The One

  • Dr. Bob Harrington
  • Mar 4, 2007
  • Series: Acts
The One
Acts 8:26ff
Dr. Bob Harrington
It is hard to explain away a fulfilled prophecy that was originally written in 700 BC, especially when it is backed up by hard copies of the text of Isaiah from undisputed archaelological scholars dated at 150 BC.  The prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 30, so it is impossible to say that what it describes was not a prediction. There are three basic options for those who seek to explain the text.
1. Some “being” not bound by time knew what would happen and prophesied it.
2. Someone randomly makes a good guess . . . . and it comes to pass.
             
3. Someone purposely tries to fulfill the teaching of the prophecy.
Review the text from Isaiah (53:1-12) and point out which parts of this text match what the New Testament teaches us about Jesus Christ
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.  By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.  Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
In his book, the Case For Christ, Lee Strobel describes the conversion of Louis S. Lapides, a man who grew up in a strong Jewish home and felt like he had to satisfactorily explain Isaiah 53 to himself.  Strobel describes his struggle:
Instantly Lapides recognized the portrait: this was Jesus of Nazareth . . . So breath taking was this discovery that Lapides could only come to one conclusion: it was a fraud!  He believed that Christians had rewritten the Old Testament and twisted Isaiah’s words to make it sound as if the prophet had been foreshadowing Jesus.  Lapides set out to expose the deception.  “I asked my stepmother to send me a Jewish Bible so I could check it out myself,” he told me.  “She did, and guess what?  I found that it said the same thing! Now I really had to deal with it.”
Lapides not only became a committed Christian, but a Bible scholar as well.
                                                                  Small Group Questions
Read and review Acts 8: 26ff.
1.        What stands out about the events in this story to you?  Explain why?
2.        When you read of the Ethiopian’s reaction to the teaching on Isaiah 53 – that he needs someone to explain it to him – can you relate?  Do you like to have people explain the Bible to you or do like to figure it out for yourself? Explain.
3.        Why do you think the Ethiopian wanted to be baptized right away?  Why do churches not make this offer more regularly today?
4.        How does the description of the Ethiopian’s baptism help show that it was by immersion?
5.        Do you know of any Ethiopians – people who need someone to show them the truth – that God might want you to connect with so you can help them understand scripture?  If so, what are you willing to do to help make that happen?
Close:  Answer the question:  “How can we pray for each other this coming week?”