FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2024 - EUNUCH AND GENDER

 FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2024 - ETHIOPIAN EUNUCH

From Acts 8:26-38

An angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the desert road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way, he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of the Kandake’s treasury (“queen of the Ethiopians”). On his way home, this man had gone to Jerusalem to worship and was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip“ “Go to that chariot and stay near it”.”

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet“ “Do you understand what you are reading”g?” Philip asked “.

“How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to e?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading “:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

In his humiliation, he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the ear”h.”

The eunuch asked Phili“, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone el”e?” Then Philip began with that passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

As they traveled 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 ”e gave orders to stop the chariot. Then, both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and Philip baptized him.

*****

A eunuch is a man who has had his testicles removed and cannot reproduce. In government situations, eunuchs were often used because they were considered ‘gentler‘ and no’ lustful.  

Analogy. In the cattle field, there are bulls and steers—both male. Bulls are used for reproduction, while steers cannot. The meat from bulls can be gamy and tough. Steers are less aggressive than bulls and are more similar to female cows in terms of their physical and behavioral characteristics. Steers are also used for their beef. Steers are often adopted as companions because of their docile nature.

Aside: Ranchers generally cut off the testicles of male cows to create beef cows. They keep a few bulls around the ranch for breeding purposes but don’t want 100 bulls—maybe 4 or 5 (depending on the ranch size). On the day they cut off the testicles, cooks take the discarded parts and make them into “Rocky Mountain Oysters.” I have eaten Rocky Mountain Oysters but had a tough time knowing I was eating cow testicles.

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So here we have a man who is not quite a man (that is,can’tan’t have intercourse, can’t father children).  

So, in terms of LGBTQ+, a eunuch would be asexual. But, in this story, the eunuch is accepting God’s kingdom. Sperson’sson’s gender (and gender conformity or non-conformity) is not an issuGod’sGod’s eyes.  

Where a medical procedure made the man into a eunuch, a medical procedure can make a woman from a man or a man from a woman. (That is - transgender).  

Is God judging a person by their gender - or by their lives?

*****

We are to love - all people are made in the image and likeness of God - including Eunuchs, Gay Men, Lesbian Women, Transgender people, Blacks, Whites, Hindus, Muslims, etc. LOVE ONE ANOTHER.

LOVE TRANSFORMS PEOPLE.  

Karen Anne White, ©, May 3rd, 2024