“If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world” C. S. Lewis
As they rode along, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look! There’s some water! Why can’t I be baptized?” … “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”… 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. Acts 8:36,37, 39 (NLT & NKJV, emphasis added)
As the title implies, this week’s study is about the faith and discipleship of those outside the Jewish faith. Jesus reserved some of His more positive praise for the most unlikely candidates, the Gentiles. And we’ll talk about that later.
But I have selected the text above because it hit me when preparing the study this week (the full story of Philip and the Ethiopian can be found in Acts 8). The pure joy displayed by the Ethiopian eunuch after he hears the gospel is wonderful. Why do you think he was so ecstatic? Have we experienced such joy recently?
The eunuch was the treasurer of Ethiopia, a man of ‘great authority’ – he would have experienced many good things of this life (although not a marital relationship). Clearly he was a seeker for something more – and found it in the person of Jesus.
Of interest is the Spirit’s role in this story. The Holy Spirit is explicitly noted as prompting Philip to make contact with the eunuch. But on the other side, how did the eunuch get a copy of the Hebrew scriptures? And why was he reading Isaiah 53 (a messianic prophecy) at the time? Could it also have been the Spirit?
Do you think the Spirit moves in similar ways today? For those who have been Christians for a long time, how can we regain the joyous enthusiasm shown by the eunuch?
This week we’re going to discuss two aspects of this week’s study (Click on the links below to go to the discussion):
e-Sabbath School 
Last year I decided to read the Bible from beginning to end as I hardly knew anything about much of it- other than the main characters and the general gist.
While the Old Testament was a bit of a long slog (10 months!), it was fascinating to learn what really went on. Particularly towards the end of the Old Testament you see many of the prophecies starting to be outlined which was really quite cool.
When I finally came to the New Testament it was like climbing out of a dark cave and into brilliant light. It made those 10 months so worthwhile to suddenly see Jesus as being everything that I had been reading about all that time.
I guess in that way it has given me a pretty big shot of enthusiasm about God’s word, particularly to now read the New Testament with fresh eyes.
I think that this enthusiasm would have only been a fraction of what the Ethiopian man would have felt as he had no previous knowledge of Jesus. I think that I had a bit of a fear of the Old T as it so large and confusing. It is still confusing but not so scary, and I think that Jesus has emerged for me as Someone so much more precious and delightful than what I had ever experienced before.
Caz