Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then Philip began to speak, and starting with this scripture, he proclaimed to him the good news about Jesus. As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being ”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, May 11, 2025
by Vicar Wing Yin Li, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Jesus Christ is the suffering servant who can relate to our painful experience of being rejected, and whose gospel is not kept from those whom the society marginalizes.
This story of the Ethiopian eunuch narrates the conversion of the first gentile to Christianity. It is a significant story for LGBTQ+ people of faith because eunuch is a sexual minority within the context of the time. In the Jewish culture, eunuchs were considered “unfit” to enter the synagogue or the temple (See Deut. 23:1). So, despite the fact that the eunuch was a God-fearing pilgrim who went to Jerusalem to worship at the temple, it is very likely that he had not been admitted to the temple in Jerusalem because of his sexual identity. Probably, this experience of being rejected led the eunuch to want to learn more about the suffering servant that Isaiah 53 is talking about. Philip’s interpretation of the text in relation to the good news of Jesus then opened the Eunuch’s eyes, allowing him to encounter Jesus as a humble servant who was also rejected, humiliated, and denied justice.
Like the Ethiopian eunuch, the LGBTQ+ community has struggled to make sense of the Bible and to find their place in it. It is especially hard when the Bible has long been used to condemn and marginalize them, labeling them as unclean. Today, many LGBTQ+ Christians still believe that they need to leave part of themselves at the door before entering the church. Thankfully, God has sent people like Philip to interpret the Bible in ways that empower the LGBTQ+ community. Father John McNeill, an American Catholic priest and theologian, has called Philip the patron saint of the queer community for this reason. However, we need more Philips in our churches. As the eunuch went on his way praising God, full of joy, may we also meet the Philips in our lives, and if moved by the Holy Spirit, become the Philip for all who still struggle to find their place in God’s salvation.
