Friday, November 4, 2016
Phillip and the Eunuch
I've been contemplating the Luke's Book of Acts,
Acts 8:26-40(Specifically)
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
I find this chapter interesting, it has Philip's faithful obedience to the Massager of The Lord, and without hesitation he obeyed and did what he was asked. Philip trusted the lord, even though he walked down a desolate road in the middle of the Syrian Dessert, he knew the lord had something to accomplish.
My curiosity was, why a Eunuch from Ethiopia? Imagine your given a order from G-d, you obey and you are in the middle of no where trying to escape a zealot who wants to throw you in prison because your religious and political view don't fit his box (Hmmm? Its beginning to sound familiar)? You follow him and this foreigner is reading the Book of Isaiah? Wait? Why Isaiah? Specifically Isaiah 53:7?
Ok no coincidence right, a good evangelist would jump at the chance to talk about Jesus and Philip being filled with spirit and knowledgeable in scripture did just that. He spoke of the good news, the Eunuch happy to hear it wants baptism immediately and Philip obliged. The end. One more for the kingdom? Right?
No. this is much more than a story of blind obedience and sonship, this is deeper?
Why Isaiah? He could have read any other book of the Prophets that foretell the coming of the messiah and his punishment. This was again prophesy fulfilled. The same scroll contained this prophesy.
Isaiah 56:3-8
“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say 'I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.
I will give them—within the walls of my house—a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear.
“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”
This is the first appeal of inclusion, specifically a Eunuch who by his snipping, is rendered a servant and unable to fulfill the importance of G-d's first decree, be Fruitful and multiply. Infertility was seen as a curse in those days and forced infertility was just as bad. This is a prophesy fulfilled and then later taught by Paul.
Philip listened and obeyed, the Eunuch believed and was baptized, he went home a son of the kingdom, he had the royals ear. There is no doubt that he spoke and planted seeds that saw his nation blessed. He might have been infertile physically but he had spiritual fertility now. There is no coincidences in Scriptures, just G-d mighty plans reveled, by those who seek deeper.
Acts 8:26-40(Specifically)
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
As for Philip, an angel of the Lord said to him, “Go south down the desert road that runs from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and he met the treasurer of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under the Kandake, the queen of Ethiopia. The eunuch had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and he was now returning. Seated in his carriage, he was reading aloud from the book of the prophet Isaiah.
The Holy Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and walk along beside the carriage.” Philip ran over and heard the man reading from the prophet Isaiah. Philip asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” The man replied, “How can I, unless someone instructs me?” And he urged Philip to come up into the carriage and sit with him. The passage of Scripture he had been reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter.
And as a lamb is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
He was humiliated and received no justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth.”
The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?” So beginning with this same Scripture, Philip told him the Good News about Jesus. As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the carriage to stop, and they went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.
When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch never saw him again but went on his way rejoicing. Meanwhile, Philip found himself farther north at the town of Azotus. He preached the Good News there and in every town along the way until he came to Caesarea.
I find this chapter interesting, it has Philip's faithful obedience to the Massager of The Lord, and without hesitation he obeyed and did what he was asked. Philip trusted the lord, even though he walked down a desolate road in the middle of the Syrian Dessert, he knew the lord had something to accomplish.
My curiosity was, why a Eunuch from Ethiopia? Imagine your given a order from G-d, you obey and you are in the middle of no where trying to escape a zealot who wants to throw you in prison because your religious and political view don't fit his box (Hmmm? Its beginning to sound familiar)? You follow him and this foreigner is reading the Book of Isaiah? Wait? Why Isaiah? Specifically Isaiah 53:7?
Ok no coincidence right, a good evangelist would jump at the chance to talk about Jesus and Philip being filled with spirit and knowledgeable in scripture did just that. He spoke of the good news, the Eunuch happy to hear it wants baptism immediately and Philip obliged. The end. One more for the kingdom? Right?
No. this is much more than a story of blind obedience and sonship, this is deeper?
Why Isaiah? He could have read any other book of the Prophets that foretell the coming of the messiah and his punishment. This was again prophesy fulfilled. The same scroll contained this prophesy.
Isaiah 56:3-8
“Don’t let foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord say,
‘The Lord will never let me be part of his people.’ And don’t let the eunuchs say 'I’m a dried-up tree with no children and no future.’
For this is what the Lord says: I will bless those eunuchs
who keep my Sabbath days holy and who choose to do what pleases me and commit their lives to me.
I will give them—within the walls of my house—a memorial and a name far greater than sons and daughters could give.
For the name I give them is an everlasting one. It will never disappear.
“I will also bless the foreigners who commit themselves to the Lord, who serve him and love his name, who worship him and do not desecrate the Sabbath day of rest, and who hold fast to my covenant. I will bring them to my holy mountain of Jerusalem and will fill them with joy in my house of prayer.
I will accept their burnt offerings and sacrifices,
because my Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations.
For the Sovereign Lord, who brings back the outcasts of Israel, says: I will bring others, too, besides my people Israel.”
This is the first appeal of inclusion, specifically a Eunuch who by his snipping, is rendered a servant and unable to fulfill the importance of G-d's first decree, be Fruitful and multiply. Infertility was seen as a curse in those days and forced infertility was just as bad. This is a prophesy fulfilled and then later taught by Paul.
Philip listened and obeyed, the Eunuch believed and was baptized, he went home a son of the kingdom, he had the royals ear. There is no doubt that he spoke and planted seeds that saw his nation blessed. He might have been infertile physically but he had spiritual fertility now. There is no coincidences in Scriptures, just G-d mighty plans reveled, by those who seek deeper.
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Contemplating John 13:34-35;
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
These Two verses have a deep and powerful meaning, it is the the conclusion of what Jesus said to the Pharisee in Matthew 22:37-40;
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
"All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments", let that settle in for a moment, Loving G-d first and loving your neighbors fulfilled "all" of the law? It takes care of the entire book of Leviticus with all its decrees and punishments?
Jesus in Matthew 5:17 said:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them".
Jesus's love for us fulfilled the law, leaving us in a state of grace as Paul teaches in his epistles. But how did Jesus love us? From the fall of Adam and Eve we as humans have been at odds with G-d, so G-d in order to reconcile his most beloved of creation chose to live among us in human form. The prophet Zechariah prophesied in 12:10 "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
That's a deep love, to subject himself to walk again with his creation and experience in human form the human experience. Did he have to? No. He is G-d, but he had to, because he is Love (1 John 4:8). How much does he love? Ephesians 3:17-19 says:
so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
So getting back to how much Jesus loves me? He came to experience my life, he accepts me in with all my faults, he heals my heart, he became my servant, he healed my illness, he washed my feet, he cried with my sorrow and laughed with my joy. He called me by name even tho I am just a grain of sand in a vast dessert.
How much does he love me? By spilling his blood on the tree, he took my curse, washed my sin, clothed me in white. Made me worthy, He adapted me to his family, welcomed the prodigal son. He put a crown upon my head, and rejoiced in heaven, he conquered my death giving me life, calls me brother, sees me as a son.
How much does Jesus love me? He gives me his spirit, and charges me with authority, he made me a member of this royal priesthood, and custodian of his creation.
How much does Jesus love me? Romans 8:38-39 says: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord". That's is love.
He commissioned us in Matthew 10:8
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. Freely he gave his authority and freely he loved and lived by example, freely he has told, no commanded us to be like him. Love, serve, heal, cry, embrace, laugh, morn, pray, rebuke, forgive, lead, and even die for him and or our neighbor, for that's what he did, for that fulfills the law, for that is the base of our grace and mercy.
How well do you love and does it shine in a dark world?
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