|
About Jesus Steve Sweetman Chapters 20 Previous Section - Chapters 19 ch. 20:1-6 ch. 20:7-12 ch. 20:13-38
Through
Luke
tells us that after the uproar was over Paul decided to leave Ephesus
and go to It
appears that Luke and Paul went north to From
what we learn in Paul’s letters it was during this period of time
that he was in the process of collecting money for the poor saints in Eutychus
Raised From The Dead In In
verse 7 Luke records that the church at Troas
met with Paul on “the first day of the week.
The next day, (our Monday) Paul left town.
This is the first mention of a gathering of Christians meeting on the
first day of the week. Was this
something that was normally done in this infant church?
We cannot conclude for sure simply from this verse.
This was a special meeting of the church because Paul was to leave the
next day. So was this a special
meeting, or was it a regular Sunday meeting that Paul happened to attend?
We don’t know for sure. Some
have concluded that the Gentile church, as early as these times regularly met on
the first day of the week, that is our Sunday.
Jews had no special names for their days.
Those who hold to this point to a couple of Scriptures.
One is found in 1 Cor. 16:2 where Paul tells the Corinthians to lay aside
money on the first day of the week, so that when he came to collect the money
for the poor saints in Jerusalem that money would be ready for him.
This verse specifically says, “on the first day of the week, each one
of you should set aside a sum of money…”
To me it is not clear if this is actually done in a meeting of the
church. To me this could easily
suggest that each family lay aside, at home, some money, so that when Paul comes
to town, they can give it to him. But
some suggest that this money was actually set aside in a gathering of the
church. The problem is, that the
text does not clearly state this, although I can certainly see how one
would conclude this way of thinking from this verse. Rev.
1:10 is another verse that people often use to suggest the early church gathered
for Sunday meetings. This is where
John said that he was praying “on the Lord’s Day”.
The question then is asked, “what is the Lord’s Day”?
Once again we cannot conclusively know the answer for sure, but can
pretty well guess. It would
either be the Jewish Sabbath, or the first day of the week, our Sunday, because
this is when Jesus rose from the dead. (John 20:19)
I would guess that the Lord's day in John's mind would be our Sunday. One
thing we should note here is that John wrote Revelation around 85 to 95 AD, four
or so decades after Paul met with these people here in Acts 20.
Things did evolved over that period of time.
The first day of the week might have meant little to these people but
much to the Ephesians when John wrote Revelation. To
conclude, it is very possible that in this early stage of the church, the
Christians, at least the Gentile Christians, gathered together on the first day
of the week. It is not conclusive,
but it is possible. We
should note at this point that the New Testament does not command us anywhere to
meet together for worship on any certain day of the week.
The Old Testament commanded the Jews to keep the Sabbath day holy.
That is our Saturday. The
word Sabbath means seventh. But
nowhere in the New Testament is there any hint of the Lord transferring the
Jewish Sabbath to a Christian Sunday. Paul
in Anyway,
Paul and his company met with these people on this first day of the week to say
his good-bys to them. One of the
main things these people did in this meeting was “to break bread”.
Most, but maybe not all, feel this breaking of bread is what we call
communion, or the Lord’s Supper. Luke
tells us that Paul would leave the next day so he “talked on and on” well
into the night. Apparently not
everyone could pay close attention, even to Paul’s speaking.
A young man named Eutychus was so tired that he fell asleep.
Unfortunately he was sitting in a window cell three floors up.
Upon falling asleep he fell out of the window to the ground and died. When
Paul saw what had happened he immediately stopped speaking and went down stairs
and threw himself onto this young man. By
using the word “threw” we note that Paul was extremely concerned about
Eutychus. Luke doesn’t tell us if
Paul actually prayed for the young man, only that Paul announced to everyone
that he was alive. The
New Testament has no set formula for healing.
Sometimes a prayer is involved. Sometimes
a simple command is involved, (example – arise and walk)
It is quite possible that Paul said nothing, at least out loud in words
that people could hear. It is
possible that this boy was healed simply from the touch of Paul. After
announcing that the young man was alive Paul went back upstairs and “broke
bread and ate”, suggesting that they had communion and ate a meal at the same
time. Then Paul spoke until the
morning light and finally left on his way, taking Eutychus home to his family,
which made everyone rejoice in the fact that he was alive. Because
of the grammatical structure of this paragraph some suggest that the breaking of
bread and a meal was eaten at the beginning of this gathering.
