After the uproar died down, Paul called together the believers and with words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Then he left and went on to Macedonia. a 2 He went through those regions and encouraged the people with many messages. Then he came to Achaia, b 3 where he stayed three months. He was getting ready to go to Syria when he discovered that the Jews were plotting against him; c so he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 d Sopater e son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus f and Secundus, g from Thessalonica; Gaius, h from Derbe; Tychicus i and Trophimus, j from the province of Asia; and Timothy. k 5 They went ahead and waited for us l in Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later we joined them in Troas, m where we spent a week.
a Luke does not mention how long they stayed in Macedonia. Paul probably visited all the churches he had set up during his second missionary journey, namely Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea.
b This was probably a reference to the stay in Corinth, the capital of Achaia. These would be the winter months when ships did not sail regularly.
c Paul sought to sail for Palestine-Syria, doubtless intending to reach Jerusalem in time for the great pilgrim festival of Passover. But a plot to kill him at sea was uncovered, and he decided to travel overland through Macedonia. During this season there would probably be great numbers of Jews going to Jerusalem for Passover or for Pentecost, the latter being the favourite occasion for pilgrims to visit the city. Presumably it would not be difficult for the Jews to seize the opportunity to attack Paul on board.
d These men seemed to be the delegates appointed to accompany Paul and the money collected for the needy in Judea (2 Co 8:19-24). Three were from Macedonia, two from Galatia and two from Asia. Luke may have joined them at Philippi (see v. 6).
e This could be the same as the Sosipater who was mentioned in Ro 16:21, one of Paul’s relatives.
f See chap 19, note v.
g His name is not mentioned anywhere else. His name means ‘second’.
h A Gauis from Macedonia was with Aristarchus in Ephesus (19:29). However, the groupings of the names here suggests that this Gauis was associated with the Roman province of Galatia and is different from the Macedonian Gauis.
i Tychicus was a constant help to Paul, especially in association with the churches of Asia. He was mentioned in some of Paul’s letters.
j Trophimus was from Ephesus and was probably a Gentile. He was with Paul later in Jerusalem when Paul was arrested (see 21:29).
k Timothy had been sent ahead together with Erastus by Paul before he left for Ephesus (19:22).
l Luke seemed to have joined Paul’s party again. Together this group with Paul stayed on in Philippi and only left to join the rest after the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
m See chap 16, note j. Troas was where Paul had the vision of a man calling him to help them in Macedonia. This was the city for Paul and those who stayed behind to meet with those who had gone on ahead by sea from Neapolis, the seaport of Philippi.
What did Paul do after the uproar had died down (v. 1)?
2. Give a brief description of Paul’s journey after he left Ephesus (vv. 2-6).
3. List the names of his travelling companions and where they were from (vv. 4-5).
7 On Saturday evening n we gathered together for the fellowship meal. o Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. 8 Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 A young man p named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third storey to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. 10 But Paul went down and threw himself on him q and hugged him. “Don’t worry,” he said, “he is still alive!” 11 Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left. 12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
n Other versions translate this as ‘the first day of the week’ or Sunday. The mention of their meeting ‘on the first day of the week’ is the earliest unambiguous evidence we have for Christians gathering together for worship and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper on that day. The Christians met in the evening, which was probably the most convenient time because of the necessity of working during the day.
o This refers to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
p Although in this verse, Eutychus is described as a young man, in verse 12, the term used is young lad’, referring to someone from age 8-12.
q In an action similar to that of Elijah with the son of the widow of Zarephath and Elisha with the son of the Shunammite woman, Paul ‘threw himself on him and hugged him’, restoring Eutychus to life. As Peter raised Dorcas (cf. 9:40), so also Paul raised Eutychus.
In which city did this gathering take place (v. 7)?
2. Describe what Paul and the believers were doing at this gathering (vv. 7-8).
Describe what happened to Eutychus as Paul continued to speak (v. 9).
3. What did Paul do for him (v. 10)?
Who else also raised someone from the dead (9:40)?
Describe briefly the circumstances in which this miracle was performed (9:36-42).
