Greatly Comforted

Acts 20:1-20:12

When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. – Acts 20:1-3

What and where was the uproar? We learned about this last week. The gospel had had such a great impact in Ephesus that a man named Demetrius, a maker of idols of Artemis, almost brought the entire city to riot. But God orchestrated events so that it led to nothing. Yet, because Paul had almost achieved “Superstar” status in Ephesus, and because he was once again the lightning rod for conflict and persecution, it was again time for him to leave and move on.


The passage says he went around to Macedonia and then Greece and spent several months encouraging the believers. And then, once again, there is a plot against him, and once again, he finds out about it and changes his plans, from going to Syria to going back through Macedonia.

He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. – Acts 20:4-6

Aristarchus was one of the two people seized in place of Paul in Acts 19 in the near-riot in Ephesus. He is also mentioned in the greetings at the end of Colossians (where he is described as Paul’s fellow prisoner) and in the beginning of Philemon. He is also mentioned as still traveling with Paul in Acts 27.

Gaius is the other person seized in Ephesus in Acts 19. He is also mentioned in the closing greetings in Romans (where Paul says that he and the whole church enjoy his hospitality), early in I Corinthians (where Paul says he had baptized him), and as the intended recipient of the letter of III John (where John describes him as a dear friend and as one who he loves in the truth).

Timothy is “the” Timothy, Paul’s longtime companion and the intended recipient of two of Paul’s letters.

Trophimus is mentioned in Acts 21 and in II Timothy (the latter where Paul says he left him, sick, in Miletus).

The reason I mention all this is so that you can see all the connections. It is possible that not all of these are the “same” people – even in our little church here we have multiple Bobs and multiple Johns. But I have no doubt that most of them are the same people.

We tend to view Paul as a lone-ranger Christian, going alone from region to region, sharing the gospel, but this is simply untrue. Paul was nearly always a part of a missionary team, and over the years, some of the same people went with him or met up with him again and again. Despite the extreme chaos of the times, Paul was a man who built and maintained lifelong connections to close friends who labored like him in the gospel.

Paul serves as a terrific role model for us. I think it is so important for us, as members of our culture, to hear this! Our culture does not value relationships in this way. In fact, even marital relationships and parent-child relationships are often superficial and readily broken. We should strive to be more like Paul, maintaining and building relationships that last a lifetime.

Notice that the “we” is back again. Once again, it is probably because Luke is with them. It is very interesting to me that we are in the same region of Turkey that we were in Acts 16, when Luke used “we” the other time. Perhaps Luke’s homeplace at this time is in the region of Troas. This would easily explain why we have first person in Acts 16 and Acts 20.

Troas was a real place, and we know where it is. There is not a lot left. Here is one picture of Troas.

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. – Acts 20:7-9

It is interesting that they met on a Sunday, and that they broke bread together. This is sharing communion – what we will do ourselves in a little while. We have seen throughout Acts that remembering Christ through communion was a central activity of the early church.

Following this, Paul, knowing he had limited time, decided to “download” all that he could in a short time. If you have been to a Christian conference, you know how grueling this can be, even if the messages are excellent. Now, there is no question that something about this is funny – we shouldn’t be ashamed of it. Did it seem humorous to Luke’s original readers? I think so. This is human nature, and it is universal.

In case you are wondering, yes, I have had students fall asleep in my classes. Sometimes they snore really loudly. When that happens, someone will usually nudge them to wake them up (after half of the class has laughed). I normally teach on the second or third floor of Riggs Hall, but I have never yet had one student fall out a window.

But there was nothing funny at the time – it was tragic. He was dead. Dr. Luke was there to be sure of the fact.

Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted. – Acts 20:10-12

God resurrected Eutychus. Note that Paul’s role was apparently not even to be a healer, for God to exercise healing through him. Instead, it seems Paul’s role is simply as a news-bearer. Paul, bending over him up close, suddenly detects a heartbeat, breathing. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” The mourning of Eutychus’ family and friends turns into celebration.

The name “Eutychus” means “lucky” in Greek, as in “the gods smile their good fortune upon him.” But Eutychus was not resurrected by luck. He was resurrected by the one and only God, the Creator of the Universe.

I have a bit more to say about Eutychus, but first I would like to read a poem by Eric Metaxas called “Eutychus Falls Asleep.”

"Now some of you perhaps have heard
how Paul in Troas preached the Word;
and how the week so quickly passed
that on the night that was his last
he preached quite long to compensate
(although the hour was very late).

"But some there are who still don’t know
that seated by an open window
there was one weary listener
whose sleepiness caused quite a stir!

"Eutychus was the young man’s name.
It’s hard to say who was to blame,
but Eutychus couldnít stay awake,
which just then was a huge mistake.

"For when he dozed he came to spill
Right past the third floor windowsill!
And then he plunged three stories down
Until at last he hit the ground!
And there I’m told he breathed his last.
All those who saw it were aghast!

"But Paul embraced the fallen lad,
and in the only voice he had
(though things looked rather dark and grim)
Paul said, “The life is still in him!”

"And so it was, for soon he rose
And wiggled all his sleepy toes
And gave the crowd a great surprise
When soon he opened both his eyes.

"And how the people wept for joy
to welcome back their sleeping boy,
and praised the Lord, that though once dead
he rose once more—and went to bed.

"And go to bed they all now did
and closed each heavy, weary lid.
And dreamt of Him Who’d paid the cost
to give them life which they had lost."

Those last two lines: wow! And dreamt of Him Who'd paid the cost to give them life which they had lost.

And this gets to what I want us to think about as we too share the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week: We are just like Eutychus. Our foolishness, our focus on ourselves, our sin, has led us to death as surely as Eutychus’ falling asleep in an open window led to his death. And our new lives hid in Christ, eternal, unbreakable, are as sure and as certain as that new life God gave Eutychus. Even more so. Even resurrected people need faith in Christ if they wish to have an eternal life with God. As we partake in the Lord’s Supper, let us “dream of Him Who paid the cost to give us life which we had lost.”

As we remember the Lord with the bread and the cup, let us glorify the Son, who died for us that we may live. Let us be thankful and praise the Lord, giving Him glory.

In John 12:23 Jesus said:

"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves Me must follow Me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves Me. "Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your Name!" – John 12:23-28a

Because He has died for us, because He embraced death on a cross, we are His seeds. With the bread we remember what His body went through on the cross. With the cup we remember that His blood was spilled for us. Although the bread and the cup are symbols, His body and His blood were not. In death, he experienced separation from the love of God and experienced the full wrath of God, the punishment for countless sins, so that we would not have to. We remember, and praise Him, and give Him glory, just as the Father Himself glorified His name in response to Jesus’ passionate request, saying “Father, glorify Your Name!”. As we read on John 12:

Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him. Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” – John 12:28b-32

Jesus’ obedience on the cross has glorified the Name of the Father, and God’s raising Him from the dead has also glorified His Name. The sin offering, once for all, has been accepted. The judgment that we deserved has fallen on Jesus. We are among those who have been drawn to Him because He was willingly lifted up from the earth. Lifted up on the cross, and lifted up into the clouds to sit with the Father. Let us humbly give thanks and glorify His name.

Following this message we had a wonderful time of remembering the Lord through sharing the bread and cup, and we also enjoyed a prayerful sharing time together.