You saw someone you were pretty sure you knew. But you saw them out of context. Too many years, too many faces. A former student? Someone from the old neighborhood? Everyone has found themselves at the awkward moment of recognition but not quite recollection. “You are . . . someone?” Ever get it wrong? At worst, we are embarrassed, and we likely embarrassed someone else.

In our account from Acts, far more is at stake than embarrassment. Our Ethiopian friend is struggling with the second scroll of Isaiah. He is reading from what we now know as Isaiah 53. He has come across one of the clearest prophecies as Christ’s substitutionary suffering and death for the sins of the world. Christians have used this very section of Scripture in worship on Good Friday for centuries because it is directly talking about Christ. But our Ethiopian friend is at his own awkward moment of some recognition but not proper recollection – “Is it Isaiah or someone else?”

At just the right time in just the right place, God picked up and placed someone there for the Ethiopian man. God brought Philip alongside the man’s chariot so he could explain who someone else is. The someone else is Jesus. The One who is, who was, and is to come to bring good news. Jesus is the One who gave his life as the ransom for the many. He is the innocent, blameless One who bears the innumerable sins of the whole world. Jesus silently was slaughtered to pay the price for sin – once and for all. This someone, this One is the Savior.

What a beautiful account! It is easy to see the miracle of how God used Philip as a very important someone in the Ethiopian’s life.

Do we realize and appreciate the incredible miracle of our own faith. We all are born into this sinful world with a sinful heart so darkened we couldn’t possibly comprehend the truth. We live in a sinful world so out of context of understanding who God is and what he is like. So in miracles of wonder and grace, God sent into our lives at just the right time and place, someone. A parent, a spouse, a friend, a pastor, a teacher, who brought us to the font and taught us the word of God. The Holy Spirit worked through the Word shared by someone. Now we truly are someone – a child of God, forgiven and loved by the One.

God now uses us as someone in the lives of others. Sometimes this is easy and joyful. We pass on precious truths to the next generation telling them the good news. Sometimes it can be far more awkward or uncomfortable. The next generation gets older and more defiant. Dearly loved friends and family members drift away from church. How will they know unless someone invites, encourages, explains? May God continue to encourage us and use us as someone in their lives.