4. What took place after that (vv. 11-12)?
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed off to Assos, r where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had told us to do this, because he was going there by land. 14 When he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. s 15 We sailed from there and arrived off Chios t the next day. A day later we came to Samos, u and the following day we reached Miletus. v 16 Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, w if at all possible.
17 From Miletus Paul sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders x of the church to meet him. 18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You know how I spent the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. 19 With all humility and many tears I did my work as the Lord’s servant during the hard times that came to me because of the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I did not hold back anything that would be of help to you as I preached and taught in public and in your homes. 21 To the Jews and Gentiles alike I gave solemn warning that they should turn from their sins to God and believe in our Lord Jesus. 22 And now, in obedience to the Holy Spirit y I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit has warned me that prison and troubles wait for me. 24 But I reckon my own life to be worth nothing to me; I only want to complete my mission and finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do, which is to declare the Good News about the grace of God.
25 “I have gone about among all of you, preaching the Kingdom of God. And now I know that none of you will ever see me again. 26 So I solemnly declare to you this very day: if any of you should be lost, I am not
responsible. 27 For I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God. 28 So keep watch over yourselves and over all the flock which the Holy Spirit has placed in your care. Be shepherds z of the church of God, which he made his own through the sacrificial death of his Son. 29 I know that after I leave, fierce wolves a’ will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. 30 The time will come when some men from your own group will tell lies to lead the believers away after them. 31 Watch, then, and remember that with many tears, day and night, I taught every one of you for three years.
32 “And now I commend you to the care of God and to the message of his grace, b’ which is able to build you up and give you the blessings God has for all his people. 33 I have not wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that I have worked with these hands of mine to provide everything that my companions and I have needed. 35 I have shown you in all things that by working hard in this way we must help the weak, remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, c’ ‘There is more happiness in giving than in receiving.’ ”
36 When Paul finished, he knelt down with them and prayed. 37 They were all crying as they hugged him and kissed him good-bye. 38 They were especially sad because he had said that they would never see him again. And so they went with him to the ship.
r Assos was on the opposite side of the peninsula from Troas, about 32 km (20 miles) away by land. Paul chose to go by land. The sea journey was longer and could be stormy.
s Mitylene was the chief town with a splendid port on the island of Lesbos, the largest of the islands around this region.
t Chios was a larger island which lay along the west coast of Asia Minor.
u Samos was one of the most important islands south of Ephesus.
v Miletus was 48 km (30 miles) south of Ephesus, the destination of the ship Paul was on. He would have had to change ships if he wanted to go to Ephesus, and this would have lost him time.
w 16 days had already gone by, leaving only about two-thirds of the time for the remainder of the trip.
x The importance of having elders to take care of churches has been evident throughout Paul’s ministry. It appeared that as far as possible Paul appointed elders in every church that started under his ministry (see 14:23).
y Paul did not go to Jerusalem against the direction of the Spirit, as some have suggested, but because of the guidance of the Spirit. People pleaded with him not to go (21:4, 12), not because the Spirit prohibited his going but because the Spirit revealed the capture that awaited him there (21:11-12).
z The term which Paul uses here is ‘guardians’ or ‘pastors’. It conveys the idea of spiritual oversight and pastoral care. Their task is to pastor or care for the church over which God had appointed them as guardians.
a’ This would probably refer to those teachers teaching false doctrine or heresy. They would come in from the outside and lead people astray, especially after Paul was no longer there to counteract them. This certainly happened in Corinth (see 2 Co 10-13) where there were people teaching ‘another gospel’.
b’ The word ‘grace’ is a particularly Pauline word, used by him to express the free undeserved love of God poured out to save sinners.
c’ The phrase ‘remembering the words that the Lord Jesus himself said’ was a saying regularly used in the early church to introduce a quotation from Jesus. This is a rare instance of a saying of Jesus that is not found in the Gospels.
Describe briefly Paul’s journey until his arrival in Miletus (vv. 13-15).
2. Why didn’t Paul want to go to Ephesus (v. 16)?
What did he do in order to meet up with the elders from the church in Ephesus (v. 17)?
3. Describe briefly Paul’s farewell message to the elders (vv. 18-35).
4. How did the elders respond to Paul after he finished speaking to them (vv. 36-38)?
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