For Next Week: Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
READ: Acts 8:26-40
PRAY: The Spirit sent Philip to the man from Ethiopia on his way home from worship, while reading the Scriptures. Find ways in your week to let worship and Scriptures guide your prayer.
PONDER:
The Ethiopian eunuch responds that he cannot understand the scriptures “unless someone guides me” (Acts 8:31). How has guided you in your understanding of God’s Word?
How and for whom have you or can you also be a guide in this way?
In what ways has your faith been nourished/enriched when you let someone else guide you?
The Spirit leads Philip to the Ethiopian. How does God’s Spirit also lead you to witness? Do you follow? What happens when you do (or don’t) follow this call?
Philip interprets the Word of God for the Ethiopian. How does the Ethiopian interpret the Word of God for Philip?
How can all proclamation / ministry also be about mutuality (sharing God’s Word with one another)?
How is your baptism the same and different from the Ethiopian man’s baptism?
DO: The Christian Church is growing rapidly in the Southern hemisphere (in places such as Ethiopia), while churches lament lack of attendance and waning biblical knowledge / faith in the Northern hemisphere where the Gospel has dominated for so long. Learn more about the Church in the Southern Hemisphere. What lessons can we learn from these brothers and sisters?
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Philip the Evangelist
Philip is one of the seven who were chosen by the apostles (Acts 6:1-6) “to wait on tables,” care for the widows, and serve the day-to-day mission in Jerusalem, while the twelve apostles devoted themselves “to prayer and to serving the word.” That this character is distinct from Philip the apostle of Christ (one of the original twelve) is made clear by the circumstances that begin Philip’s public ministry (Acts 8:1-5).
When persecution of the church became worse in Jerusalem, “all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). Undaunted by their new status as refugees, these first Christians turned their forced exile into an opportunity for evangelism, proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ wherever they found themselves. Philip began his proclamation in Samaria (Acts 8:5).
Those who were scattered from Jerusalem (and those who remained) maintained and proclaimed their faith against incredible odds. What threats did they face? (cf. Acts 7:54-8:1, 3) How did they respond? (cf. Acts 8:4)
What threats do we face when we maintain and proclaim our faith? How do we respond?
What causes Philip to meet the Ethiopian Eunuch? To proclaim the Gospel to Samaritan towns?
(cf. Acts 8:26, 29, 39-40)
Whether an angel or the Holy Spirit, Luke’s point is that God moves the ministry of the early church forward – not human initiative. As Christians, we believe the Holy Spirit is still present and active in our lives and our churches today. How is the Holy Spirit moving us forward in ministry?
Philip (and all of the seven) provide biblical models for diaconal ministry. In our church, diaconal ministers are church leaders, separate from pastors, who have been called, trained, and consecrated to serve through agencies, institutions, and individual congregations. The ELCA defines diaconal ministry as “a ministry of Word and service, sharing the hope of Christ, helping where there is need, and equipping others for healing and justice in the world” (http://www.elca.org/Growing-In-Faith/Vocation/Rostered-Leadership/Diaconal-Ministry.aspx).
Why did the early church need to separate the roles of apostolic and diaconal ministry? In what ways did these ministries overlap? In what ways were they distinct?
Why do you suppose our church continues a similar separation? Diaconal ministers are often misunderstood in our contemporary understanding of church roles. Why do you think this is? Can you think of any ways in which a diaconal minister might be called to serve in our communities?
The Ethiopian Eunuch
Ancient Ethiopia corresponds to the Old Testament land of Cush (cf. Gen 2:13; 10:1, 6-7). It was located along the Nile Valley of Northern Africa, in what is now southern Egypt and northern Sudan. The term eunuch literally means “royal attendant” or “official.” As the secretary of the Queen’s treasury, this man held an important and powerful role. Because of their close contact with royalty, by the time of King David (10th century BCE), the physical castration of such officials had become a common practice to ensure that they would be unable to father illegitimate children.
Although not directly stated, it can be inferred that the Ethiopian eunuch both practiced Jewish religion and believed in the Jewish God (cf. Acts 8:27-28). However, because of his physical condition as a eunuch, he was excluded from the Jewish community (cf. Deut. 23:1). His hope resided in the eschatological promise of the Lord, recorded in the book of Isaiah, that to faithful eunuchs, the Lord will provide “a monument and a name better than sons and daughters” (Isaiah 56:5, cf. 56:1-7).
What might it have been like for a eunuch to have been faithful to the laws and commandments of Judaism, yet excluded from the faith community? Are there groups of people in our faith communities who may feel the same way?
What strengthens this eunuch and gives him hope? How might we be beacons of hope for the excluded? What is God’s message for the outcast in our churches? For everyone else?
Over the course of the book of Acts, the Gospel is proclaimed first to the Jewish people and then to the whole world. Philip’s encounter with this Ethiopian eunuch is a transitional moment for the growing momentum of the gospel, since the eunuch worships the Jewish God, reads the Jewish Scriptures, and yet is still an outsider to the people of God. From this point forward in Acts, the Gospel will spread quickly to the traditional outsiders, including those who knew nothing about the Jewish God (cf. Acts 10-11; 13-14; leading up to the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15:1-35).
Which is more difficult, to proclaim the Gospel among our own community, or to foreigners and outsiders? Why?
Once the Gospel is spread among the gentile (foreign) people, what happens to the Jewish people who have not believed? (cf. Galatians 2:7-9)
What does this mean for us in contemporary Jewish – Christian relations?
A Biblical Approach to Reading the Bible
• Read Scripture Out Loud (Acts 8:30)
In the first century, everything was read out loud (even if you were reading to yourself). As late as the fifth century of our common era, St. Augustine was surprised when he saw Ambrose of Milan reading silently. The whole Bible was written to be read out loud and insights can be gained from hearing it.
• Read Scripture in Community (Acts 8:31)
It’s impossible to interpret all of Scripture on one’s own. The Bible is a communal book and requires a faith community to be interpreted accurately (cf. 2 Peter 1:19-21; 3:14-18). Even in the first century, there were questions of interpretation, such as the one raised by the eunuch in Acts 8:34.
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