What is to Prevent Me?
NL#342 for May 11, 2025
Text: Acts 8:26-40 NRSVUE
26 Then an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Get up and go toward the south[a] to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a wilderness road.) 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over to this chariot and join it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 He replied, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to get in and sit beside him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture that he was reading was this:
“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter,
and like a lamb silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. 36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?”[b] 38 He commanded the chariot to stop, and both of them, Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip[c] baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Footnotes
a. 8.26 Or go at noon
b. 8.36 Other ancient authorities add all or most of 8.37, And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
c. 8.38 Gk he
Last Time on Tales of Faith
This Week’s Themes
The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church
After the stoning of Stephen, persecution of the disciples begins in earnest. We have already seen some major tensions between the apostles and the Sanhedrin (Religious ruling body of the Jewish people). The Sanhedrin arrested, tried, and flogged Peter and John, warning them not to preach in the name of Jesus (and especially to stop blaming them for it). The stoning of Stephen begins a severe persecution of the disciples led by Saul, a young pharisee (who will be very important later).
This persecution of the early church by the Jewish authorities in the setting of Acts parallels the persecution of the early church by the Romans in the likely writing of Acts. As such, there may be a bit of blead-over between the two. Some (like John Dominic Crossan) suggest that one of the purposes of Luke/Acts in a post-diaspora world, is to deflect most of the blame on the Jewish leaders for destruction of the Temple, and an apologetic to Roman proselytes. This may be why the severe persecution is almost exclusively on the Jewish authorities, rather than the Romans (who are usually quite reasonable).
This persecution, whether from the Jewish side or the Roman side, however, was a driving force in the transmission of the good news of Jesus. In Acts, this persecution drives most of the disciples out of Jerusalem, which directly leads into the story of Philip bringing the gospel message to the Samaritans and our Ethiopian Eunuch. The author may be grappling with a similar dynamic in the Roman persecution which lead to further transmission of the gospel. As Tertullian would later note, “the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” as persecution of the early believers led to further dispersal and opportunities for faith to be tested and displayed.
Philip
While Philip does not play a major role in the whole of Acts, he gets a couple of episodes here in the middle of the season. He first goes to the Samaritan villages and has great success. After today’s text, Philip will move north along the coast of the Mediterranean, presumably continuing to preach the gospel.
Samaritans
The Samaritans were cousin-people to the Jews, and represent perhaps one degree of separation. The Samaritans were the descendants of a) indigenous semitic peoples who had been displaced by the tribes of Israel, b) the poor and marginalized left by the Assyrians when they defeated the ancient nation of Israel, and c) other peoples imported by the Assyrians. When the decedents of Judah were returned from the Babylonian Exile by the Persians, they encountered these semitic people with whom they shared some beliefs and practices (Torah, worship of YHWH), but also differed (Zion/Gerizim, Samaritans did not revere the other Hebrew scriptures, ethnic and cultural differences).
The Christian Scriptures have a wide perspective of the Samaritan peoples. There were clearly ethnic, cultural, and religious differences between the to groups, which led to tensions. Luke/Acts has a less negative view of Samaritans than say the gospel according to John. This is likely due to a wide variety of opinions within the general population (consider the wide opinions within the U.S. population about any particular people group). Authors may also be heightening these tensions and differences as a literary tool to make their point. For instance, the distinction of the Samaritans in Acts represents a cross-cultural transmission of the good news, and with today’s reading presents a trajectory of that transmission, “to the ends of the earth.”
It is difficult not to make connections between the Samaritans and other marginalized peoples in Israel. The Samaritans occupied the area that is now referred to as the West Bank, which continues to be argued and fought over by semitic peoples, Palestinians and Jews. Our story also specifically brings up Gaza, the modern site of apartheid and ongoing attempted genocide of the Palestinians there.
‘Ethiopian’ Eunuch
In today’s story, Philip is sent to the desolate road between Jerusalem and Gaza, likely modern day Route 60. This was an important route for trade in the ancient world, and connected Jerusalem with the coast and the African continent. Here he meets someone who is different from him ethnically, culturally, and gender.
Ethiopian?
At the time of this story, modern day northern Ethiopia would have been the Kingdom of Aksum, considered in the third century by the Persian prophet Mani as one of the four great powers (along side of Persia, Rome, and China). However, the mention of the ‘Candace’ seems to suggest that this individual is rather from the Kingdom of Kush, a Nubian kingdom ruled by the ‘Kandake.’ The Kush Empire was egalitarian, and often ruled by a woman. Kushite women also served as fierce warriors (I suspect that they were one the of inspirations of the Dora Milaje from Black Panther and the Marvel Universe). The Kingdom of Kush dates back to the tenth century BCE, and ruled over Egypt in the sixth century. In the first century BCE, it was a fierce rival of Rome which sought to conquer further into Africa after claiming Egypt. There is an awesome story from the first century when the Kandake lead 30,000 Kushites to defeat and sack the Roman city of Aswan. Later, in 22 BCE, Kushite ambassadors opened trade negotiations with Rome, and returned many of the items stolen; however a bronze bust of Caesar Augustus was not. 1900 years later, however; the bust was discovered by archologists in Meroe, buried in front of a Kushite temple. It seems that the Kendake placed it there so that she and any other visitors of the temple would walk all over Augustus’ face. BA. The Kingdom of Kush was defeated in 330 CE by the Kingdom of Axum, and starting using the Greek exonym for Kush, “Ethiopia.”
