Acts 20 records another amazing miracle Paul performed in Troas. The miracle was the resurrection of Eutychus from the dead. He wasn’t sick but was sitting in an open window as Paul preached. Apparently, the message didn’t hold his attention, so he fell asleep, and then fell out of the window and to the ground below. He was dead, but Paul brought him back to life in Jesus’ name! While the remainder of the chapter isn’t nearly as dramatic, it contains Paul’s last encounter with the elders of the Ephesian church. Paul made it clear to those elders that he had spoken the truth of Jesus in the love of Jesus to the extent that he was “innocent of all men’s blood.” What does that mean? It’s a reference to the prophet Ezekiel, whom the LORD told was to be the watchmen for a coming invasion. The LORD told Ezekiel if the enemy came and he cried out to the people, but they didn’t get up, their blood would be on themselves, but if the enemy came and he did not cry out, their blood would be on him. Paul was saying he had proclaimed the gospel clearly, so if anyone didn’t respond their blood was on themselves. Paul also noted he had taught them in the marketplace and from house to house. This is in Acts 20:20, so some have called this Paul’s 20:20 vision: presenting the gospel in large groups (marketplace) and small groups (house-to-house). Paul also quoted Jesus as saying, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” a powerful statement that we don’t find in any of the gospels, so Jesus either spoke it directly to Paul, or one of the apostles told Paul and he spoke it to the Ephesian elders as a reminder. One final point we must take from Paul’s final words to the Ephesian elders: Paul said after he left “wolves” would come in and seek to attack the “sheep.” The wolves were false teachers, and the sheep were the people. Paul reminded the elders they were “shepherds” (which is the word from which we take our word pastor), and they must guard the sheep. If we fast-forward to Revelation 2, we find the Ephesian elders being commended for being faithful in maintaining the purity of the truth but reprimanded for losing their first love.
Acts 21 records Paul’s journey to Jerusalem. Paul had wanted to go there for Pentecost, but the trip turned out to be filled with turmoil, as the church leaders in Jerusalem realized Paul’s reputation preceded him, and many would not appreciate this “Gentile-loving” leader among them. We don’t read those words, but we see that the church leaders had Paul take some actions that would show he was a faithful “Jew.” The plan didn’t work, and Paul was attacked by some Jews, and then arrested by the Romans, because the Jews were beating him. As the chapter ends Paul is ready to make his defense to the crowds.
Acts 22 records Paul’s defense, which was Paul offering his testimony of his conversion to the crowd. They listened until Paul told them the LORD had sent Him as an apostle to the Gentiles. At that point they wanted to kill him. The Roman soldiers decided to flog him, but Paul pulled the “I’m a Roman” card, and the Roman soldiers backed off. They kept him in protective custody until the next day, at which time Paul was given the opportunity to go before the Sanhedrin to testify.
Acts 23 records Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling body. Paul used the strategy of setting the Sanhedrin against itself, because he knew some of them were Pharisees (as he was) and believed in the resurrection, while some where Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection, (which is why they were sad-you-see!) Anyway, Paul said he was on trial because he believed in the resurrection of the dead. This led to such an intense argument that Paul was in danger of being torn in two. The Romans took him back to protective custody, and eventually decided to send Paul to Caesarea where he would be examined by the Roman governor. As Paul slept one night the LORD spoke to him in a vision and told him as he had spoken before the people in Jerusalem, he would speak before the leaders in Rome.
As we return to Matthew 8, Matthew records a number of healing miracles of Jesus. Jesus healed a leper, a Roman centurion’s servant, many people in Capernaum, including Peter’s mother-in-law, then He calmed a storm, and healed two men who were possessed by demons. This final account is quite similar to the account of Jesus healing the one man, who was called Legion, in Mark 5. Most biblical scholars agree this is the same account, but Matthew lists two men and Mark only one. This seems like a significant detail, but the point of both accounts is the same: Jesus overcame the power of Satan and cast many demons out of a man or men. This produced the “Kingdom of Heaven” on earth in that moment. That’s what Jesus came to do: to demonstrate what it’s like when the Kingdom of Heaven is in and among us!