Paul’S Farewell Speech To The Ephesian Elders
PAUL’S FAREWELL SPEECH TO THE EPHESIAN ELDERS
ACTS 20:17-27
Read through these verses slowly, and think of the way Paul had given everything he had to them.
Opportunity to make contact with the Ephesian churches was not altogether lost; and if Paul couldn’t come to them, they or their leaders would travel to meet him at Miletus. Ministers and church leaders should find special relevance and challenge in these words. This passage covers the first half of Paul’s address, the only example of its kind in Acts as a speech delivered by him to a Christian community. “Almost certainly Luke heard it himself, and may even have taken shorthand notes” (F.F. Bruce). Certainly it carries all the marks of a Pauline composition.
20:18-21 are mainly in the past, and relate Paul’s type of ministry in Asia. This would be well known to his hearers, who, as “elders” (20:17) or “overseers” (20:28) would have special reason to be grateful for his “all-round” (20:20-21), if personally costly (20:19), ministry. “The plots of the Jews” (20:19) remind us of some far more serious danger to his life than Luke has recorded, as we observed earlier.
20:22-27 are in the form of an announcement of what the future holds. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem, fully alive to the perils which beset him (20:22-23). In fact, he does not anticipate a return to Ephesus (20:25). His life is forfeit, yet expendable if only the divine purpose for which he was called and chosen may be realized (20:24). What was that purpose (9:15; 26:16-18,22)? Was it achieved (2 Timothy 4:6-8)?
Notes 20:17: the “elders” are apparently to be equated with “guardians” (Gk. episkopoi, KJV “overseers,” 20:28), although the former may be the name of an office, the latter a function. 20:19: cf. 1 Corinthians 15:32; 2 Corinthians 1:8-10; 11:23. 20:20: relevant to the pastoral office: “in public,” and privately in the people’s homes. Equally the two themes (20:21) still need strong emphasis. 20:22: “under the constraint of the (Holy) Spirit.” 20:23: by inward monition or through the guidance of prophets like Agabus (21:11). 20:24-25: testifying to the gospel and preaching the kingdom—are one and the same activity. 20:26: like Ezekiel’s watchman (Ezekiel 33:1-6).
Meditation Consider Paul’s sincere sense of duty toward his ministerial tasks.