Instead of finding an instruction manual or didactic textbook, you will find that the pages of the Bible contain stories, letters, poetry, songs and visions... little bits of law inter-dispersed amongst the joys and lamentations of men and of God. It seems God saw it fit to tell us His story (and ours) not in a systematised manual, but in a form that is more compelling and more invitational. Like a father's stories to his child.
The story of the Ethiopian eunuch, recorded in Acts 8:26-40, is very much one of those stories.
The story begins with Philip the Evangelist being given an instruction from an angel to head South. We know from earlier in Chapter 8 that Philip had just been spending time in Samaria - a region populated by people that are half-Jewish in ethnicity and in faith - a region despised by the Jews and considered to be outside of the chosen people of God. Luke, the writer of the book of Acts, goes to some pains to tell us about how God accepted the Samaritans through the gospel. Having started something of a mass movement in Samaria, the Holy Spirit then turned Philip's attention Southwards.
I had the great fortune to have travelled in Israel a couple of years ago, and one of the things that most struck me was the heat and the dust, especially south of Jerusalem. When the angel told Philip to "go towards the south" (8:26), the Greek phrase could also be translated "go at about noon". I wonder what Philip must have thought when he received those instructions - I remember the dread that I felt whenever it was time to get off the air-conditioned bus.
We know a few things about the man Philip encountered on that hot, desert road. He was an Ethiopian, an official from the court of the Ethiopian queen (actually, queen-mother), and he was a eunuch. He had gone up to Jerusalem to worship, and was reading the book of Isaiah in his chariot... and not really understanding what he was reading.
The Bible doesn't tell us what sort of mood Philip found the Ethiopian man in, but I could only imagine it to be a sad and dejected one. He knew enough about God to want to make the journey from his home in north Africa to Jerusalem to worship. Perhaps he had read or heard about Yahweh's love for his people, his mighty hand and outstretched arm saving his people out of bondage in Egypt to establish them in Israel. Perhaps he was captivated by the thought of the one true God, dwelling with His people in the temple. Or perhaps he was just curious. Either way, he was sufficiently compelled to leave the comforts of the Queen's court to make the slow, hot, and arduous journey to Jerusalem to worship.
The centre of Jewish worship was in the temple, in the heart of Jerusalem. When someone goes to Jerusalem to worship, it usually means they do a few things: pray, listen to teaching from the rabbis, give alms to the poor, and present sacrifices... all at the temple. (Cf Paul at the temple in Acts 21-22, Jesus at the temple in the gospels.) This was usually a joyous occasion (cf Psalm 95, Psalm 24), but when the Ethiopian finally arrived at the temple having ascended the steep hills on the south side of Jerusalem, he would have been disappointed. If there were any group of people the Jews looked down upon aside from the Samaritans, it was surely the gentiles. And not just any gentile, but a gentile eunuch. The term eunuch indicates a man who has been castrated, and such men were forbidden by law to enter the temple (Deut 23:1). The Ethiopian eunuch would have been reminded that, though he may hold powerful positions in the Queen's court at home, by Yahweh's standards he was terribly deficient and powerless to do anything about his deficiencies. He would have been turned away in no uncertain terms before he even got anywhere near the temple courts. Didn't get to pray at the temple. Didn't get to present his sacrifices. Didn't get to give gifts to the poor. Didn't get to hear teaching from the rabbis. What else is there for an Ethiopian eunuch to do in Jerusalem? He had no option but start the journey back home. On the road, he opens the scroll of Isaiah - but even that seems to be a rejection from God, because the passage make no sense to him. When Philip asked him if he understood what he was reading, he replied: "how can I, unless someone guides me?".
Philip was able to interpret the passage to him, because Jesus had previously given the disciples the key to reading the scriptures - that everything is fulfilled in Him (Luke 24:44-47). As it happens, the eunuch was reading from Isaiah 53:7-8, a passage now come to be known as the "passage of the suffering servant":
"Like a sheep he was led to the slaughterAnd so, starting from that very passage, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. Jesus had once told his disciples that all the Old Testament is fulfilled in Him - and this passage is no different. We don't know what Philip said to the eunuch exactly (I would love to know!), but we could hazard a guess.
