Acts 20:1-12 Travels and Tragedies
Good morning! Believe it or not we are nearing the fourth quarter in our study of the book of Acts. Today we are going to look at Acts 20, verses 1-12, page 929 in the pew Bibles.
Things are beginning to accelerate in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. We begin with Paul and his companions in Ephesus right after the riot and move from there to his plan to travel to Jerusalem.
There are two sections that we are going to look at today, verses 1-6 and then verses 7-12. So let’s pray first and read one section at a time and examine them together.
Let’s pray.
After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. 2 When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 3 There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. 4 Sopater the Berean, son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 6 but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Let’s pause there.
I think it’s important to see that Paul did not run away during the riot that we read about last week. He may not have been in the theater since the disciples kept him from going in there, but he wanted to be. He wanted to state his case no matter the danger to him personally. This wasn’t a pride issue, it was a gospel issue. It was so important to Paul that people hear about the saving work of Jesus, that he counted his life worth nothing in comparison.
Paul’s example of loving his neighbors went a whole lot further than just being nice or not offending anybody or hurting their feelings. He spoke the truth in love no matter the consequences.
But he didn’t run away from the conflict in Ephesus. It wasn’t until after the battle was fought and peace was restored that he left. After things quieted down he gathered the disciples to say goodbye and headed for Macedonia.
I really wanted to find something in these first few verses but even John Calvin said that there was no need for a lengthy exposition of this text!
You can actually learn more about this trip from 2 Corinthians chapters 2 and 7 than from these verses we read. Something worth noting however, is that during the three month stay at Corinth in Greece from verse 3, Paul wrote the letter to the Romans before he even met them.
Instead of sailing back to Antioch in Syria because of a plot from the Jews to kill him aboard ship or throw him overboard, he headed inland, north through Macedonia and sailed from Philippi to Troas where he met up with the rest of the group.
Did you notice who was unnamed but we can see joined Paul in Phillipi on the way to Troas? Luke! In verse 5 Luke starts using “us,” and, “we,” again!
So that’s kind of the quick hit of the first section, really just a travel log. But I want to spend a little more time on the second section that takes place during the seven days that they spent in Troas, also known as Troy.
7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 9 And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. 12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
There’s a couple of things to notice here in this section. The first is the pattern, the pattern of the early church.
You remember that the book of Acts is not just a description of event but a prescription for the church to follow? Here is some of that prescription.
They gathered on the first day of the week, that’s Sunday. Why do we meet on Sunday? Because the early church met on Sunday. Why did the early church meet on Sunday? To remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that also happened on a Sunday.
And when they were gathered together what did they do? First of all, they broke bread. See it wasn’t the Baptists that invented the idea of, “if you feed them they will come!”
This expression, “Breaking bread,” means, not just a communal meal, but also, the meal we call Communion. The sacred and sacramental meal of brotherly fellowship and remembrance of the Lord’s sacrifice for us, the Lord’s supper. They shared this holy meal in the context of an actual meal together. That’s why we do it that way on the first Sunday of every month here at CrossRoads.
Acts 2:42-47 describes church life this way:
42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Acts 2:42 describes the church in Jerusalem, long before this meeting in Troas with the Apostle Paul and his team but here they were still following the pattern.
The meeting of the church in Troas had the added benefit of getting the Apostles’ teaching straight from an Apostle!
Paul’s mission was not just to proclaim the gospel to Gentiles and then leave them with nothing for teaching. That’s why he returned to visit the churches to encourage them in their faith and trust in Jesus, and that’s what he was doing here.
And amid all this peace and happiness and wonderfulness, something terrible happens.
Paul, like so many preachers after him lost one. Somebody fell asleep during his sermon. Only instead of the embarrassment of waking up with a snort or getting elbowed by his wife, this kid fell out the window.
Look, if you’re going to fall asleep in church at least don’t sit in the window! That’s excitement we don’t need!
As funny as we might think it is now, 2000 years later, for the church that night it was awful, at least at first.
And a young man named Eutychus, sitting at the window, sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer. And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”
By the power of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul Eutychus was brought back to life.
But I’m still forced to wonder, why did he die? Why did God allow that? Truthfully, why did God preordain that to happen?
This is often what we ask when things don’t make sense to us, or when awful things happen. When my sister was killed, the first person that greeted me at the door for the funeral asked me that question, why did this happen?
In the thick of it, it’s often a difficult, if not impossible question to answer. But in truth, the answer is always the same even if it is difficult to reconcile in our minds.
The answer is, for the glory of God.
This tragic event as well as its miraculous outcome stirred up the faith of the people who witnessed it. The boy was raised up and they all went back upstairs and kept eating and talking and glorifying the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just like in Acts 2, awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles.
Often, we think that these difficult situations that we experience are evidence of God’s curse upon us, of even His absence from us, but that is never, ever the case! This event, the death of this kid was an example of God’s blessing to the church and has stood as a testament of that blessing for as long as we have been able to read the story.
And just because nobody got brought back to life in the story of our struggles doesn’t mean that the outcome isn’t for God’s glory and our good. In the case of my sister, over three hundred people gathered for her memorial service got to hear the gospel and the hope and forgiveness that comes through faith in Jesus.
That day in Troas, the people listening joyfully accepted the teaching of Paul and it was rooted in their minds and hearts.
Don’t ever waste a hurt or a hard time, they are all given to point people to Jesus.
Amen.
