Our devotion is by GEORGE MARCHINKOWSKI who serves at St Mungo's in Bryanston.
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The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. Why shouldn't I be baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. Acts8:34-38
"On my way through adolescence to adulthood, I caught something, and I haven't been able to shake it since. The symptoms developed gradually, so I can't point to a single moment when it began for me... The infection was a good thing, a kind of anti-infection, really, because the worst case of it you had, the better, healthier and more alive you became. (Brian McLaren)
How were you "saved"? Was it a moment you can remember or was it a gradual process of getting to know Jesus, so that his grace slowly changed you? Was it a tragedy that got you thinking about the things that really matter? Can you remember?
The story of Philip on the wilderness road beautifully parallels another "road story": that of Jesus "opening the scriptures" to the two on the road to Emmaus. Now Philip, one of the leaders of the early church, meets a foreign diplomat on a similar quest - he is searching the scriptures to find something. I'm not sure that Ethiopian diplomat knew what he was looking for but he's searching.
Acts describes the man as a "eunuch", a castrated male. Eunuchs were fairly prevalent in the ancient world - they would never marry and therefore give loyalty to a royal court or household. This eunuch had come to Jerusalem "to worship" and is now reading a suffering servant passage from Isaiah. Philip, again a travelling stranger, asks if the eunuch needs help with interpretation. An invitation is given for Philip to travel alongside the eunuch.
The unreported part of the story is that the eunuch, having travelled to Jerusalem to worship, was probably not allowed that privilege. Deuteronomy 23:1 graphically prevents any eunuchs from entry into the temple. The high official of Ethiopia has come a long way only to be prevented from "worshipping" Yahweh. It's likely that his skin colour also made entry into the temple impossible (See Paul in Acts 21:28-29). With Philip, the Eunuch finds an altogether different response - Philip explains as he is able, witnessing to a new dispensation which is open to all who earnestly seek redemption. Jesus saves. Now, all are accepted: Samaritans, Gentiles, Africans and even the "sexually other".
When Philip and the eunuch knelt beside that bit of water and then experienced the Spirit of God making something ordinary into something extraordinary, they experienced the beautiful moment, that moment when heaven and earth didn't seem so far apart, the moment when eternity touched time. The eunuch 'caught something' (a good something) that would change his life. A new friend of Jesus found welcome on the road to Gaza, yet another example of a new reality coming among us.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
