STUDY TWENTY-FIVE: ACTS 20
In Acts 20:1 – 6, Luke reports Paul’s movements in Macedonia and Greece (Achaia). It seems that the purpose of Paul’s visit to these provinces was to encourage believers (verse 2). His stay in Greece was brought to an end by a Jewish plot against him (verse 3) which also changed his travel plans. Instead of sailing from Greece back to Syria, he and his companions went back through Macedonia. At some point in Macedonia, most of these companions went back to Troas, while Paul and (at least) Luke, stayed in Philippi for the Jewish Feast of Unleavened bread. They joined the others at Troas after that.
Notes about Paul’s companions not mentioned previously in Acts:
There is no other information in the New Testament about Sopater, from Berea, and Secundus, from Thessalonica.
What do you learn about these men?
Tychicus, from the province of Asia:
Ephesians 6:21, 22
Colossians 4:7 – 9
2Timothy 4:12
Titus 3:12
Trophimus, from the province of Asia:
Acts 21:29
2Timothy 4:20
A. EUTYCHUS – ACTS 20:7 – 12
Both Old and New Testaments report that people were raised from the dead, but it was not a common experience.
What do you learn about the miracles in these verses?
The widow of Zarephath’s son – 1Kings 17:17 – 24
The Shunammite woman’s son – 2Kings 4:18 – 37
The man thrown into Elisha’s tomb – 2Kings 13:20, 21
The widow of Nain’s son – Luke 7:11 – 17
Jairus’ daughter – Mark 5:21 – 43
Lazarus – John 11:11 – 37
Dorcas (Tabitha) – Acts 9:36 – 43
In some of these, we are told what the impact of these incidents was:
The widow of Zarephath said ‘Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth’ – 1Kings 17:24.
When Jesus healed the widow of Nain’s son, ‘They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country’ – Luke 7:16, 17.
News about Jesus raising Jairus’ daughter ‘spread through all that region’ – Matthew 9:26, even though Jesus had told her parents not to tell anyone – Mark 5:43.
Because of Jesus raising Lazarus, many Jews ‘put their faith in him’ - John 11:45; 12:11, but some told the Jewish religious leaders about it, disturbing them so greatly that they plotted to arrest him – 11:46 – 57. People who had observed the miracle continued to talk about it – John 12:17 – 19.
When the news about Jesus raising Dorcas spread through the city of Joppa, ‘many people believed in the Lord’ – Acts 9:42.
Now in Troas, when Paul kept on talking and talking (see 20:7 & 9) so long that Eutychus fell asleep and fell to his death from the third story window, restoring him to life appears to mean to Paul nothing more than an interruption to the meeting. Paul simply, after having something to eat, kept on ‘talking until daylight’, then left. But the people ‘were comforted’; they also expressed their care for the young man, making sure he got home okay. For Paul, teaching the truth to encourage and build up the believers was the most important thing. Yes. He interrupted his teaching to work this mighty miracle. But the miracle was not his focus. It did not divert him from his calling and his commission to teach the truth about the Lord Jesus Christ.
A.1 Two further reports of the dead being raised
[1] The resurrection of Jesus Christ. The most significant raising of the dead incident is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. To study the significance of Christ’s resurrection read the studies on 1Corinthians 15 here. The gospel depends on Christ’s resurrection.
[2] Matthew’s report about some of the dead being raised to life at the time of Jesus’ death and resurrection – Matthew 27:51 – 53. Matthew gives us no explanation of this, and Bible teachers understand it in various ways. The very least that we can say about it is that, just as God tore the Temple curtain from top to bottom at the very moment Jesus died, indicating that the death of Jesus had removed the sin-barrier that banned human access to God, so here, with the earthquake opening the tombs, and dead ‘holy people’ raised to life and being seen by people in Jerusalem, God demonstrated that by the death of Jesus Christ he has, for those who believe in him, reversed the death that entered the world because of human sin: that the power of death has been conquered, that ‘life’ replaces ‘death’. We are not told what happened to these resurrected people beyond their being seen in Jerusalem. People have various ideas about that, but the Gospel writers have not told us; we have to be content with not knowing. God knows; and we can trust him.
