The Early Church · c. AD 57
Chapter 26
Eutychus
But these things don’t count; nor do I hold my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to fully testify to the Good News of the grace of God.
For parents
At Troas, Paul talks until midnight. A young man named Eutychus, sitting in a window and weighed down with sleep, falls from the third floor and is picked up dead. Paul goes down to him and says his life is in him, and the boy is brought in alive (Acts 20:9–12). The chapter also tells of a plot against Paul (20:3) and of Paul’s words that chains and suffering wait for him (20:23). It ends with a tearful goodbye. None of it is described in detail.
Once the uproar in had died down, sent for the , said goodbye to them, and set off for .
He went through that region, saying many things to encourage the people there. Then he came to .
He spent three months there. Then, as he was about to set sail for , Jews made a plot against him, and he made up his mind to return through Macedonia.
The men who went with him as far as were Sopater of ; and Secundus, from ; Gaius of ; ; and Tychicus and Trophimus, from Asia.
They had gone on ahead, and they were waiting for us at .
After the days of we sailed away from , and five days later we reached them at Troas. We stayed there seven days.
On the first day of the week, when the disciples had gathered to break bread, Paul talked with them. He meant to leave the next day, and he kept on speaking until midnight.
The upper room where we were gathered had many lights in it.
A young man named sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. Paul went on talking even longer, and sleep overcame Eutychus. He fell from the third floor and was picked up dead.
Paul went down and threw himself on Eutychus, holding him close. “Don’t be troubled,” he said. “His life is in him.”
When Paul had gone back up, he broke bread and ate, and he talked with them a long while, until first light. Then he left.
They brought the boy in alive, and they were greatly comforted.
We went on to the ship first and set sail for , planning to take Paul on board there. That was how he had arranged it, since he meant to go there by land himself.
He met us at Assos, and we took him on board and sailed on to .
From there we sailed on, and the next day we were across the water from . The day after, we stopped at and stayed at , and a day later we came to .
Paul had made up his mind to sail past Ephesus, so that he wouldn’t have to spend time in Asia. He was hurrying to be in on the day of , if he could.
From Miletus he sent word to Ephesus, calling the of the to come to him.
When they had come to him, he said to them, “You know what I was like with you the whole time I was here, from the first day I set foot in Asia. I served the Lord humbly, with many tears, through the troubles that the plots of the Jews brought on me.
“You know that I never held back from telling you anything that would do you good. I taught you in public and from house to house. I solemnly told Jews and Greeks alike to and turn to God, and to put their faith in our Lord .
“And now, look, I am going to Jerusalem, bound by the Spirit. I don’t know what will happen to me there, except that the tells me in every city that chains and suffering wait for me.
“But none of this matters to me, and my own life isn’t precious to me. All I want is to finish my race with joy, and the work I received from the Lord Jesus: to bear full witness to the Good News of the of God.”
“And now, look,” Paul went on, “I have gone about among all of you, preaching God’s Kingdom, and I know that you will never see my face again.
“So I tell you solemnly today that no one’s blood is on my hands, because I didn’t hold back from telling you all of God’s plan.
“Take heed, therefore, to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you , to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
“I know that once I am gone, vicious wolves will get in among you, and they won’t spare the flock. Men from your own group will rise up and say crooked things, to pull the disciples away to follow them.
“So keep watch, and remember that for three years, night and day, I didn’t stop warning every one of you with tears.”
“And now, brothers,” he said, “I entrust you to God and to the word of his grace. It can build you up, and it can give you the inheritance among all those who are made holy.
“I never set my heart on anyone’s silver or gold or clothes. You yourselves know that these hands provided for what I needed, and for those who were with me.
“In everything I gave you an example: by working hard like this, you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus. He himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
When he had said all this, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
They all wept freely. They threw their arms around Paul’s neck and kissed him. Most of all they grieved over what he had said, that they would never see his face again.
Then they went with him as far as the ship.