A long sermon can put a person to sleep. Not everyone can keep up. Concentration can bring exhaustion. And if a tired person just happens to be sitting in a third story window, his slumber could lead to a fatal fall.
This really did happen in Troas during one of Paul’s long talks. A young man, maybe a teenager even, named Eutychus did his best to follow along with the preacher and his message. It was a muggy evening and the lamps in the crowded room sucked the oxygen out the place. I am sure this guy wasn’t the only one nodding off.
It was almost midnight when Eutychus fell to the courtyard below. Everything stopped. The hearers were dumbstruck. Gasps rang out in the room.
What did Paul do? He ran down to the boy and embraced him.
“Fear not, his life is him,” Paul announced to the gathering. A resurrection moment had come. This is the only record we have of Paul bringing someone back from death.
Crisis averted. Tragedy avoided.
Paul headed back upstairs and kept on preaching. He talked until dawn.
That sunrise moment had to put a neat exclamation point on this visit to Troas. Eutychus was alive from the dead just as Jesus had risen at the break of day on that Easter morning a couple dozen years before. The people bid Paul farewell and went home rejoicing.
They had quite a story to tell. And tell it they surely did.
From Death to Life
Coming to life from deadness is a part of all of our stories as followers of Jesus. That’s what salvation gives to us. We were lifeless in our trespasses and sins before we came to know the Savior.
Paul knew the death that he had been awakened from. In reality, this apostle was more like a zombie in how he went about things before turning to Jesus. He was dead in his sins and ravenously hungry to spill the blood of the saints. He did tell people how violent he had been in opposing the early church.
These Jesus people were messing up everything as Paul saw it. He jeered and egged on the stone throwers who sent Stephen out of this world and straight to Jesus who stood to meet this martyr at the Throne of Heaven, according to Acts 7.
Once Stephen was buried, Paul got busy rounding up and jailing believers. With his counsel, he set up executions for as many of The Way followers as he could find.
And then Jesus shined down on this enemy of His and of His people. He cast His glorious Light upon a savage who claimed to be doing the work of the Lord and his religion.
Oh, how faithful God is to give something to sing about when things seem to be so dark. Share on XHumbled and blinded, Paul stumbled into Damascus and waited for the third day, eating and drinking nothing until Ananias, an obedient believer, came and laid hands on “Brother Saul.” His eyes were opened. He was baptized into the faith of the Son of God. He entered right into the ministry of life and love for Jesus.
At Troas, I wonder if the sight of a dead believer brought back memories of Stephen. Paul saw Eutychus and purposed to bring him back to his family and friends. God answered his prayer.
After this miracle, everyone gathered with Paul to “break bread” – they all celebrated communion and had a bit of a feast.
This is a lesson to those who share the Gospel, never let an object lesson go wasted. Someone had just died and came back to life. They all decided then and there to do as Jesus taught us to do. Let’s remember the broken Body of the One who died and gave His life for all.
Heartened by an experience of Risen Life, the people at Troas listened on and bid Paul farewell. “They brought the boy home alive and were greatly comforted.”
Paul, I think, cherished this moment as one of the highlights of his missionary ministry. The sudden death, the instant recovery, the time of fellowship, and the joy that followed must have had a lasting impact on him.
Oh, how faithful God is to give something to sing about when things seem to be so dark.
Finishing His Course
I see that this was a somewhat weighty season for Paul. This time at Troas came as he began to realize that his race on earth was nearing an end.
Paul sensed a need to get things done. He still had some important things to say. Sobering truths welled up in his heart. He could not keep these things to himself.
To a beach at Miletus he went, and there he called for the church leaders from Ephesus to meet him. He was headed to Jerusalem to be there for perhaps one last Pentecost.
He expected trouble, for trouble had always followed him. He was determined and bound in his spirit to get to that holy city, in spite of the warnings told him by those closest to him. He counted his life as nothing and he was ready to die for the Lord.
“This is the last time you will see my face.” Paul said it frankly and this hit his Ephesian hearers hard. They wept in their heartbreak. Still, he insisted that they take heed to these final words to them from him.
Paul spoke seriously and confidently. He reviewed his work that had been most fruitful in Ephesus.
The Spirit had made his ministry there most profitable. He served in all seasons. He served with humility of mind. He served with compassion and tears. He taught well and did not fail to communicate the Gospel of Grace in all its details. An inheritance of life was theirs.
Words of warning came next. Wolves stood ready to attack the flock of the Good Shepherd.
Wolves stood ready to attack the flock of the Good Shepherd. Share on XThe leaders got these instructions: Be ready. Be discerning. Outside forces would seek to stop the work of God. Even worse, Paul said, internal enemies would expose themselves. Yes, men within the church would teach corrupt things — “deviant doctrines” that deceived. Expect this. Don’t be naive. Be alert, be watchful, be prayerful, protect the sheep of God, Paul commanded them.
His finishing touch revealed the great confidence and hope he had in the purposes of the Lord.
“And now I commit you to God and to the Message of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
Read those words and consider. An inheritance is a permanent gift. It comes to us because someone had a heart of grace to bless his heirs.
All believers are heirs of Christ. Jesus died, and He is risen now to give us His righteousness in sanctification.
Hold fast to this reality of your faith. Let this build you up each and every day.
Sure, you may have your sleepy times. We do fall down every now and then. But God will lift you and set you on your feet.
His love never fails. To us, Jesus will always be true.
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