Eutychus Survives a Fall
TRANSLATION
(1) When the uproar had ended, Paul called for the disciples and, after encouraging them, bid them farewell and departed for Macedonia. (2) He then traveled throughout that region, strengthening the believers. He finally arrived in Greece (3) where he spent three months. When he learned that certain Jews had devised a plot against him as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia. (4) Accompanying him were Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus from Berea, as well as two from Thessalonica, Aristarchus and Secundus, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus both from Asia. (5) These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. (6) We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them in Troas five days later. There we stayed seven more days.
(7) On the first day of the week when we had gathered together to break bread, Paul addressed the assembly and, because he planned to leave the next day, he prolonged his message until midnight. (8) There were many lamps burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting. (9) Sitting in the window was a certain young man named Eutychus who fell into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. While asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and appeared to be dead. (10) Paul went down and lay on top of him, embracing him. He then said, “Don’t be alarmed. He is still alive.” (11) Then he went back upstairs and, having broken bread and eaten, he continued talking with them until daybreak. Then he took his leave. (12) The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
(13) Going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos. There we planned to take Paul aboard since he wanted to go that far on foot. (14) When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and headed on to Mitylene. (15) Sailing from there, we came the following day to Chios. The next day we touched at Samos, and the day after that we arrived at Miletus, (16) for Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend more time in Asia. He was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.
OBSERVATIONS
In this segment Luke recounted the events that took place toward the end of Paul’s third missionary journey. Repetitions help us grasp the significance of this portion of Acts. Place names help us trace Paul’s travels from Ephesus on his way to Jerusalem. Here we find “Macedonia” (vss. 1 & 3), “Troas” (vss. 5 & 6), and “Assos” (vss. 13 & 14) repeated. Other repeated words included “sailed/set sail/sailing” (vss. 6, 13, 15, & 16), “day(s)” (four times in vss. 6 & 7), “break/broken bread” (vss. 7 & 11), “sleep” (twice in vs. 9), and “taken/took” (vss. 9, 10, & 12).
OUTLINE
I. Paul traveled from Ephesus through Macedonia to Troas over a period of several months. (1-6)
II. At Troas, Paul taught the believers until dawn, raising Eutychus to life after he had fallen from the third story while asleep. (7-12)
III. Paul continued his journey with the goal of reaching Jerusalem by Pentecost. (13-16)
IDEA STATEMENT
On the way from Ephesus to Jerusalem, Paul stopped at Troas where he preached an all-night sermon and raised Eutychus to life after he had fallen from the third story while asleep.
APPLICATION
Eutychus, whose name meant “fortunate,” was indeed fortunate not to have died after falling from the window where he slept while Paul had preached. Because he was leaving the next day, Paul had “prolonged” his teaching. With the “many oil lamps” in the room reducing the supply of breathable air and the hour growing late, Eutychus was probably not the only one present to grow drowsy. When he could stay awake no longer, his relaxed body dropped from the window where he had been listening and landed on the ground below. While all assumed that his lifeless body meant that he had died, Paul took him in his arms and assured everyone that he was alive.
Did this mean that Paul had miraculously raised Eutychus from the dead or simply that Paul recognized that he had not been killed by his fall? While we may never know the answer to this question, we do know that by his words and actions Paul taught those gathered in Troas that believers possess something far more important than physical life, namely our spiritual lives in Christ.