The Ethiopian eunuch is both a racial and a sexual/social outsider. As a eunuch, he was excluded from the courts of the Lord and from belonging to the people of God according to the laws of the earthly sanctuary. What compelled this eunuch to worship God in Jerusalem? Perhaps this despised and rejected eunuch sensed that the despised and rejected servant (Isaiah 53, the passage which he was reading) might understand and speak to his deep hunger and need. The prophet Isaiah had a special word of hope to eunuchs and foreigners (Isa 56:3-7). This is the dawning of a new day when God’s house would be a house of prayer for all nations and outcasts. This signals the beginning of the international expansion of God’s kingdom.
Lent season is upon us! Use this time to reflect on what Jesus has done for us.
