First Thoughts on Year B First Reading Acts Passages from the Lectionary
Easter 5
William Loader
Easter 5: 28 April Acts 8:26-40
Some
people saw eunuchs as not fully human. They were faulty forms of the
human race. They were impotent males, unable to procreate. Some were
like that because they had been castrated or had castrated themselves.
Some had been disendowed from birth. Such men were often forced to the
margins of society. In some cultures they had a reputation for immoral
behaviour, often in relation to sexual behaviour. For while they could
not procreate, they still had sexual passion. That sometimes put them
into contexts where they could be exploited. They could be made to
serve others' sexual ends "safely" and we read of them engaging in
sexual romps, both heterosexual and homosexual. They were often
associated with the latter as "deviant" and abnormal. They often appear
in other roles, especially as government officials, such as this eunuch
from Ethiopia. There, too, they were safe to have in court. They could
be trusted not to cause chaos through sexual misbehaviour. Some were
out in charge of harems, where they were similarly "safe", though
frequently sexually active. Their presence in the courts of rulers
became so common that the word, "eunuch", sometimes simply means
something like civil servant without any connotation with regard to
sexuality.
While some biblical traditions preserve legislation which excluded them
from holy places (Deut 23:1), there are others which held out the
prospect that one day they along with foreigners could belong (Isa
56:3-5). Jesus may well have been defending himself against accusations
that he did not marry and instead embarked on mission, when he declared
that some of us make ourselves eunuchs for the kingdom of God (Matt
19:10-12). It was typical for him to identify himself with the
marginalised. Luke has probably chosen this story with the hope of
Isaiah in mind. The gospel is, as Acts 1:8 predicted, reaching out
beyond Jerusalem and Judea to the uttermost ends of the earth - at
least as they saw it. This eunuch was most likely a foreigner who had
been attracted to Judaism, either a full convert, i.e. a proselyte, or
one who embraced Jewish belief in one God and the commandments without
becoming fully a Jew and being circumcised. He may have had other
business, but seems to have intentionally travelled to the temple to
worship. The story also assumes he possesses a scroll of Isaiah. Not
many people did, so this may reflect a level of prosperity. The fact
that he could read it also suggests literacy. He was probably reading
it in Greek.
People read out loud, even when they were reading just for themselves,
so Philip did not need to look over his shoulder to see what he was
reading. Whether legendary or real, the eunuch just happens to be
reading what has always been a favourite text to which we return each
year, especially in relation to Good Friday. We hear the text of Isaiah
53 so often that we most naturally focus on the way it came to be read
as a prediction that Jesus would suffer for our sins: "he was wounded
for our transgressions" (Isa 53:5). While Isaiah 53 in its historical
has been variously interpreted as referring to the people as a whole in
its suffering or to a special servant of God, it became a favourite
location in which to find one of the early ways of expressing the
gospel. As happened in the ancient world, people read what was written
in one context as not only applicabkle but as also intended for their
own context, whereas we might speak rather of patterns repeating
themselves and hopes finding new fulfilment.
People saw Jesus and his death as doing what the acute suffering of a
good person or what sacrifice could achieve: creating a surplus of
goodness which made up for and covered the sins of others. "Christ died
for our sins". Later generations woukd try to work out how, mostly with
unfortunate consequences which entailed implications that God could not
love and forgive without a price being paid or a substitute being
punished. The point of the early confessions is not such explanations,
but the affirmation that from Jesus' life and death God's love and
mercy flowed out to people and invited them to be embraced in
forgiveness.
Luke's story does not have the eunuch read the verses in the passage
which came to be used to depict Christ dying for our sins. Instead he
reads verses which focus on the suffering alone. This is rather typical
of Luke who depicts the first apostles as putting the emphasis on
Jesus' life and on his death as rejection which God reversed and on the
basis of which Jesus' message of forgiveness could now be proclaimed
with confidence to all. Luke leaves us to read between the lines about
what Philip might have said to the eunuch. In substance it would have
been the kind of thing Luke had shown in the summaries of speeches
earlier in Acts. It included openness to include a person whom others
might have despised or marginalised. God's generosity is not confined
to those with "normal" sexuality, but extends to all people. Little
wonder that many gay Christians find that they can identify with
eunuchs in the ancient world.
The eunuch came to faith and was baptised. Elsewhere Luke mentions the
coming of the Spirit, and causes confusion by listing the coming of the
Spirit, baptism and belief as three events which might occur in almost
any order. That is because they belong together as three aspects of one
event. As people responded in faith by letting John immerse them in the
Jordan, thus immersing themselves in the life and grace of God, so
Christians baptised such believers, but now in the name of Christ whose
fuller message they embraced and in association with the openness to
the Spirit - modelled already in Jesus' baptism by John. Embracing
whole families meant sometimes baptising infants and children for whom
their baptism signalled a basis for a faith they might make their own
and by which from infancy they were shaped.
Luke's story allows a reading which sees something magical in the
sudden disappearance of Philip, but it may not have been intended in
that way. Off went the eunuch. Off went Philip. We hear what Philip
did, but not what the eunuch did. There is a major Christian church in
Ethiopia still today which traces its roots to this event, a legend of
origins. Small apparently insignificant chance encounters filled with
the Spirit of love can change the course of history. It is like water
in the desert. Watch for what might grow. Our task is not to make the
magic moments - only history will tell us what they are - but simply to
be attuned to love and sing its song.
Gospel: Easter 5: 28 April John 15:1-8
Epistle: Easter 5: 28 April 1
John 4:7-21
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