The Ethiopian Queen of the Desert

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch: Two Role Models for Inclusivity

Acts 8:27-39 contains the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. This man was both a foreigner and a eunuch and, therefore, subject to prohibitions such as those in Deuteronomy 23:1-2 and Leviticus 21:17-21; 22:22-24, that prevented such persons from serving or making offerings in the temple.  His encounter with Philip ends with his baptism. Close reading of the story contains some instructive insights. The eunuch is an extraordinary fellow of quite exotic connections.  He is the court official to Queen Candace, of Ethiopia.  He is a believer, for we are told that he went to Jerusalem to worship. While that would be against Levitical and Deuteronomic Law, Luke leaves us wondering what sort of believer he may have been?  If we follow Josephus (Antiqitiies 4:29-91) and strict application of the Law, he could not have been a Jewish proselyte.(1)  Perhaps he was a Christian believer, for we find that this royal eunuch is reading a passage from the prophet Isaiah (from Isaiah 53:7-8), regarding the "suffering servant") when Philip meets up with him. This text is identified closely with Jesus, and states:

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. [Isaiah 53:7-8 ]

Philip at this point is acting like a faithful servant of Christ, under the direction of the Holy Spirit. In this, Philip is a Christian role model. He hears the words of Scripture, he goes to the reader and joins him. His actions are an example of obedient discipleship, in hearing, going and joining. He acts with inclusivity, and finds mutual acceptance before the Word that is held by this unlikely person.

The eunuch offers Philip the hospitality of his chariot and the two men discuss the Scripture. There is a double irony about this eunuch, for he has power, as a royal official, yet he is powerless in the sexual, procreative sense. He is also reading about one who is powerless before a greater power, taken like a sheep to the slaughter, or like a lamb to be shorn before his life is cut off. The one in the text from Isaiah is like a eunuch, "his life taken away from the earth", cut off, without generation. He has no off-spring, no continuing name in the land. The suffering servant appears like a eunuch. There is a functional similarity between them, if not a physical likeness. Certainly there is, in this person in Isaiah, a figure with whom the eunuch can identify.(2)

The eunuch questions Philip as to the identity of this enigmatic figure in Isaiah. He asks, "About whom, may I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?" (Acts 8:34) In reply, Philip uses the text to preach about the good news of Jesus, whom we understand as being something like a eunuch, cut off in His prime and His life taken away from the earth, for Jesus was, presumably, without heirs. He was a functional eunuch, yet His life, crucifixion and resurrection redefine for the early, emerging Christians the way in which one achieves eternal life. It is no longer an eternal life that is achieved through the bearing of children but through one's personal identification with the risen Christ. This understanding is very similar to that found in Isaiah 56:4-6, which is a text close to the one the Ethiopian eunuch was reading when Philip approached him! It is the very text (Isaiah 53:7-8) that deals with the fate of the Suffering Servant, whom Christians identify with Jesus, the Messiah.

When the eunuch asks Philip if there is any barrier to him being baptised, he is testing the good news. Is it really inclusive? Is he counted among the people for whom the Unknown One was cut off from the land of the living? Can a eunuch be baptised? For the term "cut-off" is a reference to the curse that was placed on anyone who was exiled, executed by capital punishment, or did not reproduce.(3) It recalls the prohibitions such as those in Deuteronomy 23:1-2 and Leviticus 21:17-21; 22:22-24. He is asking about the possibility of his own inclusion within the community of Christ. He was counted as an outcast on two accounts under Jewish law, both as a Gentile and as a eunuch. No wonder he is suspicious! However, the eunuch seems to answer his own question? He takes the initiative in the story. He commands the charioteer to stop the chariot, and both Philip and the eunuch enter the water. Philip does not answer the eunuch's questions with words but with actions. He baptises him.

In this story, the Eunuch is a role model for gay and lesbian Christians and other marginalised persons who, in identifying with Jesus, ask, "Am I included too?" Like the Eunuch, their faith has already answered the question for them. They may follow his example, take the initiative and press the point of inclusivity through faith and identity with Jesus Christ. Radical inclusivity is demonstrated in the story in two ways. When both the eunuch and Philip enter the water and Philip baptises him, entering the water becomes a symbol of inclusivity and the act of baptism affirms it. The eunuch and Philip act as though both have made the same point of recognition. That is, that Isaiah speaks of people like the eunuch and that, in unity with Christ Jesus, all people of faith are included in the reign of God in the manner of the prophet's vision. Nancy Wilson interprets this story in the following words:

The nameless eunuch, the patron saint of Ethiopian Christians, a black gay man, becomes the first African Christian, and the most clear and complete fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah 56, that God's house would become a house of prayer for all people

There is another significant aspect to this story from Acts. In verse 36 we have the description of Philip and the eunuch "going along the road." They were journeying together and we now understand that journeying to be a journey into the way of Christ. Philip was encountering the eunuch as a fellow traveller in the faith. The story shows us the spirit in which we ought to study our Bibles by the roadside. Both philip and the eunuch learn from the words of the prophet of Isaiah 53, that Jesus is like this eunuch and that the way of Christ is inclusive. This is an evangelical word of hope for homosexual Christians who, like the eunuch, seek to journey on the way with Christ. The eunuch continues "on his way" (v. 39), as Philip is snatched away by the Spirit. So all people of faith can journey confidently on their way in Christ.

In the way of Christ Jesus there are no marks of distinction. All people of faith are included in the "way". Those marks of distinction that are considered curses from God and cause people to be "cut-off" are removed or overcome. In fact, Jesus Himself bears those marks of distinction, as we remember on hearing the words from Isaiah 53: 7-8.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By a perversion of justice he was taken away. Who could have imagined his future? For he was cut off from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people. Isaiah 53:7-8

Interpreting the New Testament, with a gay lesbian, liberative hermeneutic, shows sexual minorities included in the reign of God. Conditions of the old covenant laws no longer apply. They are not part of the Way of Christ. Jesus stands in solidarity with eunuchs and other outcasts. He became as one of them on the Cross, bearing the curse of ostracism, cut-off from ordinary patterns of family and procreation, with no future in the land. He was made as a "eunuch". He was stricken for the transgressions of his people so that they may have life. However, His life, crucifixion and resurrection redefine for us the way in which one achieves eternal life. It is no longer an eternal life that is achieved through the bearing of children but through one's personal identification with Christ.

Jesus in our time stands in solidarity with those deemed to have impaired sexual status and are treated like the "eunuchs" and outcasts of old.  He stands with gay and lesbian Christians who are denied full participation and status within the church.  They hear the Ethiopian eunuch's cry, "Look, here is water!" It is the water of hope, the water of inclusivity, given for us all in the Way of Jesus Christ.  Baptism reminds us all that it is grace which unites us as one people of God in Christ.  It is only in humility that we find grace to overcome patriarchy, dissent, division, or attempts to dominate others.(5)

References

1. Nancy Wilson, Our Tribe: Queer Folks, God, Jesus, and the Bible. (Harper-Collins, New York, 1995.) p.130.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid. p. 131.
5. Simon Moglia, "Grace", in Warren Talbot, ed., Uniting in Prayer, p.18.