In the book of Acts (Acts 8:26–40) we find an interesting “special mission.” An angel of the Lord suddenly appears to Philip, giving him an assignment: “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”
Having accepted the mission, Philip then receives further instructions: “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” He is to join a caravan and specifically focus on one person: an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in his homeland. The man is reading aloud—loud enough for Philip to hear it from his position outside the chariot.
Philip notices what the eunuch is reading—the book of the prophet Isaiah—and suddenly realizes what the mission is about. Without hesitation, he poses a very challenging question to the important official (who, I am sure, was an academic himself). Philip asks, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
Let’s take a look at this scenario. Here we have two complete strangers: One is a high-level dignitary traveling in a chariot, accompanied by his entourage. And the second is a nobody, walking on foot, with the audacity to shout and interrupt others’ private time. Clearly, there’s a significant chance of this interaction going wrong.
It is interesting to notice that the eunuch doesn’t respond with irritation toward the person who disturbed him with such a ridiculous question. After all, he is a high dignitary who commands respect. The eunuch could have replied: “You busybody, I am a PhD with credentials; I am more than qualified to handle this. Mind your own business.”
On the contrary, the eunuch’s reply shows that he is a humble man. Despite his position, the need to understand the meaning of Scripture is more important than who he is or what he represents. The Spirit knew the eunuch’s heart and his thirst for the truth, so it was imperative to bring him someone to help him understand. That is Philip’s mission. And even though the eunuch does not know Philip, he replies, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?”
The eunuch invites Philip into the chariot to give him a complete and detailed seminar on Jesus’s mission, His salvation plan, His death, and—most importantly—His resurrection. There is no better teacher for this topic than a man who had personally lived and experienced Jesus’s ministry, had his heart broken while seeing Jesus dying, but who had also rejoiced at seeing Him resurrected, saw Him go to heaven, and received the promise of His second coming.
The story doesn’t say how long Philip was teaching the eunuch, but surely it could not have been a comprehensive lecture on every single teaching of Jesus. Yet, at some point the eunuch stops the seminar and tells Philip: “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” He is ready to accept Jesus.
Let’s pause here to analyze the eunuch’s question. He did not say to Philip, “I accept Jesus as my savior; I want to be baptized.” He didn’t even ask, “Do you think I’m ready to get baptized? When can we schedule it?” I’m sure Philip would have had a nice answer for that.
What the eunuch asked was, “What can stand in the way?” The question hints at the bureaucratic sort of life the eunuch was accustomed to, in which every gift or reward was hidden behind multiple layers of approval or qualifications, and in which he was never good enough because some new barrier was always in front. But the eunuch understood now that his connection with God was direct and personal. By accepting Jesus’s sacrifice, he was free to receive salvation, and there was no barrier to stand in the way.
What the eunuch expressed to Philip was actually not even a question; it was a polite way to tell someone that you are going to do something because you have the authority to do it. So with his authority, the eunuch orders the chariot to stop and goes to the water, where Philip baptizes him.
Something very interesting happens after this baptism. The Bible says, “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” (Acts 8:39).
Why was Philip taken away so suddenly? Wouldn’t it have been better to let Philip study with the eunuch a while longer?
This story appears in Acts chapter 8. Many great events had happened before this point: In chapter 6, the seven deacons were elected, marking the institutionalization of the Christian church (before this, they were just a group of believers). Soon after, Stephen was arrested and killed by the Sanhedrin. And almost immediately after the stoning of Stephen, the systematic persecution of the church began, forcing its members to flee for their lives, scattering throughout Judea and Samaria.
When Philip met with the eunuch, he was one of the leaders of the now officially recognized, growing Christian church. He was also considered a religious rebel under persecution. So in a way, Philip had the religious and political responsibility to care for this new movement, the Christian church, and make it grow. And the way to make this happen was by telling people about Jesus.
It seems the process was: preach the gospel, people will accept it, and they’ll get baptized. Welcome to the Christian church! Oh and by the way, we are being persecuted.
But even though persecution had forced the church underground, there were still deacons whose work was to organize and care for the membership. The church needed some kind of “official” acknowledgment of becoming part of a movement. It is human nature to gravitate toward groups and appreciate ceremonies and customs.
Considering this context, let’s go back to our story. Did Philip have the opportunity to tell the eunuch, “Welcome to the Christian church!”? Did he have time to warn him about ongoing persecution? Did Philip have time to explain what it meant to join the newly created Christian church?
I think that Philip did not have time for this. I believe that while Philip was coming out of the water, having baptized the eunuch, he was getting ready to pull out his Church Manual and the Institutional Working Policy to introduce the topic of “membership” and responsibilities. And it was at this moment that “the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away.” Philip’s special mission was completed. After this point, any additional information Philip may have had was not as important as telling people about the Savior and baptizing them. And for the Spirit in charge of Philip’s mission, that was enough.
The eunuch, on the other hand, “went on his way rejoicing.” He got the answer his heart was searching for. Once the direct link between Jesus the Savior and the eunuch had been created, Philip was not necessary. From that moment, the eunuch was set free to rejoice in his new status. The Spirit let him go without any other knowledge besides the assurance that he had been redeemed. Not even the existence of a movement that changed human history seemed to be relevant at this point.
Copyright© Italo Osorio 2019