Postfeast of Theophany; Synaxis of St. John the Baptist
Acts 8:26-40
26 But an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert road. 27 And he rose and went. And behold, an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Can′dace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship 28 and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “How can I, unless some one guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this:
“As a sheep led to the slaughter
or a lamb before its shearer is dumb,
so he opens not his mouth.
33 In his humiliation justice was denied him.
Who can describe his generation?
For his life is taken up from the earth.”34 And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus. 36 And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?” [37, not included in the most ancient versions: Then Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at Azo′tus, and passing on he preached the gospel to all the towns till he came to Caesare′a.
There are a number of striking aspects about this important passage.
- Philip responds to the promptings of an angel or of the Spirit. This is a regular feature of life in Acts since the apostolic community is living in the post-Pentecostal Messianic age marked by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
- The Ethiopian is already deeply familiar with Judaism and the Old Testament. But as a eunuch—one castrated either through a birth defect, disease or mutilation—the Jewish law would have prevented him from participating in the worship assembly (Deuteronomy 23:1.)
- The passage the eunuch is reading (Isaiah 53: 7-8, Greek Septuagint) is used in preparation of the bread (“the lamb”) for the Divine Liturgy. While it focuses on the Messiah’s sacrifice, it also connects with anyone who has suffered unjust humiliation, like the eunuch. The “good news of Jesus” meant that the eunuch could be fully included in the community of the Messiah. Perhaps along the way Philip pointed to Isaiah 56, which speaks of the foreigners and eunuchs being included in God’s House, which “will be a house of prayer for all peoples.
Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the Lord say,
“The Lord will surely separate me from his people”;
and let not the eunuch say,
“Behold, I am a dry tree.”
For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths,
who choose the things that please me
and hold fast my covenant,
I will give in my house and within my walls
a monument and a name
better than sons and daughters;
I will give them an everlasting name
which shall not be cut off…
for my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples.
Thus says the Lord God,
who gathers the outcasts of Israel,
I will gather yet others to him
besides those already gathered.” (Isaiah 56:3-5, 7-8).
- Note that the baptism occurs almost immediately and with no explicit statement of faith. This may have caused consternation later, and as a result an additional verse (v.37) was inserted in some western versions of the Acts text in Greek and in Latin to make it conform to the later practice.
- Philip goes into the water with the Ethiopian.
It is striking that today, 2000 years later, we still follow the same basic pattern of being baptized to enter life in Christ. I was personally reminded of this as I baptized my granddaughter Eloise Isabel just before Christmas.
Theophany at the Chancery
His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon celebrated the Vigil and Divine Liturgy for the feast and then led the Saint Sergius Chapel community in procession to the walled garden for the blessing of the pond. It was cold and snowing lightly. We were a tiny flock, but as always being outdoors was a reminder of the indestructible goodness of the Creation. Truly our God “is everywhere present and fills all things.”
Tomorrow His Beatitude will bless the Chancery and we’ll have the annual staff Christmas/Epiphany party.