hundred-year-old promise coming true.
Discussion Questions
- Philip ran to catch the chariot when the Spirit told him to go. He did not slow down and think about it. What do you think made him so ready to obey right away, and what gets in the way of us obeying quickly?
- The Ethiopian official was reading a scroll that he did not fully understand. He needed someone to help him. Can you think of a time when you needed someone to explain something about the Bible to you? Who was that person?
- After his baptism, the official went home rejoicing and Philip disappeared. The official had no Bible, no church, no teacher following him. What do you think happened to the gospel when he got back to Ethiopia?
"So What?" What Can I Do?
Philip was ready to explain the good news about Jesus because he knew the Scriptures. This week, read Isaiah 53:7-8 out loud once a day. It is the exact passage the Ethiopian was reading. Read it, then say one sentence out loud about what it means: "This is about Jesus, because..." You do not need to have a perfect answer. Just practice connecting the Old Testament to Jesus. That is exactly what Philip did, and it changed a man's life forever.
Memorize God's Word
Acts 8:35: "Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus."
Hand Motions:
- Then Philip opened his mouth: Point to your mouth and open it wide.
- and beginning with this Scripture: Hold both hands out flat like an open book.
- he told him: Cup one hand near your mouth as if speaking to someone beside you.
- the good news: Spread both arms wide and smile.
- about Jesus: Point upward with both index fingers.
Praying with Kids
Lord Jesus, thank You that Your good news never stays in one place. You sent Philip from a whole city of rejoicing people into an empty desert road because one man needed to hear the truth. Help us to be ready to go wherever You send us, to talk to whoever You put in our path, and to trust that You are already working in that person's heart. In Your name, Amen.
Craft: The Road Map of the Gospel
Children draw a simple road map of Acts 8 and connect their own life to the story by naming one person they believe God is sending them to.
Materials Checklist
Instructions
- Turn the cardstock horizontally. Draw a long winding road across the page from left to right.
- On the left end, write "Jerusalem." On the right end, write "Ethiopia."
- At a point in the middle, draw a simple chariot shape with two wheels and a box on top.
- Beside the chariot, draw two stick figures: Philip and the Ethiopian official.
- Draw a small wavy shape for water near the chariot and place a star sticker there to mark the baptism.
- At the bottom, glue the printed strip of Acts 8:35.
- Below that, have each child write: "Who is God sending me to?" and write one person's name.
Effective Teaching Techniques
Open this lesson with a quick question before you say a single word of the story: "Has anyone ever been in the middle of something really great and then felt like God was asking you to stop and go somewhere completely different?" Give children fifteen seconds to think. You do not need answers. Then say: "That is exactly what happened to Philip today." That question activates the lesson's central tension immediately.
When you reach Isaiah 53, slow down. Read verses 7 and 8 out loud and then pause. Say: "The Ethiopian was reading this and had no idea who it was about. Philip did. Philip knew that every single word described Jesus." If you have time, ask children to count the specific details in Isaiah 53:7-8 that match what happened to Jesus. That discovery lands differently when children make it themselves. The most likely difficult question is about Philip disappearing: did God actually teleport him? Acts 8:39-40 says the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away and Philip found himself at Azotus. Acknowledge that this is extraordinary and unexplained in detail. God can do things we cannot fully explain. The point is that Philip was exactly where God needed him next. That is enough for children, and it is honest to the text.