B. PAUL’S FAREWELL TO THE ELDERS – ACTS 20:13 – 38
Luke reports various aspects of Paul and his companions’ differing means and times of travel from Troas to Miletus; from Miletus Paul sent for the Ephesian church elders to come and meet him there. Paul was motivated by an urgent intention to reach Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost – which was fifty days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread which he had celebrated in Philippi (verse 6).
Acts 20:18 – 38 reports Paul’s meeting with the Ephesian elders.
What did Paul say to them …
About how he lived among them?
20:18, 19
20:33 – 35
About what he preached and how he preached?
20:20
20:21
20:26, 27
About his future?
20:22 – 24
20:25
His instructions, warnings and prayer for the Ephesian elders and church?
20:28
20:29 – 30
20:31
20:32
B.1 Paul’s life among them
[1] ‘with great humility’ – verse19. Paul was an apostle, personally appointed and commissioned by Jesus Christ, sent out by the church in Antioch (Syria) through the command of the Holy Spirit, and recognized as an apostle by the elders and apostles in the church in Jerusalem. As an apostle he had certain ‘rights’, but he did not exercise those rights.
What do these verses teach us about Paul’s humility?
Romans 15:1 – 3
1Corinthians 8:13
1Corinthians 9:1 – 23
1Corinthians 10:32, 33
2Corinthians 3:4, 5
2Corinthians 4:7 – 12
2Corinthians 6:3 – 10
[Note: In 2Corinthians 10:1 to 12:19 Paul engaged in what he called the ‘foolishness’ of boasting, in order that the Corinthians would come back to knowing that his apostleship, and, therefore, the message he taught, were genuine. This was because they were in danger of being seduced by false apostles with a false message.]
Philippians 3:3 – 11
Philippians 4:11 – 13
1Thessalonians 2:9
Philemon 8 – 10
[2] ‘and tears’ – verse 19, 31.
Here and there in Paul’s letters, he writes about the heavy emotional burden of his ministry. This weight was directly related to his love for the people he served and his knowledge of the truth that could save them.
How does Paul express his deep feelings, and what caused those feelings?
2Corinthians 2:4
2Corinthians 7:5, 6
2Corinthians 11:3
2Corinthians 11:28, 29
2Corinthians 12:21
Galatians 4:11, 19
1Thessalonians 2:17 – 3:5
In Acts 20:31, Paul referred to one dominant reason for his on-going tears throughout the years of his ministry in Ephesus: the ever-present threat of false teachers coming into the church with their corruptions of the gospel.
[3] ‘severely tested by the plots of the Jews’ – verse 19.
Opposition from the Jews was part of Paul’s life from immediately after his conversion. Not only were the Jews opposed to the name of Jesus, but also to Paul, who, prior to his conversion, had shared in their intense hatred and persecution of all who acknowledge the name of Christ.
This opposition from the Jews had been more or less continuous:
Acts 9:23 – they conspired to kill him.
Acts 9:29 – the Grecian Jews tried to kill him.
Acts 13:45 – they were filled with jealousy and talked abusively against his message.
Acts 13:50 – they incited God-fearing women and the leading men in Antioch (Pisidia), stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from that region.
Acts 14:2 – in Iconium, they stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against Paul and Barnabas.
Acts 14:5 – together with Gentiles, they plotted to mistreat and stone Paul and Barnabas.
Acts 14:19 – coming to Lystra from Antioch and Iconium, they stoned Paul and left him for dead outside the city.
Acts 17:5 – in Thessalonica, they were jealous, and rounded up bad characters from the marketplace to start a riot and falsely accuse Paul and Silas.
Acts 17:13 – they came from Thessalonica to Berea, agitating the crowds and stirring them up.
Acts 18:12 – in Corinth, they made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court.
Acts 19:9 – in Ephesus, they maligned the Way.
Acts 20:3 – in Greece, they made a plot against him, which forced him to change his travel plans.
And we will see in the remaining chapters of Acts that this opposition continued.