The Ethiopian empire began in 1270 when Yukuno Amlek defeated the Zagwe Dynasty. The Ethiopian empire was ruled by the Solomonic dynasty, tracing their roots to the ‘Queen of Sheba’ and King Solomon of Israel. This is likely why bible translators in the middle ages used the name ‘Ethiopia’ generally for the peoples who lived beyond Egypt in the African continent. Ethiopia is also the site of the oldest established Christian institution, the Coptic church, linked to this interaction.
Eunuch
This individual is also a Eunuch. In the ancient world, especially in African cultures, Eunuchs were well respected and trusted individuals. Oftentimes, eunuchs became such by castrating enslaved males. Eunuchs were often put in charge of harams, or held other important positions like this one. Eunuchs also held a place of honor as being outside of what we would call the ‘binary’ of male and female. Ancient African, as well as many other cultures, held such ‘third sex’ persons as having unique access to wisdom and magic.
While we cannot overlay modern understandings of sexuality and gender onto an ancient culture or individual, Eunuchs serve as an important stand-in for our current understandings of non-binary and trans identities. It is an important reminder that such individuals have always existed, and are even addressed in both the Hebrew and Christian Scriptures. This story in particular is an important one in that not only is this ‘sexually other’ character not shunned, hated, moralized about, or against, they are actively welcomed into the assembly of believers through baptism.
What is to prevent me?
The narrative ends with the simple question, “what is to prevent me from being baptized?” The answer that Philip gives, is to baptize them.
How many other answers could have been given? From Philip’s standpoint there may have been several. The Eunuch represents:
Ethnic other (they are not a part of the Jewish people, and not even associated like the Samaritans)
Cultural other (the Kushite/Aksumite culture would have been vastly different from his own, and even the Roman or Egyptian cultures that Philip and the readers of Acts would have been familiar with)
Gendered other (the Eunuch is not strictly male or female, and because of their castration would have been barred from entrance into the Temple)
Religious other (Maybe, they are reading from the scroll of Isaiah, but at best the Eunuch would be a Proselyte, a convert to Judaism. I suppose that it is possible given the stories of the Queen of Sheba that they are a descendant of Solomon, but even if that were the case, their understanding of what that meant would be even more distant than that of the Samaritans).
Today we might add:
Racial other
Queer identity (which has a whole lot of extra baggage in Christian culture)
How many of us would consider the implications of baptizing this person? Would there be a chance of backlash from the congregation or denomination, hate comments on Social Media, death threats, etc?
Philip’s understanding, and the message of Luke/Acts, is clear. There is no (good) reason to exclude them from baptism and integration into the family of God. They, like all of us, are children of the living and mothering God, and should be received as such.
Liturgy
Call to Worship (Isaiah 52,53)
Leader: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace,
People: who bring good news, who announces salvation, who says, ‘your God reigns.’
Leader: See, my servant shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be lifted very high.
People: He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity;
Leader: Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.
People: But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. Amen.
Prayer of Confession (Unison) (Isaiah 53)
Mothering God; all we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own ways. We distance ourselves from others thinking that they are less worthy of your grace, that they are less human than we are. We despise and reject others and make them acquainted with suffering on our behalf. We hide our face from the inequity that we have caused and hold as no account those who we force to bear our sin. We make others bear our crosses, insisting that their suffering makes us righteous, and we have made a cross for our savior as well. Yet your servant bore our sin, and even made intercession on behalf of his murderers. Help us to take up our own crosses, to bear the burdens of others; to bring the message of peace, good news, and salvation; to the ends of the earth. Amen.
*Assurance of Pardon (Isaiah 54)
Leader: Seek the LORD while they may be found, call while God is near; Let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD that God may have mercy upon them, for God will abundantly pardon.
People: Thanks be to God!
Conclusion
The persecution of the early church drove the disciples to spread the gospel “in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Philip, one of the Deacons chosen alongside of Stephen, flees persecution in Jerusalem and brings the good news to those in Samaria. The Samaritans were a semitic people related to the Jewish people who shared some of their scriptures, but were not fully accepted by them. A Divine appointment sends Philip to the road to Gaza where he meets a eunuch from northern Africa. The eunuch is reading from the scroll of Isaiah about the suffering servant, and invites Philip to help them understand it. A simple question, “what is to prevent me from being baptized?” invites Philip (and the whole church) into contemplating the boundaries of God’s grace.