The Disappearing Disciple and the Dirty-Handed Eunuch
27 There was an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure. He had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning, seated in his chariot, and he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with 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 before its shearer is silent,
so he opens not 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 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.
Acts 8:27-35 ESV
Here we have a rich man from far away that comes to Jerusalem and gets more than he ever imagined. We don’t know the exact motives involved, but it would have made sense for him as a treasure-keeper for the queen to try to acquire rare and expensive things. A scroll of Isaiah would have been just such a treasure. He went to Jerusalem to worship and was bringing home the scroll, reading it as he went.
He knew enough to be able to read and understand Hebrew but he was breaking a lot of rules by having this thing out on the road and just reading it out loud. Jews at the time wouldn’t touch the scroll with their hands, and wouldn’t unroll it unless they were inside in the synagogue at a table or other platform.
The same thing that happened here happens today. We might come across someone that worships God but doesn’t follow the rules we expect them too. They might handle God’s word in a totally different way than they should! But here they are, reading it and wondering and asking questions. Most of us might even read our Bibles like an Ethiopian Eunuch, considering we read on our phones with text messages and “YOUR VILLAGE IS BEING INVADED” messages popping up as we are trying to read and pray.
Notice how Phillip didn’t judge the Ethiopian at all. He was obeying the Holy Spirit and stayed close so that when the opportunity to talk was there, he took it. The other great thing in here is the Ethiopian’s response:
How can I understand this unless somebody explains it to me?!
They didn’t have study bibles that were full of explanation. They didn’t have hours of sermons to listen to that would explain the scriptures. They only had each other to talk to and rabbis (which were not plentiful in Ethiopia).
As we are about to kick the new year off with daily Bible readings, I’m going to take this event’s advice and leave you with three ways to grow in your Bible reading.
Keep it handy and read it anywhere – on the road, at work, around the house
Talk about it with others – read the same thing as your kids and friends, and talk about it daily (yep, daily!)
Get some explaining – read from a study Bible, read the notes and footnotes, look up past sermons on that verse
As far as this event goes, sometimes I’m more like a vanishing disciple and sometimes I’m more like an Ethiopian Eunuch. Wherever you fall in the coming year, look for opportunities to grow either way, and God will meet you and answer those prayers.
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