Acts of the Apostles: Fortress Biblical Preaching Commentaries

4 You Will Be My Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth

4 You Will Be My Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth Acts 8:26—28:29 This long section tells the story of the witness of the church in accord with Jesus’ directive in Acts 1:8: the witness would makes way from Jerusalem and all Judea through Samaria to the ends of the earth. For Luke, the ends of the earth include not only general gentile communities outside of Jerusalem and Samaria but also the city of Rome, which for Luke represents the idolatrous Roman Empire. For Luke Rome represents the immediate rule of the present broken age, even as Jerusalem represents the presence and coming of the Realm of God. Acts 8:26—28:29 authorizes the movement of the witness into the gentile world by picturing God in charge of the events that take place in the story. God calls Paul to be missionary to the gentiles and confirms the gentile mission through Peter’s encounter with Cornelius, When controversy arises in the church regarding whether gentile converts should be circumcised, an important meeting in Jerusalem, inspired by the Holy Spirit, places a stamp of approval on the mission. God is ever present with Paul and his companions when they are repeatedly threatened by danger from human beings, demons, and forces of nature. Nevertheless, Paul does what Luke wants his congregation to do; invite the gentiles to become part of the church—a community witnessing to the Realm and embodying qualities of the Realm while pointing to the second coming as the time when God would fulfill all of God’s promises. The story of the gentile mission in Acts 8:26-28:29 is a model for the community to whom Luke writes. Luke intends for his congregation in its later time to continue the story told in Acts 8:26-28:29. Indeed, as the Introduction suggests, Luke wants the story of his congregation to be the 29th chapter of Acts. 77 You Will Be My Witnesses to the Ends of the Earth: An Ethiopian Eunuch Becomes Part of the Movement of the Realm (Acts 8:26-40) After the witness to the Realm passes through Samaria in Acts 8:4-25, God guides the news a step further in Acts 8:26-40. The encounter between Philip and the eunuch on the wilderness road between Jerusalem and Gaza moves the witness to the Realm toward the ends of the earth with respect to geography, ethnicity, political power, and matters related to gender. In ways perhaps unanticipated by Luke, this story touches primal concerns for many people today. Preachers sometimes take the Ethiopian eunuch as a poster child for exclusion and inclusion. Preachers are wont to say Judaism excluded the eunuch whereas the church welcomed the eunuch. The sermon calls the church to include people today who in situations similar to that of the eunuch. Unfortunately, this approach oversimplifies attitudes toward eunuchs in ancient Judaism while buttressing anti-Jewish sentiments. A preacher needs to respect the fullness of Judaism’s concern around eunuchs and help the church recognize its own ambiguity and even unfaithfulness with respect to persons represented by the eunuch. ACTS 8:26-31. PHILIP ENCOUNTERS AN ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH An angel guided Philip to a chariot on the wilderness road from Jerusalem to Gaza where the Spirit directs Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian eunuch reading from Isaiah. The presence of the chariot indicates that the eunuch is well supplied (as a high government official). The fact that he is reading is noteworthy since only three to ten percent of the population of antiquity was literate. The Ethiopian was a eunuch, deprived of the gifts of sexuality, including children (who would have carried on his name, an important notion in antiquity). He was cut off in certain ways. He was likely a God-fearer (a gentile who was greatly attracted to Judaism but not a full convert). He had been in Jerusalem to worship, though, according to Leviticus 21:17-23 and Deuteronomy 23:1-8 the eunuch could not participate fully in temple worship. However, Isaiah 56:3-6 looks forward to the day when God will give faithful eunuchs “a monument and a name, better than sons and daughters.” Wisdom of Solomon 3:14 declares that a eunuch is blessed “whose hands have 78 | Acts of the Apostles done no lawless deed.” The events on the wilderness road...