Read Acts 8:26-40
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” 30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. 31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.” 34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. 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?” 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 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. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Luke moves quickly on from “Samaria” to “the ends of the earth” since, although the Ethiopian eunuch had a clear interest in God, it is unlikely he would have been a Jew. In fact, like the bleeding woman in Luke 8, his particular affliction would have made it impossible for him to be fully accepted into Jewish society; he was, as Tom Wright notes, “an outsider.”[1] But not for much longer!!! For, just as Jesus showed a particular concern for those seemingly furthest away from covenantal faith, so his followers – led by his Spirit – follow suit.
- How regularly do you engage with people from a different culture or context to your own? Is this something you enjoy or find challenging? How can we grow in this?
- Would you be able to explain this passage from Isaiah to someone who asked? What does it mean?
If you have a bit longer :-)
Whilst sharing a house with my friend Jo, we would moderately regularly say good night in the following way: “Sleep well. See you in the morning – unless I‘m whisked away by the Spirit in the middle of the night!” To be honest, we didn’t really think this would happen but for some reason were fascinated – and amused – by the idea that you could be in one place one minute and whisked somewhere totally different the next.
Somewhat bizarrely, however, this is Philip’s experience as the Lord suddenly takes him away and he “appears” in Azotus!
- Any thoughts?!
No comments:
Post a Comment