Bible Study Acts 20
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Acts 20 · WEB

Macedonia, Eutychus, and Farewell at Miletus

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After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, took leave of them, and departed to go into Macedonia.
2When he had gone through those parts, and had encouraged them with many words, he came into Greece.
3When he had spent three months there, and a plot was made against him by Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
4These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
5But these had gone ahead, and were waiting for us at Troas.
6We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas in five days, where we stayed seven days.
7On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and continued his speech until midnight.
8There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together.
9A certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. As Paul spoke still longer, being weighed down by his sleep, he fell down from the third story, and was taken up dead.
10Paul went down, and fell upon him, and embracing him said, "Don't be troubled, for his life is in him."
11When he had gone up, and had broken bread, and eaten, and had talked with them a long while, even until break of day, he departed.
12They brought the boy in alive, and were greatly comforted.
13But we who went ahead to the ship set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for he had so arranged, intending himself to go by land.
14When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard, and came to Mitylene.
15Sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium, and the day after we came to Miletus.
16For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
17From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly.
18When they had come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,
19serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;
20how I didn't shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
21testifying both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus.
22Now, behold, I go bound by the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there;
23except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me.
24But 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.
25"Now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I went about preaching God's Kingdom, will see my face no more.
26Therefore I testify to you today that I am clean from the blood of all men,
27for I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.
28Take heed, therefore, to yourselves, and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.
29For I know that after my departure, vicious wolves will enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
30Men will arise from among your own selves, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
31Therefore watch, remembering that for a period of three years I didn't cease to admonish everyone night and day with tears.
32"Now, brothers, I entrust you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build up, and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
33I coveted no one's silver, or gold, or clothing.
34You yourselves know that these hands served my necessities, and those who were with me.
35In all things I gave you an example, that so laboring you ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that he himself said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"
36When he had spoken these things, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.
37They all wept a lot, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,
38sorrowing most of all because of the word which he had spoken, that they should see his face no more. They accompanied him to the ship.
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Summary

After the Ephesian uproar Paul circles through Macedonia and Greece, narrowly evades a plot against his life, and is accompanied by a multi-national delegation carrying the offering for Jerusalem. At Troas he preaches into the night, the young man Eutychus falls asleep and plunges from a third-story window — and Paul restores him and continues the teaching until dawn. Sailing south, Paul stops at Miletus and summons the Ephesian elders for one of Scripture's most moving farewell speeches: a reminder of his integrity, a sober trip into the dangers awaiting him, and a charge to guard the flock the Holy Spirit has placed in their care — for wolves will come, and even leaders from within will go astray. He kneels and prays with them, and they weep their way to the ship, knowing they will not see his face again.

Themes

  • Ministry's costly load — and joy
  • Sunday gathering, breaking of bread, and the word
  • Pastoral integrity (humility, tears, hands-on labor)
  • The church purchased by Christ's blood
  • Charge to guard the flock from wolves

Key verses

  • Acts 20:24 — “I don't 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.”
  • Acts 20:27 — “I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
  • Acts 20:28 — “Take heed... to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the assembly of the Lord and God which he purchased with his own blood.”
  • Acts 20:35 — “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Context & background

C. AD 56-57. Paul revisits the Macedonian and Achaian churches, then sails for Jerusalem to deliver the offering he had been collecting for the famine-stricken Judean believers (Romans 15:25-28). His traveling party (v. 4) reads like representatives of the Gentile churches accompanying the gift. The Sunday gathering (v. 7) — "the first day of the week" — is the earliest plain reference to weekly Christian worship on the Lord's Day; it includes the breaking of bread (the Lord's Supper) and extended teaching. Eutychus' name means "lucky" — a small joke at his expense. Assos to Miletus is a coastal hop along western Asia Minor (modern Turkey); Paul deliberately bypassed Ephesus to save time. The Miletus speech is the only sustained Pauline address in Acts to Christians (rather than to Jews or pagans) and matches the tone and theology of his letters remarkably closely. Verse 28 ("which he purchased with his own blood") is one of the most striking statements of Christ's deity in the NT — God's own blood, the blood of God-in-the-flesh. Verse 35's quotation of Jesus ("It is more blessed to give than to receive") is the only saying of Jesus quoted in Acts that isn't recorded in the four Gospels.

Cross-references

  • 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 — The collection for Jerusalem that drives this trip.
  • 1 Peter 5:1-4 — Peter charges elders to "shepherd the flock of God" — parallel to Acts 20:28.
  • 2 Timothy 4:7 — "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race" — Paul's later confidence echoes v. 24.
  • Ephesians 4:11-14 — Paul's later letter to Ephesus develops what he commands here about guarding against false teaching.
  • Romans 15:25-29 — Paul's intent to deliver the offering before going to Rome.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What happened to Eutychus during Paul's sermon at Troas, and how did the episode end?

  2. Observe

    What did Paul say in his Miletus farewell address to show that he had not coveted the Ephesians' wealth?

  3. Interpret

    Paul told the Ephesian elders, "I am clean from the blood of all men, for I didn't shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God" (vv. 26-27). What does he mean by "clean from the blood of all men"?

  4. Interpret

    Paul warned the Ephesian elders about wolves from outside and false teachers arising "from among your own selves" (vv. 29-30). Why is the internal threat specifically highlighted as more dangerous?

  5. Apply

    Paul said, "I don't 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" (v. 24). How does the image of a race shape how you think about your own calling?

  6. Apply

    Paul quoted Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (v. 35) — the only saying of Jesus in Acts not recorded in any Gospel. How can you live by that principle concretely this week?

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