This week Pastor Sean preaches on Acts 8:26- 40 and discusses topics of inclusion and our ability to see ourselves in scripture, and most importantly, that Jesus is for everyone.
Acts 8:26
A heavenly messenger brought this short message from the Lord to Philip during his time preaching in Samaria:
Messenger of the Lord: Leave Samaria. Go south to the Jerusalem-Gaza road.
The message was especially unusual because this road runs through the middle of uninhabited desert.
Acts 8:27-29
But Philip got up, left the excitement of Samaria, and did as he was told to do. Along this road, Philip saw a chariot in the distance. In the chariot was a dignitary from Ethiopia (the treasurer for Queen Candace), an African man who had been castrated. He had gone north to Jerusalem to worship at the Jewish temple, 28 and he was now heading southwest on his way home. He was seated in the chariot and was reading aloud from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
29 Philip received another prompting from the Holy Spirit:
Holy Spirit: Go over to the chariot and climb on board.
Acts 8:30-33
So he started running until he was even with the chariot. Philip heard the Ethiopian reading aloud and recognized the words from the prophet Isaiah.
Philip: Do you understand the meaning of what you’re reading?
The Ethiopian: 31 How can I understand it unless I have a mentor?
Then he invited Philip to sit in the chariot. Here’s the passage he was reading from the Hebrew Scriptures:
Like a sheep, He was led to be slaughtered. Like a lamb about to be shorn of its wool, He was completely silent.
He was humiliated, and He received no justice. Who can describe His peers? Who would treat Him this way? For they snuffed out His life.
Deuteronomy 23:1
No emasculated man, either by crushing or severing his male organs, may come and worship the Eternal.
Acts 8:34-36
The Ethiopian: Here’s my first question. Is the prophet describing his own situation, or is he describing someone else’s calamity?
That began a conversation in which Philip used the passage to explain the good news of Jesus. Eventually the chariot passed a body of water beside the road.
The Ethiopian: Since there is water here, is there anything that might prevent me from being ceremonially washed through baptism and identified as a disciple of Jesus?
Isaiah 56:3
No stranger who has put trust in the Eternal should ever say, “I don’t count. I’m not part of Eternal’s chosen people.” And no eunuch should ever say, “I am all dried up, worthless and empty.”