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not his mouth.
In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
You see, a good Jewish person like Philip and a gentile God-fearer like the Ethiopian eunuch both know a few things. They know that humans were created to enjoy the fellowship and the glory of God, but one fatal decision saw the whole of humanity severed from that glory, becoming sinful and naked (Genesis 3). From then on, they knew that humanity's sinfulness and nakedness could only be covered by sacrifice - from the killing of animals for their skins in Genesis 3 to the sacrifice laws in Leviticus 4. Additionally, God would no longer dwell with people directly as in the garden of Eden, but only in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle or temple, and could only be approached by the most holy of the priests and only after much sacrifice (described at length in Leviticus). 1 Kings 8:11-12 describe how God came to dwell in the temple in Jerusalem, and Jerusalem became the centre of Jewish worship. And hence, the Ethiopian eunuch braved the heat and the dust and the distance, to come to Jerusalem -- to offer sacrifices, and to draw nearer to God... only to find himself turned away.
Philip would have explained, I think, that what the eunuch was seeking in Jerusalem is fulfilled and found in Jesus. The sacrifices that he was going to make in Jerusalem was already made in Christ - once and for all. Jesus has already taken up the eunuch's sins (Isaiah 53:5), his pain (Isaiah 53:4), and presented himself as a sacrifice for them. God knew that no amount of sacrifice of animals could cleanse the stains of Genesis 3, so he Himself came, in his great mercy and love, and provided the sacrifice in his own body and blood. The punishment that came on Him brought us peace with God, and our wounds are healed as He became wounded (Isaiah 53:5,6).
I think Philip would have told the eunuch about Jesus' other name - Immanuel - meaning "God with us" (Matthew 1:23), pronouncing the good news that we are so cleansed by his blood that God Himself can dwell with us directly again. And Philip would have recounted how the curtain that separated the Most Holy Place from the rest of humanity was torn at Jesus' death (Matthew 27:51), signalling the end of God's separation from us. Perhaps, having mentioned Jesus' death, Philip would not have missed the next obvious event - Jesus' bodily resurrection, promising that we are no longer destined for death but a bodily, glorious resurrection much like His (1 Cor 15:21-22). Therefore, in the waters of baptism, we are baptised into His death so that we may die to our sins and deficiencies, our transgressions and sins no longer ruling our hearts and destiny. Instead, our destiny is bound up with His glory and resurrection (Romans 6:3-6)...
It is, perhaps, at this point that the eunuch notices that they are passing "some water" (Acts 8:36) - maybe a stream or a wadi. He asks: "What prevents me from being baptised?", and finds that his spiritual and physical deficiencies were not enough to separate him from the love and redemption in Christ. They go into the water, and when they come out, Philip is taken away from him to the north... and the eunuch goes home, rejoicing... his sorrow turned into joy, like a merchant who found the most precious jewel.
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ... for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God's people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. -- Ephesians 2:13, 18-22What does this mean for us today?
I remember a time, when I was in my teens, when I knew the "facts" about Christianity (that Jesus is God incarnate, and that he died for the sins of humanity), but never really understood how that actually applies to me and why it should be such good news. It was some years later that I truly understood that the deep ache inside my heart at my own inadequacies, and the deep yearning for true glory, could only be fulfilled by Jesus' sacrifice... and I came to see that it is indeed the good news, the best news. If you have never really understood how the gospel could be good news, I really hope the story of the Ethiopian eunuch could compel you to seek the truth no matter where it may lead you.
For us Christians, the story reminds us that God calls all sorts of people to himself... especially those who have been rejected by us who call ourselves His people. While we are busy arguing about how to arrange the church flowers or whether to sing rock ballads or hymns inside our ivory steeple churches, God is out there calling out to the tax collectors and prostitutes and eunuchs of our society. I have heard Christians say to me, "sure, if I ever meet a prostitute I'll be nice to them just like Jesus was." But these are often the same Christians who are unable to cross the pew to talk with those of a different ethnic background or socio-economic class... and thus, we form cliques within our own churches, and lose sight of the grander vision that captivated Philip and the eunuch.
I must admit, the joke is on us... because the eunuch went away rejoicing.
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