But after the tumult had ceased, Paul having called the disciples to [him] and embraced [them], went away to go to Macedonia.
The uproar was not simply crowd trouble that fizzled out. One writer sees Satan behind the riot, and the same hand that once calmed the sea calming this storm too:
Satan was defeated. Then, after a pause — in which we read of Paul's "purpose in the spirit" to visit Jerusalem and Rome — he stirred up a public riot against the new teaching through Demetrius the silversmith. But He who had once stilled the storm on the lake of Galilee quieted these angry waves too. He rescued His servants and His people from the danger. The apostle's work, however, in Ephesus was now ended.
Paul does not slip away. He sends for the believers, encourages them, and says goodbye. One commentator sees the sharpest contrast between that time and ours right here — in the care given to converts after they believe:
In this passage, as in many others of Scripture, we see living proof of the ties that joined believers together. They worked so well in apostolic times, keeping the saints in unity, fellowship, and love. There was no lack of missionary zeal. But besides that, the Spirit of God worked much in the exhortation and encouragement of the saints. This is how the body of Christ was built up. It is in this care that we see the clearest contrast between modern times and the earliest days. If converts are guarded from turning aside, that is generally the most that is now attempted.
The same care also went out in writing:
A new and distinctive form of Christian teaching was now in full use: the letters the apostles wrote. No form of writing allows greater openness and closeness. None gives such scope to the affections of the heart. It was from Ephesus that the apostle wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians.
Paul's own letters fill in a journey Acts compresses into one line. He stopped at Troas, found an open door there, and could not stay:
From these verses we gather that Paul made a short stay at Troas on his way to Macedonia. But he was anxious to meet Titus and hear news of the Corinthian saints. So he left for Macedonia, despite the open door for service there. Once in Macedonia he was still in great distress and trouble. Yet there Titus did appear, and Paul was comforted. So after the trouble in Ephesus, more trouble followed at Troas and in Macedonia. Acts, however, says nothing about this whole side of things.
The same writer notes what changed and what did not. The danger outside stopped; the pressure inside did not:
He moved into an outward calm, but found himself plunged into conflict of an inward sort... From the outward dangers of Ephesus he had plunged into inward distress of spirit. It left him unfit for service in the gospel there. This inward distress was as decisive in its effects as the outward. The one sent him off in haste from Ephesus; the other in haste from Troas.
Why is the account here so short? One writer takes up an explanation others have given, and fills in what the visit involved:
The record before us is very brief. Some have thought the reason is that the Apostle had turned aside from His given ministry, so the Holy Spirit had nothing to report. We believe that this is correct... Paul's parting at Ephesus is the first farewell scene on this memorable journey. He must have visited Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and perhaps other cities. Besides giving them much exhortation, he received their fellowship for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
Others read the brevity simply as Luke moving the story forward, and stress what Paul left behind and what he still gave:
Finally Paul follows Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia, leaving a field of labour that had been most fruitful. How long he spent in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea we are not told, but he gave them much exhortation.
- Quieted — God stilled the riot, as He once stilled the sea. The same act rescued Paul and closed his work in Ephesus.
- Gathered — before leaving, he sent for the disciples. In those days zeal did more than win converts. It built the saints up in unity, fellowship, and love.
- Written — the same care went on by letter. Paul wrote 1 Corinthians from Ephesus. No writing gives more openness, or more scope to the heart.
- Hidden — Acts says nothing of Troas. His own letters show he left an open door there. Inward distress drove him on as hard as outward danger had.
- Debated — why so short a record? Some have thought the Apostle had turned aside from His given ministry, so the Spirit had nothing to report. Even so, he gave much exhortation and received their gift for the poor saints in Jerusalem.
And having passed through those parts, and having exhorted them with much discourse, he came to Greece.
Luke gives nearly a year of Paul's life a single line. Paul walks back through Macedonia, strengthens the believers there, and arrives in Greece. Behind it lie months of travel, letters we still read today, and deep strain of heart.
"Those regions" and "Greece" are not vague names. They cover towns where Paul had already preached, and he had already written letters to some of them.
We are not told how long he spent in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea, but he gave them much encouragement. This of course took place well after his second letter to the Thessalonians. Luke was clearly there too, and joined Paul's party when he left. We are not told which places he may have visited in Greece (or Achaia): we know only of an assembly at Corinth. This visit also came after his second letter to the Corinthians.
Luke's record here is very short. