Acts 20:36 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

NIV: When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed.

NASB: When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

CSB: After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.

NLT: When he had finished speaking, he knelt and prayed with them.

KJV: And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.

NKJV: And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

A few precious hours are all Paul was able to spend in this last visit with the elders of the church in Ephesus. He meets them in Miletus, not trusting that he can visit Ephesus and leave in time to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost (Acts 20:16–17).

They have much to pray for. Paul lived in Ephesus for three years, establishing the church and spreading the news about how Jesus brings the kingdom of God (Acts 19:8–10; 20:31). Ephesus is filled with demonic activity and witchcraft (Acts 19:19). The temple of Artemis—not the Greek goddess of hunting but a re-named regional fertility goddess—is the landmark of the city. Right before Paul left, craftsmen who earn a living making idols and shrines started a riot in protest of his ministry (Acts 19:21–41). Although Jesus' message of reconciliation with God has spread all over the province (Acts 19:10), the city and the church need God's protection as much as ever.

The elders also need the Holy Spirit's help to take Paul's example in leading the people. He boldly taught the gospel while showing humility to others. He incorporated Jews and Gentiles into the single body of the church. He did not demand the rightful monetary compensation for his teaching, choosing instead to work when he wasn't preaching so that his team's needs wouldn't be a distraction for the new believers (Acts 20:18–21, 32–35).

Paul has warned the elders that false teachers will arise from their own congregation; he speaks from experience. In Galatia, legalistic Jewish Christians tried to convince the Gentiles they need to covert to Judaism in order to worship the Jewish God (Galatians 6:12–13). In Corinth, Christians were drawn into sects, immoral sex, and idolatry (1 Corinthians 1:10–17; 6:13–20; 7:4–13; 10:1–33). Decades later, Jesus commends the Ephesian church for rejecting false teaching (Revelation 2:2–3).

The elders know that Paul also needs prayer to face the years ahead. He has told them that when he reaches Jerusalem he will be imprisoned. He doesn't yet know he will spend two years under house arrest in Caesarea Maritima on the Judean coast, take a dangerous sea voyage that ends in a shipwreck, and live another two years under house arrest in Rome. Fortunately, he will be able to write to the Ephesian church. Unfortunately, he will not see them again (Acts 20:22–25).

Finally, they have much to be thankful for—that Jesus has saved them (Ephesians 1). To Paul, nothing else compares (Acts 20:24).

Acts 20:36–38 records the end of Paul's missionary journeys as recorded in the book of Acts. He is already on his way to Judea but stopped at Miletus to speak with the elders of the church in Ephesus. He has told them he will soon be imprisoned and that they will not see him again (Acts 20:22–25). Shortly after he reaches Jerusalem, Paul will be wrongly arrested and held in custody for two years before taking a dangerous sea voyage and spending another two years under house arrest in Rome, with likely another year traveling in between.

Acts 20 finishes Paul's third missionary journey. He leaves Ephesus after three years and travels to Macedonia and Corinth. Threats from the Corinthian Jews send him and his team back to Macedonia and Troas. In Troas, Paul gives a very long sermon and raises Eutychus from the dead after he falls—both asleep and out a window. In Miletus, Paul meets with the Ephesian elders. He reminds them to beware of false teachers and tells them he is going to be imprisoned and will not see them again. After a tearful farewell, he boards a ship for Judea.

Acts 20 records the last stages of Paul's third missionary journey. He started by visiting the churches he and Barnabas had planted in central modern-day Turkey (Acts 18:23). From there, he traveled southwest to the province of Asia, where he established a church in Ephesus (Acts 19). In Acts 20, he visits the churches in Macedonia and Greece before returning to Judea. When he lands, he meets briefly with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea Maritima before going to Jerusalem and getting arrested. He will stay in house arrest for the next two years before embarking on a dangerous sea voyage to Rome (Acts 21—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.