Yet some suggest, as it appears to be from a quick reading, that the
breaking of bread and the meal did not take place until after mid-night, after
Eutychus was healed. Paul’s Farewell To The Ephesian Elders (ch. 20:13 - 38) In
verse 13 Luke says that “we sailed on to Assos”.
We meaning Luke and other of Paul’s companions.
Paul had arranged to walk on foot to Assos and meet his associates there.
The distance between Why
Paul chose to walk after being awake all night is not known.
The ship had to sail around a peninsula so in actuality the ship traveled
more than 20 miles. Over
the next few days Paul and his company had sailed from one city to another,
passing by Ephesus, since Paul was eager to arrive in Jerusalem
before Pentecost. Even
though Paul did not want to take the time to visit Ephesus, where he spent 2 full years, he did want to see the elders of that church.
So from What
Paul has to say to these elders has always been especially touching to me.
You see the heart of Paul expressed in these words to these men. He
says, “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day
I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great
humility and tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews.
You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be
helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in
repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ”. (ch. 20:18 - 21) Paul
said that "you must turn to God".
In Paul's mind people had no choice in this matter.
They had to turn to God or else reap the consequences.
This is far from the thinking that many Christians hold today with the
influence of post-modernism and tolerance in the church.
One
thing to note in these verses is the humility Paul showed and the love for those
who had turned to Jesus. He says
that he served the Lord in “tears”. From
what we know of Paul and from his travels, we know that he extended great energy
in preaching and persuading people to turn to Jesus, and once turning to the
Lord, he had great compassion for them.
It is clear in Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians that he cried
over the fact that many of them were forsaking him and not extending care and
love towards him as he did to them. This
hurt him badly. We see from Paul’s
letter to the Galatians that he cried over the fact that some who he led to
Jesus were reverting back to a salvation based on the Law.
The simple fact is that Paul really cared for the people of God,
something that most church leaders today should take a serious look at.
Too often in our modern church pastors have made a career out of
pastoring, something not that different than any other career, but this was not
the case with Paul. Doing the work
of the Lord was not a career choice for Paul.
It was a compulsion based on the love of Jesus and His command for Paul
to serve Him. We
see that Paul preached publicly and from house to house.
He taught publicly in the synagogues as long as he could.
He taught in such places as the lecture hall of Tyrants.
He also taught in public squares and amphitheaters.
Then privately, he taught in houses of those who came to Jesus.
What
did Paul preach and teach? He says
that he taught that people must repent and turn to God.
But he did not leave it there. Once
repenting, he taught that one must have faith in “our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Faith is trust. Paul taught
that people need to first turn from their own ways of doing things and put full
trust and confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Note the use of the words God and Jesus. Paul says, “turn to God’,
yet he specifies what God he is talking about when he says trust in Jesus”. As
Paul often says, the Christian God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. There is no other God.
This is one fundamental Biblical truth that is presently being challenged
in the church. It is a very
destructive heresy. Paul
continues to say in verse 22, “and now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to
We
note here that Paul felt beyond a doubt that the Holy Spirit was leading him to
go to Paul
continues in verse 25, “now I know that none of you among whom I have gone
about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again.”
Truly these are sad words. I
am sure that Paul was next to tears if not in tears as he says these words.
The elders are in tears as they listen to him.
They felt extremely sad concerning the idea of never seeing Paul again.
Paul knew deep in his heart that the time was drawing short for him and
that chains were soon to come in his future. He
continues, “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.”
Paul understood more than most of us the issue of what is called “blood
guiltiness”. Paul felt that if he
did not tell a person about Jesus, then that person’s blood, that person’s
life for eternity was on his shoulders. He was responsible to help people enter
into eternal life with Jesus, and if he carried out that task to the best of his
ability, then he had fulfilled his responsibility. If people accept what he
says, he rejoices. If they reject
what he says, then that is their choice and their problem, not Paul’s.
Paul worked hard and therefore felt that no man’s eternal destiny, or
blood as he puts it, was on his shoulders. I
often wonder how many, if not most of us will feel, when we stand before Jesus
knowing that we have missed so many opportunities to tell people about the
eternal importance of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In
verse 28 Paul encourages the elders by saying, “keep watch over yourselves and
all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers.
Be shepherds of the church
of The
KJV and some other translations in various passages uses 2 other words to
describe an elder, and they are pastor and bishop.
