What Hinders Baptism?

One of the nice things about Acts is that the stories told don’t always involve the apostles. The stories also involve other ordinary people, men and women, who became believers. Two weeks ago, our text from Acts 7 was about the first Christian martyr. His name wasn’t Peter, James, or John, or any of the other apostles. His name was Stephen, and living in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit, he participated in the mission of God.

Then there is Philip. There’s nothing special about him except for the fact that he, too, lives in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. After the persecution of the church in Jerusalem scattered the believers, Philip began telling people in Samaria about Jesus. People were healed of illnesses and impure spirits, and they also became baptized believers (8:7, 12). Then, after being told by the Lord to head back south, Philip does so. It is on this journey that we read that Philip “met an Ethiopian eunuch” (8:27).1

Hearing the fact that Philip encounters an Ethiopian eunuch probably doesn’t shock us. In fact, many of us have probably heard this story in Acts 8 enough that nothing about it shocks us. But in Luke’s world, there’s much that is shocking about this story. So much that Luke wants to make sure we know Philip hasn’t just encountered an Ethiopian but an Ethiopian eunuch. An Ethiopian man would be intriguing enough, as there was a fascination among Jews with people from far-off, exotic places like Ethiopia, where people had very dark skin.2 But the first person beyond the Jews in Jerusalem to hear the good news of Jesus that Luke wants to tell us about is a castrated man, who was excluded from much of the religious activities in Jewish life (cf. Deut 23:1).

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What is interesting is that we have a eunuch from Ethiopia, a man whose existence has been castrated and thus left with a mark of exclusion. Of all the texts of scripture the eunuch could read, he’s reading what we know as the Suffering Servant Song in Isaiah 53. The eunuch is drawn in particular to the following words of the text, “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice. Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth” (8:32-33; cf. Isa 53:7-8).

“This is how the kingdom of God advances, and likely a good plan for how the local church grows. If we want people to know that God loves and welcomes them, then we must love and welcome people. It’s not complicated either. It simply requires a church committed to living in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Now with Philip in his chariot, the eunuch says, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” (8:34). However, Philip never actually tells the eunuch who the prophet is speaking about. The eunuch is likely curious because he’s a man who has suffered humiliation and has been deprived of justice throughout life. Philip doesn’t say who the prophet is talking about; instead, he just begins telling the eunuch “the good news about Jesus” (8:35).

Telling the eunuch the good news about Jesus opened up the possibility of a new future without exclusion. The good news about Jesus is that even though evil men crucified Jesus according to God’s plan, God raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him as the Lord and Messiah (cf. Acts 2:23-24, 32-33, 36). So now the eunuch knows that the power of the religious authorities to exclude people like him isn’t God’s work. The redemptive work of God, accomplished in Jesus Christ, means that a new community is taking shape where there is a place for this eunuch. So the eunuch says to Philip, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” (8:36). It’s a rhetorical question because there is nothing that can hinder the eunuch, or anyone for that matter, from being baptized.

However, the text tells us, “Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him” (8:38). It’s not enough to know that the eunuch was baptized. Luke wants us to know for sure that Philip baptized him, because it’s not just God welcoming the eunuch through his baptism, but also Philip. By participating in this redemptive work of God and effectively telling the eunuch that God welcomes him, Philip is assuring the eunuch that he welcomes him too.3

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Here’s an important lesson for churches. This is how the kingdom of God advances, and likely a good plan for how the local church grows. If we want people to know that God loves and welcomes them, then we must love and welcome people. It’s not complicated either. It simply requires a church committed to living in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. Then, with the love and hospitality learned from Jesus, look for the opportunities to share the good news about Jesus. The result is someone like the Ethiopian eunuch being baptized or, like more recently, my neighbor, Barb, being baptized.

I don’t claim to be any expert on evangelism or any church growth guru. I know that in a secularized society like the United States, there are some significant challenges as churches seek to live on mission with God. However, I do believe that God is always at work, in both visible and invisible ways. I am reminded, though, that when we look for the opportunities to participate in God’s work and have the courage and conviction to do so, God’s redemptive work still happens. As I wrote for Mission Alive, “Perhaps encountering God’s redemptive work at hand is simply a matter of when opportunity meets courage and conviction.”4

So church, keep living in the name of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit! God will give us the opportunities to serve, and as you do, God’s redemptive work will go on.

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All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.