As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being 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.

Refreshing! This word describes at once the experience of being washed in the water and the experience of being washed in our souls by the Spirit of God. There is something refreshing about all the grime and dirt being washed away. Spiritually, this cleansing comes from the sacrifice of Jesus Christ — his death on a cross to pay the price for our sins. This is represented by his blood.

And so when we are baptized, we are showing death to our old life and that we are alive in our new life, controlled by Jesus Christ. This life was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. Peter says it well here: “‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’ For ‘you were like sheep going astray,’ but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬-‭25‬)

New Life, a cleansed and healed heart — what a greatness we have in the family of God! And Philip also gets to travel in God’s warp-speed time machine — he just disappears and then reappears over 20 miles east of the area where he baptized the eunuch. What an amazing gift and miracle God did here for Philip. And what does he do? He continues to preach the gospel!

Lord, thank you for the Ethiopian eunuch’s eagerness to be baptized! Also, thank you for the obedience of Philip. I look forward to you completely blowing my mind with your goodness and faithfulness as I answer your call!