WEEK 5 // DAY 4

POINTING PEOPLE TO JESUS

The Ethiopian official is reading from Isaiah 53, a passage about the suffering servant. The words describe one who is led like a sheep to the slaughter, humiliated, deprived of justice, and cut off from the land of the living. The Ethiopian asks Philip a sincere question: “Who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?”

Philip begins right where the man is. He does not offer vague inspiration. He does not give personal advice. He does not try to impress the Ethiopian with everything he knows. Acts 8:35 says, “Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.”

This is the heart of Christian purpose. Our purpose is not to win arguments, prove how much we know, or make ourselves the hero of someone else’s story. Our purpose is to point people to Jesus. Philip helps the Ethiopian see that Isaiah’s suffering servant is fulfilled in Christ. Jesus is the innocent One who was rejected, humiliated, and crucified. He is the Lamb who gave His life for sinners.

This would have been especially good news for the Ethiopian. As a eunuch and a foreigner, he likely knew what it felt like to be on the edge of belonging. He had gone to Jerusalem to worship, but under the old covenant, someone like him would have faced barriers to full participation in the assembly of God’s people. Yet in Jesus, the outsider is welcomed in. The suffering servant was cut off so that people far off could be brought near.

That is good news for you too. Nothing about your background, questions, wounds, status, distance, or past is greater than what Jesus has done. He entered humiliation so you could receive honor as a child of God. He was rejected so you could be welcomed. He died and rose so that you could belong to God and go on your way with joy.

When you point someone to Jesus, you are not offering a program, a church brand, or a better version of self-help. You are pointing them to the Savior who suffered, died, and rose again. You may not have every answer. You may feel ordinary. But you can say, “Let me tell you the good news about Jesus.”

In your home, workplace, neighborhood, friendships, and everyday conversations, ask the Holy Spirit for opportunities to make Jesus clear. Start where people are. Listen to their real questions. Then point them to the One who sees, saves, welcomes, and restores.