This opposition from his countrymen was a significant cause of the ‘tears’ that he has just mentioned.
What do you learn about Paul’s deep concern for the Jews in these verses?
Romans 9:1 – 3
Romans 10:1, 2
Romans 11:14
1Corinthians 9:20
B.2 What Paul preached and how he preached
Both publicly and from house to house, Paul preached that, whether Jew or Greek, people ‘must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus’. He did this both publicly and from house to house. He did not hesitate to preach anything that would be helpful to them. He did not hesitate to proclaim ‘the whole will of God’ (verses 20, 21, 27).
Think about these questions:
Paul twice says he ‘did not hesitate’ to preach (1) anything that would be helpful, and (2) the whole will of God. What would make you hesitate to tell others some part of God’s truth?
Why are some parts of biblical truth difficult to talk about?
What is it that causes us hesitate to speak God’s truth?
What do you understand by the phrase ‘the whole will of God’ that he preached? Is Paul talking about the whole of the truth revealed in the Bible? Or, is he talking about the plans and decisions in a person’s life?
We have looked previously at various summary statements of Paul’s teaching and preaching. His message was – ‘Jesus is the Son of God’ – 9:20; ‘Jesus is the Christ’ – 9:22; 18:5; ‘the word of God’ – 13:5; ‘this message of salvation’ – 13:26; ‘the good news’ – 13:32ff; 14:7, 15, 21; ‘the forgiveness of sins’ through Jesus – 13:38; ‘the word of the Lord’ – 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; ‘the word of God’ – 13:46; 17:13; 18:11; ‘the message of his grace’ 14:3; ‘the word’ – 14:25; 16:6; ‘the gospel’ – 16:10; ‘the good news about Jesus and the resurrection’ – 17:18; ‘the kingdom of God’ – 19:8.
In 17:2, 3 there is a longer summary of what Paul taught, particularly in the Jewish synagogue: ‘he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ,” he said.’
Paul sums up his commitment and his faithfulness in preaching with the words ‘I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God’ – 20:26, 27. He had said a similar thing before, but in a different context, ‘Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles’ – Acts 18:6.
B.3 About his future
Out of everything that Paul said to the Ephesian elders, the thing that made the strongest impression on them was something he said about his future – that he would not see them again (20:25, 38).
Paul was convinced that he had to go to Jerusalem, and that when he did, he would be arrested (verses 22, 23). Verse 22 is translated and understood in various ways. These differences are focused on the phrase which the NIV (and others) translate ‘compelled (or bound) by the Spirit’; but the KJV and others translate ‘bound in the spirit’. The question is: what was it that made Paul feel compelled to go to Jerusalem? Did the Holy Spirit compel him? Or was it just a personal sense of duty that Paul felt in his own spirit? We might think ‘does it really matter?’ And if this was all that Luke reported about it, no it doesn’t really matter.
But Luke tells us:
In Acts 20:23 that in every city the Holy Spirit warned Paul that prison and hardships were facing him.
In 21:4, ‘through the Spirit’, disciples in Tyre urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem.
In 21:10, 11, in Caesarea, the prophet Agabus, in a graphic way, demonstrated the arrest that the Holy Spirit said would happen to Paul in Jerusalem. Luke says ‘When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem.’
With all of this in mind, it would seem more reasonable to understand Acts 20:22 as Paul feeling compelled in his own spirit, rather than ‘by the Holy Spirit’, because the other input from the Holy Spirit warned him of what would happen if he did, and clearly told him not to go.
Whichever way we understand it there are difficulties:
(1) if the plan to go to Jerusalem was simply Paul’s own plan, then the fact that he continued on to Jerusalem, after being warned, and being clearly told by the Spirit not to go, then Paul was disobedient.
(2) if it was the Holy Spirit who compelled Paul to go in verse 20, then why did the Holy Spirit inspire multiple disciples in Tyre to tell Paul not to go?
If we accept that the Holy Spirit is the one who compelled Paul to go the Jerusalem, then a possible answer to the difficulties is that the Holy Spirit was testing Paul’s commitment, but why that was necessary then becomes a question.
