AN OVERLOOKED MIRACLE
Acts 20:7-12 NKJV
7 Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. 9 And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him." 11 Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, he departed. 12 And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.
The apostle Paul was an amazing individual. His courage and sense of mission can be seen in this chapter. He is on his way back to Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit has been warning him that trouble and prison are waiting for him. His response was that he was not significantly impacted by the impending trouble. He simply was not caught up with his own preservation.
In our verses for today, Paul is meeting with the disciples in the city of Troas. His plan was to leave town the next day, so this was an important time. I am unsure what the breaking of bread time was, but Paul started his message then and continued until midnight. At the very least, this had to be a five-to-six-hour message. This took a great amount of energy on Paul's part. And as he kept speaking, a disaster occurred.
Eutychus was a young man sitting in a window in the upper room listening to Paul. This young man more than nodded off; he fell into a deep sleep and fell out of the third-story window. A fall from a third story can certainly be dangerous, and Eutychus must have landed on his head or neck because the fall killed him.
I can only imagine the chaos that took place when they found this young man dead. But Paul goes downstairs, falls on the young man, and embraces him. Then he gets up and tells everyone to not be troubled that Eutychus has life in him. Then Paul and the disciples go back upstairs, where Paul continues speaking until daybreak.
What I find amazing is that Paul would continue speaking. That, even though he was leaving that day, he spoke until the sun came up. And what kind of faith did these disciples have that they are still listening? The way this miracle plays out after Paul left, they bring in Eutychus alive and were very comforted. How were they able to concentrate with Eutychus lying downstairs, not moving? Paul's ability to focus is hard to fathom. And Paul's energy to speak all night, deal with a young man dying, and keep going before seeing that Eutychus was alive is very impressive.
Paul had to have heard from the Holy Spirit that Eutychus would be all right. Paul had to trust what he heard in order to go back and continue to speak for hours without seeing any results. The disciples in Troas must have had a great amount of faith in Paul to not shut the meeting down when the young man died. Miracles in the life of Paul and the early church must have been a common occurrence.
God grant us that kind of confidence in Him and His miracle-working power. But I can do without someone dying during the church service!