The Midnight Special
Sailing separately from Philippi, Paul and his entourage meet up in Troas. The team has grown to ten men. Certainly many of the churches contributing to the famine relief offering for Jerusalem have sent representatives to help. The apostle and his crew spend a week in the port city of Troas (Acts 20:4-6).
At some point during their seven day stay, Sunday rolled around (v7). Luke writes that believers "gathered together to break bread." This confirms the fact that the followers of Jesus have come to recognize Sunday rather that Saturday as a day to gather for worship. God had commanded His people to observe the Saturday Sabbath as a sign of His covenant promises (Ex 31:16-17). But Jews following Jesus began gathering regularly on Sunday, the day of His resurrection. Just one more sign that something amazing happened that incredible week in Jerusalem.
They got together to celebrate the Lord's Supper. These communion meals are a regular part of life. And they should be for us as well. Jesus commanded His closest followers to share the bread and the cup "in remembrance of Me" (Lk 22:19-20). While he wasn't there the night before Christ's crucifixion, Paul also taught the importance of the Lord's Supper (1Cor 11:17-34). As a matter of fact, the apostle goes so far as to say that his teaching on communion "I received from the Lord" (1Cor 11:23). At some point, the risen Jesus had instructed him personally on this important part of the Christian life.
Paul is planning on leaving Troas "on the next day" (v7). That results in one of the longest sermons recorded in the Bible. This was no 20 minute sermonette. Luke tells us that the man from Tarsus "prolonged his speech until midnight." We don't know when he began preaching, but we do know it lasted until 12:00 am. Clearly Paul had a lot he wanted to say to these believers in Troas. He's not sure when he'll be back. The result is what we'll call the Midnight Special.
Dr. Luke includes a very interesting tidbit of information at this point. "There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered" (v8). This is yet another indication of the physician's accuracy in his account. Historians point out that details like these reinforce the accuracy of material. The presence of many oil burning lamps in the upstairs room would create a lot of smoke. They would also suck the oxygen from the crowded room as well as creating carbon monoxide. The presence of CO could well have contributed to what happened next.
A boy named Eutychus sat in the window listening to Paul preach (v9). But the combination of the long-winded man and the smoke from the oil burning lamps was apparently too much. Eutychus "sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked longer." This may be the first recorded instance of a kid dozing off during "big church" (no word on whether the church in Troas instituted children's church after this).
But Eutychus didn't just catch a few winks during Paul's midnight message. "And being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead" (v9). He fell backwards out of the window, falling three floors to his death. For those who doubt that the young man was actually dead, there are a couple of facts here. First, Luke is a doctor. He was present at Eutychus' fall. He most certainly would have known whether the boy was dead or alive. Second, Luke uses the Greek word nekros. This adjective describes a corpse. This kid is dead. Most certainly dead.
Paul rushes down three flights of stairs to check on Eutychus (v10). The original language tells us that the apostle didn't just take the lifeless body of the boy into his arms, but he pulled him very close. At this point, God uses Paul to restore life to the boy. The apostle's comment "his life is in him" is a statement that Eutychus is back from the dead. In other words, he was lifeless just moments ago. Life has returned. We don't often think of the Apostle Paul as a miracle worker, but this is a very important example that God did "extraordinary miracles" through him (Acts 19:11).
With Eutychus healed, Paul went back upstairs (v11). At this point, it appears they celebrated the Lord's Supper and the apostle started preaching again. He preached through the night "until daybreak"! What a night! The Lord's Supper. All night preaching. Raising a boy from the dead. The Midnight Special is a church service like no other.
Yet another example of how God uses ordinary people to do some extraordinary things.
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