Another possible, but not really likely, solution, is that Paul, convinced by the Holy Spirit that he should go to Jerusalem, considered that the messages that told him not to go were actually not from the Holy Spirit, although they claimed to be. In which case, he would not have been disobedient, but rather discerning; but this would also mean, on the other hand, that numerous believers, perceived God’s leading wrongly (which can and does happen).
Thus, we find ourselves exactly where Paul’s companions found themselves – ‘we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”’ Whatever that ‘will’ is. Because here we are confronted with what looks like two conflicting understanding of God’s will – what Paul believed the Spirit was telling him, and what others believed the Holy Spirit was telling them to tell him.
We know that, as it happened, Paul did go to Jerusalem. He was arrested and imprisoned. But we also know that, because of that, he was eventually taken to Rome, where he preached the gospel while in prison. And to preach the gospel in Rome had been his desire for some time (Acts 19:21; Romans 1:15). He felt a divine obligation to preach the gospel in Rome.
In Acts 20:24, Paul explained that he was not deterred by the Holy Spirit’s warnings of prison and hardships, all he wanted to do was to ‘finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.’ It was with this in mind that he was determined to go to Jerusalem, and beyond that, to Rome. Such was his commitment to his calling that to be unable to fulfill that calling, to not be able to preach the gospel, would have been a greater hardship, a worse bondage, than those that the Spirit warned would happen in Jerusalem. Paul expressed this in his first letter to the Corinthians – ‘I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!’ – 1Corinthians 9:16.
B.4 His instructions, warnings and prayer for the Ephesian elders and church
Paul’s instructions to these men, whom he calls ‘overseers’ and ‘shepherds’ of God’s flock, are given urgency by his knowledge of what would happen in the church in Ephesus after he left (verse 29, 30).
[1] About their responsibility as elders – 20:28
They are (1) to watch over themselves, (2) watch over the flock, and (3) be shepherds of the church. These instructions are given added weight by Paul’s extended descriptions of the church – that it was ‘the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers’ – they had a God-given responsibility for the well-being of the church; and that it belonged to Jesus Christ – ‘bought with his own blood’. The church, of which they were shepherds, belonged not to them but to Jesus Christ, whom Paul here calls ‘God’; as his blood-bought possession; the church was precious to Jesus. The elders were responsible to Jesus for the well-being of his church.
[2] About the imminent threat of false teachers – 20:29, 30
Paul said ‘I know …’ He knew these men. He knew the city of Ephesus. He knew what was already happening in other places. He knew what Jesus had warned would happen. And because he knew all that and more, he also knew ‘that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you …’ and worse ‘even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth …’
It is no wonder that Paul had earlier referred to his ‘tears’ (verse 19), and now he refers to his ‘tears’ again – reminding them ‘for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears’ – verse 31.
For the whole three years of his ministry in Ephesus Paul had been aware of the threat of false teaching, and so he had consistently warned the believers, including these elders, about that. It was not just that teachers would come into the church, bring false teaching with them, but some already in the church, even possibly some of these elders, would distort the truth.
Paul uses various terms to refer to false teaching and its impact: ‘savage wolves’ (reminiscent of Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:15), ‘not spare the flock’ (reminiscent of Jesus in John 10:10a), ‘distort the truth’ (so that it ceases to be the gospel – Galatians 1:6 – 9), ‘draw away disciples after them’.
Paul’s summary command about this is ‘Be on your guard!’ – verse 31.
Paul’s prayer for them – verse 32.
Look at verse 32. Answer these questions:
What connection is there between this prayer and the warning about false teaching?
What particular aspect of God’s word did Paul refer to?
How does this potentially infer that the false teaching would try to undermine grace?
What did Paul believe God’s word could do?
How does this prayer help you to pray for someone who is being exposed to false teaching?
What encouragement is it to you, to hold fast to the gospel of grace?
Note: That Paul was correct in his fears for the church in Ephesus is evident in his letters to Timothy, whom he left in Ephesus to pastor the church, and in Jesus’ letter to the church in Ephesus (Revelation 2:1 – 7).