Acts 20 Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece
20:1 When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia. 2 While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece, 3 where he stayed for three months. He was preparing to sail back to Syria when he discovered a plot by some Jews against his life, so he decided to return through Macedonia.
4 Several men were traveling with him. They were Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica; Gaius from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 They went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 After the Passover ended, we boarded a ship at Philippi in Macedonia and five days later joined them in Troas, where we stayed a week.
Paul has a sense of impending doom. This is now his third missionary journey and his reputation has preceded him to the point that Jews in Greece are plotting against his life. But there are no mistakes in God’s fine economy. God knows that Paul must visit some of these churches again to encourage them one final time, so God uses these threats to direct Paul’s itinerary. Why does Luke list all the men accompanying Paul? Looking at the names, you realize that this was a mixed group, likely composed of those who have taken Roman names as a form of protection. These men are faithful friends and colleagues, prepared to risk the rigors of long voyages over potentially turbulent waters-a mark of their dedication to Paul and to God.
Never overlook names in the Bible! While we might be bored by lists of names, God has allowed names to be included to record honor or dishonor. Read Nehemiah and you realize that God knows exactly who has risked their lives to rebuild Jerusalem and who has refused to help, choosing their own interests instead. We should be encouraged and comforted when we realize that God sees our efforts, our struggles, our dedication, and our sorrows. And now Paul is teaching in Troas for the last time.
Paul’s Final Visit to Troas
7 On the first day of the week, we gathered with the local believers to share in the Lord’s Supper. Paul was preaching to them, and since he was leaving the next day, he kept talking until midnight. 8 The upstairs room where we met was lighted with many flickering lamps. 9 As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below. 10 Paul went down, bent over him, and took him into his arms. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he’s alive!” 11 Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together. Paul continued talking to them until dawn, and then he left. 12 Meanwhile, the young man was taken home alive and well, and everyone was greatly relieved.
Despite the fact that many people have been healed by contact with handkerchiefs or aprons blessed by Paul, this is the only recorded incident in which Paul acts as an instrument of resurrection. That night, Eutychus was exhausted. He had been out all day on the farm and his body was demanding rest. But this was Paul’s last night to preach, and so Eutychus cheerfully accompanied his friends, climbing the stairs to the third story of the building where there was a large room where the meeting was taking place. But by the time Eutychus reached the meeting, there were no seats left on the floor, so he positioned himself in the window. As usual, Paul’s teaching was both relevant and riveting; however, Eutychus finally fell asleep and then fell out of the window to the stone courtyard below.
“He’s dead!” Someone shouted as Paul rushed down the stairs. Taking Eutychus in his arms, Paul begged the Lord for the young man’s life. Just as people were beginning to weep, Eutychus suddenly drew in a deep breath, opened his eyes, and asked, “What happened?” The same people who had been crying over the death of this young man now began praising God. Paul went back upstairs and spoke for several more hours while friends helped Eutychus return home safely. Paul left Troas shortly after dawn, confident that God was continuing to work in his life.
It’s always tempting to focus on the results of someone’s ministry with no regard for the energy and work that ministry takes. We generally focus on the miracle of Eutychus being healed from injuries that killed him. It begs the question to argue that perhaps Eutychus isn’t really dead; these early believers know a dead person when they see one. Deaths of young people were common and these people knew enough to check pulses or look for signs of breathing. But what about Paul? What did this healing mean for him?
Paul doesn’t know what lies ahead; however, he is becoming aware that he will likely face more opposition and worse suffering in the future. As Paul is rushing downstairs to that courtyard, he is praying and the Holy Spirit begins to reassure him. Paul needs this miracle as much as Eutychus does, for Paul realizes he may run afoul of the Roman government, and the Romans are notorious for imaginative ways of torturing people. Paul has already been stoned and left for dead once. Now God graphically demonstrates to Paul that, if necessary, God can raise him up again. Paul realizes that his life remains in God’s hands.
Hudson Taylor, the founder of the China Inland Mission, was fond of saying that “Man is immortal until his work is done.” Taylor repeatedly faced death in China but eventually died of old age, his body worn from decades of ministry. Paul will leave Troas and travel to Jerusalem, where other forces will work, with Paul eventually winding up in Rome.
As I am writing this, news has come from Nigeria that Boko Haram has beheaded seven Christian leaders. We hear such things and ask “Why?” We forget that the cause for Christ has always been most compelling when people are willing to give up everything, including their very lives. The sudden deaths of these men point out the fact that there’s never a good time for us to sleep spiritually. May God help us to remain spiritually alert, willing to live or die, according to His perfect Will.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, please draw us nearer to You each day. Help us to remember that we are Your ambassadors to a lost and dying world. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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