3rd Week of Easter : Thursday 8th May 2025

“Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (v35). The focal point is Jesus Christ. The encounter between Philip and the Ethiopian official on the road resembles the Emmaus experience. Here, the pondering of the reader and his conversation with the Apostle Philip is based on the sacred Scriptures. From the silence of the lamb that was being slaughtered (Isaiah 53:7-8) to an opening of new life with forgiveness of the Resurrection, the official was illuminated that death does not terminate an innocent life but through Jesus, the sacrificed lamb, life is magnified in its eternity. His baptism is a concrete act of accepting new life.

Jesus reiterates the Prophets’ message, “They will be taught by God (v45).” No one can come to Jesus unless the Father Who sent Him draws them, and Jesus will raise them up on the last day. To draw close to Jesus is possible because the sacred Scriptures were conveyed to us through those whose lives were transformed by the word of God incarnated in Jesus of Nazareth. No one is deprived from encountering Jesus, whose words were like seeds sowed to all profiles of generations. People may find numerous reasons to detest Jesus and thus mock His words as irrelevant in an AI work force. But for us, God is at work within us as we ponder that assuring inner force that says, “I will raise you up when that day comes.”

Father, teach us to never cease learning from Jesus Your Son.