Philip and the Eunuch: Empathic Attention on the Desert Road
16 Lectio Divina on Acts 8:26-40
The God of the word and the word of God can only be received by those who in their vulnerability and need are open to receive them. Like our Lord, we need to have a metaphorical towel of service wrapped around our waists. We need to tune in to people’s deepest needs, those that are rooted in their sense of creaturely contingency, by paying empathic attention to their verbal and non-verbal communication.
There is a striking example of that principle at work in the account of how Philip evangelised the Ethiopian eunuch he met on a desert road. In the first century, two major Roman roads connected Jerusalem and Gaza: A western coastal route—green, populated, and well‑traveled. There was also a southern wilderness route—passing through Bethlehem, Hebron, and the Judean desert, skirting the Negev before reaching Gaza. It was on this second desert road that Philip encountered the chancellor of the exchequer of Candace. Candace was not so much a proper name as a title, one which all the queens of Ethiopia bore. (A priest from Ethiopia told me that it was unlikely that the eunuch was from Ethiopia. He thought it was more likely that he was from the Sudan). Be that as it may. This eunuch had been to Jerusalem to worship. It is possible that he was a person who adopted Jewish beliefs and practices without being a converted member of the Jewish faith.
If they accepted Judaism and were circumcised, they were called proselytes; if they did not go that far but continued to attend the Jewish synagogues and to read the Jewish Scriptures, they were called God-fearers. Just as Jesus paid undivided attention to the woman at the well of Samaria, Philip paid empathic attention to the distinguished stranger he met in the barren wilderness. Straight away he noticed that he had servants and fine clothes which indicated that he was a person of power, influence, and wealth. But it was also fairly obvious from his hairless face and high-pitched voice that he had been cruelly castrated, probably in his youth. In those days the authorities would seek out gifted boys for service in the royal court. The youths would be castrated so that they would not be a sexual threat to the Queen. So, despite all indications to the contrary, not only was this court official a lonely childless man who was unable to marry, he was also an outsider, who was familiar with injustice and humiliation. In a word, he was poor in spirit with a great longing for an encounter with the living God. Presumably, that was why he had made such a long pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This impressive pilgrim was reading Is 53:7-8 when Philip ran alongside and asked whether he understood the passage. He replied, “How can I unless someone guides me”( Acts 8:31). Implicit in that statement was not only a passionate longing for a sense of ultimate belonging it was a clear that it amounted to a clear invitation to Philip to explain the word of God to him.
There is reason to suspect that the eunuch was deeply moved when Philip told him about the suffering servant; how Jesus had endured great injustice at the hands of the Jewish and Roman authorities. He had been ostracised, humiliated in public, and died without heirs. He could identify with the Lord. He had suffered the childhood injustice of involuntary castration. As a result of his effeminate appearance and high-pitched voice he had often endured ridicule. He could see from Philip’s testimony that, as God’s Son, Jesus had completely identified with people like him who suffered humiliation and shame. This was his moment of revelation, of spiritual awakening. Inwardly, he felt accepted and loved by Jesus. His response was instantaneous and wholehearted. Not only did he believe in the Good News, immediately he asked to be baptised. “Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptised him.” At last, his search was over. Finally, he felt the joy of ultimate belonging.
If you read the story of the meeting of Jesus with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus you will notice that there it is very similar to Philip’s meeting with the eunuch. In both, the scriptures are interpreted in an inspiring way that reveals who Jesus really is, and both conclude with Jesus and Philip mysteriously disappearing.
Speaking about person-to-person evangelisation Pope St Paul VI said that Christians need to be on the look out for stepping stones that could lead to a conversation about faith issues. That is what Philip did. When he saw that the eunuch was reading a scripture text he used that fact as a stepping stone which enabled him in an unforced way, to talk about Jesus.
