As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. – Acts 8:36-38

As my Tuesday morning men’s group journeys through this third section of the Bible, today we talked about the incredible explosion of the Good News message into a world that had not seen or heard anything like this before.

There is the pivotal moment we know as Pentecost, then there is a period in which Jerusalem is witness to the love and dynamic sense of community the first Christians demonstrate and then – last week – Stephen is dragged out of the city and brutally bludgeoned to death with stones.

The death of Stephen seems to unleash all the pent up hostility in the religious leaders and immediately – under the direction of Saul – persecution hits full force. This is when God sends Philip down to the Gaza Road to meet “The Ethiopian Eunuch.” During this encounter something revolutionary happens, and it gives us a clue as to why the Gospel is taking off with such positive energy.

Breaking social and religious taboos:

“Look, here is water,” the man says to Philip after he learns of the love of Jesus, “What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

Well, a lot as it turns out. Because while the Ethiopian is a “God-fearer” who traveled to Jerusalem to worship, the law clearly excludes him from getting anywhere near the Temple. “No one who has been emasculated by crushing or cutting may enter the assembly of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 23:1). See also Leviticus 21:20.

But not Jesus. God is not going to stand in the way, and Philip understands this. According to Jesus, all are welcome at the table. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Then, later in Acts (10:15), God tells Peter, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

It is this understanding, I believe, that makes all the difference and contributes so much to the accessibility and the durability of the Good News about Jesus. The leaders are going to have to address this “who is welcome?” question again at the Council of Jerusalem, when they begin to realize that believers do not, first, have to convert to Judaism. But for me this “Philip and the Eunuch” story makes God’s invitation crystal clear.

Religious leaders too often invest themselves in the business of exclusion. Jesus, on the other hand, is in the business of invitation and of reconciliation and of celebration.

So let me pose this question: “Look, here is today. What can stand in the way of new life in Jesus?”

There is nothing, it turns out. Nothing at all – DEREK