Acts 20:38 - Printer Friendly

ESV: being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

NIV: What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

NASB: grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.

CSB: grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.

NLT: They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again. Then they escorted him down to the ship.

KJV: Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

NKJV: sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

The elders of the church in Ephesus love Paul. He tore into their city like a tornado. First, he took over the synagogue, passionately teaching about how Jesus of Nazareth has brought the kingdom of God. When he got too much push-back, he moved to a local hall and taught every day, welcoming all the Jews and Gentiles of the province. In his words, they found something even greater than John the Baptist's call for repentance of sins—they found true reconciliation with God, the hope of resurrection, and eternity in His presence (Acts 19:1–10).

In addition to showing the way to ultimate salvation, Paul waged war against the evils and hardships that plagued the city. The Holy Spirit so filled him with power that cloth he had touched healed the sick. Demons fled at his words. He put all other so-called exorcists to shame, and those who had dedicated their lives to magic and witchcraft burned their books and turned to his God (Acts 19:11–20).

Paul healed and rescued so many people from evil that the craftsmen who made shrines of Artemis feared for their income and staged a riot to remind the city of their devotion to their goddess. When a mob found two of Paul's companions and dragged them to the local theater, Paul, himself, tried to push his way in and rescue them. His church wouldn't let him; he was too precious to them (Acts 19:23–34).

Now, Paul has told the elders that he is going to Jerusalem where he will be arrested. None of them know he will spend the next five years imprisoned. They do know they will never see him again (Acts 20:22–25). The thought makes them weep (Acts 20:37), but they submit their wishes to the God who brought Paul into their lives and see him on his way.

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.