Out of these 5 different words, all for the same job, the word elder is
most commonly used in the New Testament. The
words pastor and bishop are the least commonly used. It
is interesting to me that in today’s church we use the least commonly used of
these words, that is, “pastor and bishop”.
The most commonly used word,
that is “elder”, we tend to use the least. Another thing to note is that
many times when we do use the word elder, it is not with the same job
description as seen in the New Testament. That
is to say, modern day elders are not
like the elders we see in the Bible.
Why
was Paul encouraging these elders to take care of God’s people?
One reason is that Jesus bought these people with His blood, as Paul
says, Another reason is seen in
verse 29. Paul says, “I know that
after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the
flock. Even from your own number men
will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after
themselves.” Look at Paul’s
words. Was he being a fatalist?
Was he showing lack of faith in the Lord?
He was telling these men that after he leaves false teachers would come
in and try to mess things up. And
beyond that, some of the very men that Paul was talking to that day would have a
change of heart and would distort the truth in order to have their own
disciples. Some of these very men in
tears would soon find themselves on a power trip drawing people unto themselves,
satisfying their own ego. Some
scholars suggest that the false teachers that Paul is speaking about here come
in the next century that lead to the early stages of Catholicism and the
paganization of the church that took place after Christianity became the legal
religion of the Roman Empire in the fourth century.
Still, soon after Paul left, men began to teach false things to create
their own following. We still have
men like this today. Paul
continues, “so be on your guard! Remember
that for 3 years I never stopped warning you night and day in tears”.
You
might ask, “I thought Paul spent 2 years in In
verse 32 Paul says, “now I commend you to God and His grace”.
What else could Paul do? He
knew that problems were ahead for these men.
He knew that wolves would come into the flock to destroy it.
He could not always be there for these men, and the church in Furthermore
Paul says that it is this very grace of God that in the long run will “build
you up”. Once again, when it comes
right down to the bottom line, it is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our
lives that will keep us going in our faith.
If our faith is only in tact because of men propping it up, then it is no
faith. Fellowship is important for
many reasons, but if our personal faith is not solid and maintained because of
the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives, then that faith will not last. Our
faith should not be secured on our relationships with others, but on our
relationship with God Himself. We
way to often emphasize personal relationships in the church to the neglect of
the most important relationship we have. When
it comes right down to it, in the darkest times of our lives, we are often alone
in the quietness of our hearts. It
is in these times that only Jesus can help us.
No man is present to help us.
Relationships
are important, but they shouldn't determine our faith.
Our faith should effect our relationships for the good.
Relationships can strengthen faith, but our faith isn't found in
relationships. Paul
goes on to say in verse 32 that this grace gives you a place in the inheritance
of God’s set apart, or sanctified people.
We all as Christians have a place set aside for us, an inheritance that
some day will be ours, that is, eternal life and all that comes with it. Paul
speaks of grace here. There are two
ways in which grace is used in the Bible. One
is God's unmerited favour He has towards us.
Two is the God given ability to do as He wants us to do.
It is this second way I believe Paul is speaking of here.
God's grace can pull these people through the tough days ahead, and only
His grace can do this. Paul
says that “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.
You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs
and the needs of my companions. We know that Paul was not financially rich.
We know that many times he lived in poverty, yet he did not covet his
flocks silver, gold or clothing. He
in many cases did not even ask for financial support.
He supported himself by making tents, and not only himself, but those who
were with him he also supported. So
many of Paul’s days were spent working and then preaching and teaching.
I wish more modern day Christian superstar leaders would have the same
mentality as Paul. “In
everything I did” Paul says, “I showed you that by this kind of hard work we
must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, ‘it is
more blessed to give than to receive’”.
There it is, Paul’s motto he lived by.
Following in the steps of Jesus, he felt it was better to give of himself
than ask to be supported. You
might note that there is no written record in the gospels that Jesus said these
exact words, but I think we can all agree that Paul's words here do represent
much of what Jesus said, and how he lived. It might well be that Jesus did
say these exact words, and they were passed down to Paul from men like Peter.
Paul wrote the first canonized book in the New Testament around 50 AD.
Before this the words of our Lord were passed from person to person in an oral
tradition. Paul
was now finished speaking to his friends. They
all knelt and prayed. They hugged
and kissed Paul. They shed tears of
sadness, and grieved greatly because they would never see his face again.
I am sure this was a very sad moment in time for all of those involved in
this gathering. Once everyone was
somewhat composed, they accompanied Paul and his companions to the ship that
would take them on their way.
|