Acts | Chapter 20 : vimarsana.com
Acts | Chapter 20
Read Acts Chapter 20
For a printable version of this Bible Study, click HERE.
What stands out to you as you read this chapter?
Are there any words or phrases that you feel are key ideas in this chapter?
What other features do you wish you knew more about (culture, religion, customs, etc.) in order to help you understand this chapter?
How do you think this chapter fits in the larger story of Acts and the Bible as a whole?
ACT OUT: How does the Holy Spirit want to use this text in your life, for others or for yourself?
At this point in Paul’s third missionary journey (which began back in Acts 18), you can feel the tension building. Everywhere Paul goes, trouble seems to follow. The churches he had planted in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea) would get pass-through visits as he made his way to Greece. It didn’t take long before some of his Jewish opponents, plotting to take his life, drove him back through Macedonia on his way back to Syria (Acts 20:1-3). Landing in Troas, Paul and his companions spent a week there, finishing his time with one long sermon that went on and on till midnight (Acts 20:7)
Falling asleep during a sermon is bad enough. Falling asleep and falling out of a third-story window is worse! If we meet Eutychus in the next life, that will be his claim to fame (Acts 20:9). Not just that he fell asleep and fell out the window, but that he survived, having been embraced by Paul like a prophet of old (1 Kings 17:21) and raised from the dead, as Luke seems to indicate (Acts 20:10-12). Then Paul goes right on talking till morning.
Did you notice that Luke has been using “we” in his narrative at this point, as earlier in Acts 16:10-17? This shows Luke as a first-hand participant in some of Paul’s travels. If this is the case, it is likely he experienced Paul’s personal, tearful farewell meeting with the Ephesian elders at Miletus, which explains the level of detail in the concise speech (Acts 20:17-35). In Acts 20:21 we get a thumbnail-sized outline of Paul’s thought structure when presenting the gospel to Jews or Greeks. The message that raises dead sinners to life consists of repentance turning from sin to God and faith, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. For that message Paul was willing to suffer. So he will go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:24-25).
Prayer: God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have given us a truth worth living and dying for, a message that raises the dead to new life. Praise you for Jesus, your Son, our Savior, received as our Lord by faith
For a printable version of this Bible Study, click HERE.
What stands out to you as you read this chapter?
Are there any words or phrases that you feel are key ideas in this chapter?
What other features do you wish you knew more about (culture, religion, customs, etc.) in order to help you understand this chapter?
How do you think this chapter fits in the larger story of Acts and the Bible as a whole?
ACT OUT: How does the Holy Spirit want to use this text in your life, for others or for yourself?
At this point in Paul’s third missionary journey (which began back in Acts 18), you can feel the tension building. Everywhere Paul goes, trouble seems to follow. The churches he had planted in Macedonia (Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea) would get pass-through visits as he made his way to Greece. It didn’t take long before some of his Jewish opponents, plotting to take his life, drove him back through Macedonia on his way back to Syria (Acts 20:1-3). Landing in Troas, Paul and his companions spent a week there, finishing his time with one long sermon that went on and on till midnight (Acts 20:7)
Falling asleep during a sermon is bad enough. Falling asleep and falling out of a third-story window is worse! If we meet Eutychus in the next life, that will be his claim to fame (Acts 20:9). Not just that he fell asleep and fell out the window, but that he survived, having been embraced by Paul like a prophet of old (1 Kings 17:21) and raised from the dead, as Luke seems to indicate (Acts 20:10-12). Then Paul goes right on talking till morning.
Did you notice that Luke has been using “we” in his narrative at this point, as earlier in Acts 16:10-17? This shows Luke as a first-hand participant in some of Paul’s travels. If this is the case, it is likely he experienced Paul’s personal, tearful farewell meeting with the Ephesian elders at Miletus, which explains the level of detail in the concise speech (Acts 20:17-35). In Acts 20:21 we get a thumbnail-sized outline of Paul’s thought structure when presenting the gospel to Jews or Greeks. The message that raises dead sinners to life consists of repentance turning from sin to God and faith, believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. For that message Paul was willing to suffer. So he will go to Jerusalem (Acts 20:24-25).
Prayer: God, in the gospel of Jesus Christ, you have given us a truth worth living and dying for, a message that raises the dead to new life. Praise you for Jesus, your Son, our Savior, received as our Lord by faith
Related Keywords
Jerusalem, Israel General, Israel, Syria, Berea, Lab, Macedonia, Greece, Greeks, Jesus Christ, , Acts Chapter, Bible Study, Holy Spirit, Then Paul, Lord Jesus,