“But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Canda′ce the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this: “As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about some one else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?” And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.” (Acts 8:26-39)
The Ethiopian eunuch was an educated man of means, possessing his own scroll of the prophet and able to read it as well. He also had great professional responsibility as treasurer for the Queen of Ethiopia. He had a good life. But you get this intimate portrait of a man on the roadside just earnest with the desire to learn--not to impress his friends or engage in debates or look smart, but to know God.
He was not a Jew, but he loved and worshipped the God of Israel in earnest. He was in many ways ‘outside the community’ but like the persistent widow in Luke 18 and the woman with the flow of blood in Luke 8, he doesn’t let his status or situation stop him from true worship.
He was open to instruction. He didn't engage with Philip and try to flex his debate muscles. He is simply docile to being led by one with apostolic authority. He has the right disposition to receive the Word and make it fruitful in his life. He asks questions innocently, like a child and without pretense. Which leads to the praxis:
He recognizes the urgent need for baptism, grace, and sacramental action. He asks to the point, "See, there is water. What prevents me from being baptized?"
There is true love, concern, and friendship among the two men, Philip and the Ethiopian. It is not based on race or identity or standing, but filial instruction. Philip trusts God where to go to find this man by being led by Him, and the Ethiopian in turn trusts Philip what to do to be saved by being led by Him. The diversity of the body of Christ, the Church, always fills me with hope and gratitude, because Christ came to save all people, Jew and Gentile alike, and those who wish to offer right worship are not spurned when they have the right heart to orient themselves towards the One True God.
Philip as evangelizer had the right modus operandi: God showed him who to go to in a vision, and he trusts Him and goes out to find the man. When he finds him, he approaches the chariot without reticence, and asks a question ("do you understand what you are reading?") as a means of invitation. He points to the prefiguration Jesus in the scripture. When his work is done, he is taken up.
The Ethiopian for his part had the right disposition to receive the gift of the Gospel seed, the "fertile ground" Jesus refers to in the parable of the sower: docility, humility, hunger and zeal, persistence, the desire for right worship. Like the centurion who trusts Jesus to heal his servant without even being physically before him, the eunuch trusts Philip to give him right, Spirit-led instruction in truth. His baptism shows this is not mere intellectual learning for him, but life itself. Perhaps the cush life of plenty was not satisfying his needs for 'more,' for something deeper. But that day he found the 'more' and "goes off rejoicing."
Comments
Post a Comment