A Year in Luke/ActsSample

The explicit “new temple” imagery continues with the story of the Ethiopian eunuch. It is not certain whether he was the first Gentile baptized because he may have been from Ethiopia but of Jewish origin. Whatever the case, after his baptism, the gospel continued to go forth to even more distant lands, indeed right into Africa.

A more significant detail to note is the fact that he is a eunuch. Eunuchs were often court officials (we know from v27 that this was the case with this eunuch) who had been castrated so they did not threaten the dynasty they served. A eunuch may have also been a figurative term for someone who could not have children, perhaps because of a reproductive problem or even their sexual orientation. Deuteronomy 23:1 declares that no one who is a eunuch may enter the temple, so even if he was Jewish, the Ethiopian could not have entered the temple for worship. The fact that he made the journey all the way to Jerusalem from Ethiopia, knowing this, is telling of his commitment. Imagine how he must have been feeling leaving Jerusalem, having come all this way and not able to enter the temple. But the Spirit has other ideas…