The Mission of the Triune God: A Theology of Acts (New Testament Theology)

“Resurrection signs occur again when the apostles escape from prison. The Sanhedrin imprisons them overnight (5:18–19), but the angel of the Lord opens the prison doors, mirroring the angel rolling away the stone at Christ’s grave.” “ Ultimately, the text is about Jesus, but Jesus is painted in eunuch hues. The joining of the eunuch and the servant is seen in multiple ways. First, two men of means humble themselves and are exalted. Second, they both come before a shearer, or literally, “the one who cut him.” This certainly resonates with the eunuch as a castrated male. Third, the “cutting” of both is held in tandem with their progeny. Jesus is the faithful servant-eunuch who attaches himself not to earthly dynasties or progenies but to God’s kingdom.” I’ve read a few of PS’s book because I enjoy the discipline of biblical theology. However, the issue with this discipline, especially within contemporary scholarship, is that there is a lack of solid criteria on how to approach the subject, which prevents interpreters of the Scripture from falling into the trap of parallelomania. Every seeming allusion, echo, or cross reference is not an allusion, echo or cross reference. When Peter is released from jail are we as readers really supposed to think of the angel rolling away the stone at Christ’s resurrection? Was Peter dead? It seems more like this text’s thrust is that the gospel will advance despite the turf-war between the religious leaders and the apostles. When Philip leads the Ethiopian to faith is the latter really thinking that Christ is a servant-eunuch? Does Luke desire for the reader to make that connection? It is unlikely. A lot of what PS writes is shock value, with some gems mixed in.