Acts 8:26–40: The Ethiopian Eunuch
Introduction
In the previous parts of Acts 8, we saw Philip (one of the Seven; Acts 6:5) bringing the gospel into the region of Samaria. Driven into Samaria by persecution, the Lord used Philip to open up Samaria to evangelization, and then the apostles sent Peter and John from Jerusalem to lay hands on Samaritans so that they too might receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14–17). After this apostolic errand was completed, Peter and John “returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans” (Acts 8:25). Just as the Lord did not limit the gospel’s reach to Jerusalem and Judea, neither did he limit the gospel’s reach to Samaria. Rather, the gospel of Christ crucified announces salvation to the end of the earth.
Discussion Questions
1. How did Philip serve in the context in which we first met him (Acts 6:1–7)? By God’s grace, what had Philip accomplished in the first part of Acts 8? How does Philip discern his next ministry (v. 26)? What were the barriers that kept the Ethiopian eunuch Philip met from full inclusion into the worship of Israel? In what ways do we see the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of this Ethiopian eunuch before Philip arrives to meet him?
2. What is significant about the broader passage of Isaiah 52–53, from which the Ethiopian is reading? What is significant about the two verses specifically that he is reading in vv. 32–33? What promises did God make to foreigners and eunuchs in Isaiah 56? How does Philip preach the gospel of Jesus from the Old Testament (v. 35)? Does this gospel differ from the gospel that the apostles had preached in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria?
3. What “prevented” the Ethiopian eunuch from going into the temple courtyard in Jerusalem for worship? Why do those same barriers fail to prevent him from being baptized (v. 36)? Why is the joy of this eunuch so significant in v. 39 (cf. Ps. 67:4; 97:1; 98:4)? Where and how does Philip go after this encounter (vv. 39–40)? Where is Philip when we meet him next in Acts 21:8?
4. How does this conversion of a Gentile court official begin to open up the nations of the world to the gospel? When we go into all nations to make disciples of Jesus, what needs to remain the same in our message and method? What might look different from culture to culture? How does this story emphasize the universality of the gospel of Jesus? How might the Holy Spirit use you to further the gospel around the globe?
