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Nate Roten / Acts Series / Acts 20:1–16
Main Idea
Fellowship, encouragement, and teaching the word are the bonding agents of the Body of Christ.
The first time I ever stepped into the pulpit was at ABF for a Wednesday night teaching. It was in the auditorium, and I was terrified. My nerves were shot. Whenever I thought about stepping behind the podium and speaking in front of a crowd, my throat dried up, and I had difficulty catching my breath. I would shiver like I was freezing, but I wasn’t cold. I hate how my body deals with nervousness and anxiety. About 30 minutes before showtime, I sat in the empty auditorium near the back and just prayed, and soon after I started, a good friend of mine – Michael Talley came in and sat beside me. He knew how nervous I was, so he came and prayed with me. He encouraged me. He built me up for that moment, and I will never forget it.
So, equipped now with that encouragement and the power of the Spirit, I taught that night, and I kept my breath, didn’t shake, and spoke with a steady voice. During that same session, I also saw a particular man in the crowd. I was about halfway through teaching, and even though the lights pointing at me kept me from seeing the congregation, I could see this one man. When I saw him, I nearly lost my train of thought. It wasn’t that he was loud or disruptive. It was because he was fast asleep! He must have eaten a big dinner because his legs were sprawled out, his arms were crossed, and his head was tipped all the way back. Sheesh!
If this man were sitting in a third-story window in ancient times, he would have been just like the young boy in the passage of scripture today.
Passage
Acts 20:1–16 ESV
After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. 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. 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. These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas, 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.
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. There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. 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. 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.” And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.
But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chios; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we went to Miletus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia, for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
Outline
I – Places, People, and Letters
II – Vision Trip
III – Sleepy Teen
IV – Travel to Jerusalem
I – People, Places, and Letters
People
• Paul
• Sopater from Berea
• Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica
• Gaius from Derbe
• Timothy from Lystra
• Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia
• Luke, who was waiting for them at Troas, coming from Philippi
• Titus (Paul waited for him at Troas, but he was a no-show, but they finally connected in Macedonia)(See 2 Cor. 2:12-13).
These were representatives from most of the main cities in which Paul had planted churches. Derbe & Lystra on Journey #1. Thessalonica and Berea (Luke from Philippi, Titus from Corinth) from Journey #2, and Asia from Journey #3.
They were also from different classes. Timothy was a 1/2 Jew, 1/2 Greek. The name Aristarchus comes from the same roots as Aristocrat, or ‘best rule.’ If this reflects his status, then he was from the upper class. This is opposed to Secundus, which literally means second. When slaves served in households at this time, they were often called by their rank instead of their names. Primus (Latin for First) was the one with the most responsibility, and his protege would be called Segundus (Second). Sending these men together would have demonstrated Christian unity despite social status and allowed them to minister to people in different social ranks as representatives from those classes. Sopater was a Berean who was ‘more noble’ than the Jews in Thessalonica. Luke was a Gentile physician and historian.
Places
• Ephesus to Macedonia (Philippi)
• Macedonia to Greece (Corinth), where he stayed for three months for the winter
• Intended to go to Syria, but the Jewish plot against him changed his travel plans
• Corinth to Macedonia
• Macedonia to Troas, where they meet up with Luke, who was in Philippi until after the feast of Unleavened Bread, which is during the week of Passover, which is in the springtime.
Letters
Galatians – written at the end of the 1st Journey in Acts 14, before the Jerusalem Council (though there are proponents of a later writing.
1st & 2nd Thessalonians – written during the 2nd Journey from Corinth in Acts 18.
1 Corinthians – written during the 3rd Journey from Ephesus in Acts 19. This was a blistering letter from Paul chastising them for a host of issues he was informed of.
2 Corinthians – written during the 3rd Journey from Macedonia in Acts 20:1, after hearing that the Corinthians had received Paul’s letter and repented.
Romans – written during the 3rd journey from Corinth in Acts 20:2-3 (see Romans 15:25-26)
Understanding the places and people is important because they are significant players in expanding the gospel. They also provide important context for Paul’s letters because many of these people and places are mentioned in his letters, including Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, and 2 Timothy.
It also shows the radical differences between the cultures of Romans and Christians. Age, social class, and birthplace had no bearing on one’s usefulness in the Kingdom.
That’s the context for the real meaning of these first six verses. Now, let’s dig into the meat of them.
II – Vision Trip
When I was with OCC, I started working with many of our Latin American teams. But after a few years, my boss shifted my focus to Africa because many of our importation issues were happening there. After working with these teams for a few years, we began to realize that we had some of the answers to the problems our teams were facing, but it was the teams were experiencing the day-to-day issues, so we decided to do something different. Instead of me traveling to one country at a time, we decided to hold a regional logistics roundtable. We brought all our East African teams into Kenya, where I facilitated a time for each country to present their importation process, issues, and resolutions. When we did this, every person there lit up. For the first time, they could see what others were experiencing. They could relate to the pain of the issues and share best practices for resolving them. It was an amazing time of discovery, information sharing, and fellowship on a regional level.
Regional Leadership
Again, these were hand-picked leaders from nearly all the cities where Paul has planted churches thus far.
They all have unique challenges, and for the first time, they have come together to strengthen the growing global church.
Now that Paul has built up the body throughout these regions, he was equipping and unifying them on a regional level.
Servant growth equals church growth
This reinforces the reality that as the church grows, so does the pool of servants within the church. Much like the selection of the 1.0 version of Deacons in Acts 6, so now regional leaders have been selected, empowered, and sent to encourage and strengthen the Body of Christ around the Roman Empire.
One of the ways they strengthen the churches here is to encourage them to serve by giving sacrificially to the churches in Jerusalem. We know this from the details given in his letters.
