Monday 14 July 2025

Psalm 4

Background
Some of the deepest conversations take place as we walk alongside one another. Looking ahead at the same scene is much less threatening than sitting face to face.

In our reading today, two people met for the first time (and as far as we know the only time) as one of them set out on a very long journey home. He had been to Jerusalem, to the Temple, for a festival but because of his rather uncertain gender status, he would not have been able to join in the ceremonies. Although he is clearly interested in the faith of the Jewish people, as a eunuch he could not become a Jew. As he travelled along in his carriage, he was reading a copy of the book of Isaiah and no doubt reflecting on all that he had seen, heard, and experienced in the Temple.

Philip had been on a mission to the Samaritans, whom the Jews regarded with suspicion and hostility, but to whom Jesus had commanded the disciples to go (Acts 1:8).  Suddenly, Philip was pulled out of that work and sent to what was effectively the middle of nowhere, a place that may have been thought of as ‘God-forsaken’, the wilderness road from Jerusalem towards Gaza. There he found an official from Ethiopia, a land considered to be the ends of the earth. The man was clearly wealthy if he had a carriage and a copy of part of the Scriptures. As the Ethiopian was reading aloud, Philip could hear what he was reading. No doubt intrigued, he spoke to the man.

We can only imagine the full conversation between them. What we do know is that the road became not ‘God forsaken’ but a place of meeting with God. There is nowhere that is God forsaken if someone there is seeking God and another responds in God’s name. The Ethiopian went on his way rejoicing. If, as is likely, he had felt alone and rejected in the Temple, he travelled on feeling accepted and in the company of Jesus.

To Ponder:

• Can you think of a side-by-side conversation which took you by surprise in its depth and outcome?
• Who might be feeling alone and rejected on the road you will travel today?

Prayer
Thank you, Lord, for the ministry of Philip, for the joy of the Ethiopian, and for the Church today in Ethiopia. May our encounters today leave us rejoicing. Amen.

Bible notes author: The Revd Pamela Cram
Pam worked in several circuits and ecumenical posts in Wales before retiring in the Swansea Valley, where she is involved in a non-denominational community project; a church partnership with a Welsh independent church; and action for Fairtrade.