Philip & the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26-40

Transcription

1 Philip & the Ethiopian Eunuch Acts 8:26-40 Page 1040

2 Shane Hipps Peter Rollins Rob Bell

3 The Bible is FULL of self-critical thought and reflection from individuals and nations

4 A sign of a maturing religious community is self-critical thought

5 Do you demand things of yourself that God does not demand? Do you demand things of others that God does not demand?

6 Philip & The Ethiopian Eunuch Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, Go south to the road the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian [a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means queen of the Ethiopians ). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, Go to that chariot and stay near it.

7 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. Do you understand what you are reading? Philip asked. How can I, he said, unless someone explains it to me? So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.

8 The eunuch asked Philip, Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else? Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they travelled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized? And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

9 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and travelled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

10 Philip

11 Philip Philip was one of the first followers of Jesus. He was from a small Jewish village on the north side of the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida. Bethsaida was part of a region called the Orthodox Triangle, one of the most religiously devout regions outside Jerusalem at the time.

12 Philip Bethsaida had strict rules about pretty much everything Extensive laws about what and who you could/couldn t touch He was part of a small world of very committed Jewish worshipers of God, doing everything they could to be true to their religion. Then he met Jesus, and everything changed!

13 Jerusalem to Gaza was a proper trek! 50 miles 2 days of solid walking The city had been destroyed for 100 years by this point

14 The Ethiopian Eunuch Ethiopian Eunuch who serves in the treasury of the Queen of Ethiopia A God fearer Castrated (ask your parents!) Somehow has a scroll of Isaiah - not easy to get hold of.

15 Eunuchs today in India

16 Deuteronomy 23:1 No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the LORD.

17

18 Not only did the Eunuch receive the grace of God, accept the good news, get baptised into the kingdom of God... Around 2000 years later, this very day, 65% of Ethiopia is Christian. Those Christians are native, indigenous, Christian Ethiopians. The Ethiopian church today traces their origins back to this Eunuch! It gets even better...

19 The Ethiopian Eunuch is reading a scroll of Isaiah. Isaiah 56: 3-6 says: Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, The LORD will surely exclude me from his people. And let no eunuch complain, I am only a dry tree. 4 For this is what the LORD says: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant 5 to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

20 The Ethiopian Eunuch is reading a scroll of Isaiah. Isaiah 56: 3-6 says: Let no foreigner who is bound to the LORD say, The LORD will surely exclude me from his people. And let no eunuch complain, I am only a dry tree. For this is what the LORD says: To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will endure forever.

21 Jesus doesn t ask, Are you worthy? Jesus asks, Are you thirsty?

22 God is not afraid nor angered by our mistakes or flawed characters.

23 His Grace is scandalous

24 Do we have the courage to accept that kind of love?