Amid geographical and biographical data, we look from a higher level and glean the broader point Luke is trying to make, which is the unification, equipping, and empowering of the saints to build up the global body of Christ. No one should go to ministry alone. There is no singular mega-pastor at work. Instead, we find strength in numbers and encouragement in fellowship and service with one another.
Fellowship and encouragement are two of the three bonding agents of the Body of Christ highlighted in today’s passage.
III – Sleepy Boy
Church Life
Breaking bread together = fellowship meal and communion.
It takes place on the first day of the week, Sunday. This is a change from the Jewish sabbath on Saturday. This is a glimpse into the operation of the early church and the change from worshipping together from Saturday to Sunday due to Jesus’s resurrection on Sunday morning.
Eutychus falls
This church service is happening in the evening on the third floor of a residential home.
The windows in these homes were not fixed with glass but were openings in the wall, usually with latticework to keep animals out.
A young ‘lad’ sat in one of these openings while Paul preached for a LONG time… past midnight. The prolonged monologue, paired with a full belly and the peaceful flickering of torches, was the perfect circumstance for a deep sleep. The poor, sleepy pre-teen falls out of the opening, three stories to his death.
There is some debate about whether or not Eutychus was dead-dead or just appeared to be dead. I tend to take Luke at his word. “The boy was taken up dead.” This was the observation of an actual physician. If this was the case, this is a miraculous resurrection story, falling in line with the resurrections performed by Elijah, Elisha, Jesus, and Peter. This is yet another parallel between Peter and Paul. This would also be a powerful testament to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection, which they were no doubt hearing about from Paul that night.
There is also a lovely bit of irony here since this young boy’s name means lucky/fortunate. He certainly lived up to the name! [pun intended].
The church is comforted
Once Eutychus was taken back upstairs (and probably placed in the center of the room this time), they broke bread together again – probably in celebration and thanksgiving for the miracle.
And in doing so, the church in the upper room was comforted.
There are a few nuggets of wisdom to glean from this passage.
1. If Eutychus really died and was resurrected, this would also been a powerful testament to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection and our own (spiritually at salvation), of which they were no doubt hearing about from Paul that very night, and it was a beautiful and intimate portrayal. Paul didn’t simply command him to rise. He took the boy in his arms and held him like a loved one. What a beautiful picture of the Father’s love for us as He raises us from spiritual death!
2. The believers here are comforted. God’s power had been made known here. Paul’s pastoral heart embraced them. The themes of unity, fellowship, and encouragement from verses 1-6 overflow into the story of Eutychus and the fellowship meal in Troas.
3. The word of God. The proclamation of God’s word is the centerpiece of this story. Were the believers in fellowship over a meal and communion? Yes. Did the power of a resurrection wow them? You bet! Were they comforted and encouraged when they saw that Eutychus was alive? Absolutely. But at the center of it all, while the church is fed physical food from the table, it is fed spiritually from God’s word.
a. As Al Mohler put it, “Too often, churches manipulate narratives like that of Acts 20 to build a ministry around healing and miracles. Paul, however, focused on the proclamation of the gospel. The word of God stood as the centerpiece of Paul’s ministry. This was not a miracle service interrupted by a word of preaching. This was preaching interrupted by a miracle. The true miracle, though, flows from the power of the gospel itself to raise spiritually dead men and women to eternal life.”
b. or, as James Montgomery Boice said, “Whenever Christians have lost that emphasis, whenever they have begun to think of worship chiefly as entertainment, or that what is accomplished in worship is essentially an emotional response that can be worked up by the singing of certain hymns or choruses, or that worship should consist of a series of testimonies of how people were lost in sin (with a great deal of emphasis on the sin) and were then brought to Christ—when they have substituted these other elements for careful Bible exposition in sermons, the church has always been weakened and sometimes has even died. This is because the power of God is not in our emotions or experience but in the Word of God. His Word is what God has chosen to bless, and that is why in properly conducted Christian services we emphasize it. It is not the eloquence of the preacher or even his authority that blesses, but the Word of God.”
The teaching of the word of God is our third bonding agent. This will nearly conclude Paul’s 3rd Journey. Now, Luke returns to the logistical details.
IV- Travel to Jerusalem
The Routing
Again, as a faithful historian, Luke details the logistics of their travel from port to port:
• Troas to Assos (Luke via sea, Paul via land)
• Assos to Mitylene
• Mitylene to Chios
• Chios to Samos
• Samos to Miletus
Returning to ground zero
Paul purposefully avoided going through Ephesus because he wanted to make it to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost.
Stopping in Ephesus would have delayed him because of the many friendships he had made during his three years there. It’s also possible that he could have caused another riot and get captured.
So, he desires to return to ground zero. Israel has a feast of Pentecost, but Jerusalem is also where the New Testament event of Pentecost occurred in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit descended on the 120 believers gathered in the upper room.
Therefore, as we will see next week, he calls the Ephesian Elders down to visit him in Miletus, where he could save some time while instructing them one final time before his departure to Jerusalem.
Conclusion
So, to summarize our key points, Paul’s mission is to encourage and empower the established body of Christ by bringing the churches together on a larger scale. He equips regional leaders, facilitates fellowship, teaches from God’s word, demonstrates the power of the Spirit, and encourages the saints all along the way.
We have also seen the importance of servant-hearted action. The reality of church growth is that it will not happen without willing hearts to step outside comfort zones and use the gifts and talents God has given them. It was true of the 1st-century church and is still valid for the 21st-century church today.
Fellowship, encouragement, and teaching God’s word are the bonding agents of the Body of Christ.
How are you growing in these areas? Are you being strengthened by others in these ways? How are you empowering others?
A church that serves together stays together and grows together.