Candice – What Does This Mean?

[One-Hundredth in a series of posts on Bible Stories]

Encore Post:

The Holy Spirit sent Deacon Philip to meet a eunuch serving Candice of Ethiopia. Candace was not a personal name but a royal title, much like Pharaoh or Caesar. She was the mother of the reigning king of Ethiopia and handled many of the kingdom’s day-to-day affairs. Ethiopians traced their royal line back to the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, and many were influenced by the Jewish faith.

Eunuchs often served as trusted officials of royal households. This man appears to have been the treasurer of Candace’s kingdom. He was a devout believer who had traveled all the way to Jerusalem to worship God. On his journey home, he was reading Isaiah 53, a detailed prophecy of the suffering and death of the Messiah. Puzzled by what he was reading, he invited Philip to explain the passage.

Beginning with Isaiah’s prophecy, Philip told him the good news about Jesus. The suffering servant Isaiah described was Jesus, who suffered, died, and rose again to save the world. When the Ethiopian heard this good news and saw water nearby, he asked to be baptized. Philip baptized him at once. When the Holy Spirit took Philip away, the man continued his journey rejoicing that salvation had come to him.

This encounter shows how quickly the Gospel was spreading beyond Jerusalem. The Ethiopian was both a foreigner and a eunuch, someone who stood on the edge of Israel’s religious life. Yet through faith in Christ and Holy Baptism, he was welcomed fully into God’s family. The good news of Jesus was not only for Jerusalem or even for Israel. It was for the whole world.

According to ancient Christian tradition, this new believer became one of the first people to carry the Gospel into Africa. Whether or not every detail of those traditions is correct, the message is clear. God was already fulfilling Jesus’ command to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

Originally posted at What does this Mean? Blog: https://whatdoesthismean.blog

The posts in the blog What does this Mean? are now available at What does this Mean? | Rev. Robert E. Smith | Substack

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Pastor Emeritus
Fort Wayne, Indiana

Tag: Candice

Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch