“What Prevents Me from Getting Baptized?”

1. To what kind of person was Philip sent?

THE above question was asked by a devout man who already had a love for God, but who had just been enlightened as to “the good news about Jesus.” He was the Ethiopian eunuch, who had “gone to Jerusalem to worship” as a Jewish proselyte. He was on his way back to Ethiopia to resume his duties of high position in the service of the queen of Ethiopia when Philip the evangelizer was directed by God’s spirit to approach him.

2. How did Philip help the eunuch to understand the prophecy?

² Running alongside the chariot, Philip heard the man reading aloud from the book of Isaiah. Asked if he understood the passage of Scripture he was reading, about an unprotesting lamb that was brought to the slaughter, the Ethiopian eunuch had to confess that he did not comprehend whether the prophet was speaking about himself or another man. What a fine opening for Philip! “Starting with this Scripture, he declared to him the good news about Jesus.” Yes, the prophecy of Isaiah was about the “Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world”!​—Acts 8:26-35; Isaiah 53:7, 8; John 1:29.

3. How did this new understanding affect him?

³ How was the eunuch affected by this wholly unexpected but spectacular development in his life? “Now as they were going over the road, they came to a certain body of water, and the eunuch said: ‘Look! A body of water; what prevents me from getting baptized?’” Apparently Philip saw nothing in this man’s manner of life and understanding of God’s purposes, especially as these now related to Jesus as the Messiah and Savior, that would cause a delay in his getting baptized. The chariot was halted; they went into the water together and Philip baptized him on the basis of his accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins.​—Acts 8:36-39.

Your reason for not yet being baptized may be a good one, but if not, we invite you to consider carefully and prayerfully the fine example of the Ethiopian eunuch who did not delay in getting baptized. He searched his own mind and heart, and asked Philip if there were any factors that prevented him from getting baptized. Finding no cause for delay, he promptly got baptized.