St. Philip the Deacon: Serving Tables and Serving the Lord

 St. Philip the Deacon

Serving tables was just a start for St. Philip and the other deacons. Today (6 June) is the feast of one of the stars of the Acts of the Apostles, St. Philip the Deacon. In addition to “the Deacon,” he also bears the name St. Philip the Evangelist. We should not confuse him with St. Philip the Apostle. No, Philip was one of the original seven deacons. The Apostles instituted this office in the first explosive growth of the Church. The first Christians did not think it right that the Apostles “should give up preaching the Word of God to serve tables” (Acts 6:2). The purpose of deacons was to carry out some the more mundane duties.  

Interestingly, however, they were not limited to “serving tables.” Almost immediately, in fact, we see the Deacon Stephen preaching and suffering death. He’s the first Christian martyr after the death of Christ Himself (Acts 6 & 7).  Next we see another deacon, today’s St. Philip, preaching in Samaria. There “the multitudes with one accord gave heed to what was said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs which he did” (Acts 8:6). Of course, there were still limits to his authority:

Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John,  who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit; for it had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. . . (Acts 8:14-16)

While he could baptize, as a deacon Philip did not have the authority to confirm.

 The Ethiopian Eunuch 

His mission in Samaria was just the beginning. After that, an angel of the Lord sends Philip to the road that runs from Jerusalem to the coast and to Egypt and beyond. There Philip sees

. . . an Ethiopian, a eunuch, a minister of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of all her treasure, had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.” So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet . . .

An interesting aside here. Silent reading was virtually unknown in the ancient world. People read aloud, even when sitting all alone. That’s how Philip knows what he’s reading. Anyway, let’s continue.

. . . and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?” And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. Now the passage of the scripture which he was reading was this: “As a sheep led to the slaughter or a lamb before its shearer is dumb, so he opens not his mouth. In his humiliation justice was denied him. Who can describe his generation? For his life is taken up from the earth.” And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, pray, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?”

 A Teachable Moment 

If you ever wanted an example of a “teachable moment,” this is it. Philip doesn’t miss a beat. He sees his opening, and launches right into the Good News.

Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this scripture he told him the good news of Jesus.  And as they went along the road they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “See, here is water! What is to prevent my being baptized?”  And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught up Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing. (Acts 8:27-39)

Direct Contact

This is the last we see of Philip in Scripture, aside from the observation that he “preached the Gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea” (Acts 8:40). Years later St. Paul visited him and his daughters, who had the gift of prophecy (Acts 21:8-9).  There is also a pious tradition that he later served as a bishop in Asia Minor.

St. Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch has always fascinated me.  There’s a lot going on in that one brief passage.  First, we see that God will answer those who sincerely want to know him. Also, that he usually uses other people as his instrument, as he does with Philip here. Finally, we also see the necessity of baptism.  It’s worth noting what happens in the very next chapter as well. St. Paul has just had a direct encounter with the risen Lord. All the same, he needs physical contact with Ananias before the scales fall off his eyes. After that, Ananias immediately baptizes him (Acts 9:1-18).  

 The Call to Spread the Good News 

We also see the universality of God’s love. The eunuch is not only a foreigner (albeit with some connection to Judaism). He has also suffered mutilation in a way that sets him apart from most other men. He receives the Holy Spirit nonetheless and goes off rejoicing to become the spiritual father (in spite of his castration) of the Church in Ethiopia.  Philip’s immediate disappearance is also instructive. Once he’s done his work, the evangelist needs to get out of the way so that he doesn’t come between the convert and Jesus Christ. Finally, the entire story of Philip shows us that while we do indeed all have different roles and responsibilities in the Church, we are all called to spread the Good News.

In these days when the world, even the nominally Christian part of it, is so much in need of Evangelization, we would do well to call upon the intercession of St. Philip the Deacon.

Featured image top of page: Saint Philip Baptising the Ethiopian Eunuch by Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655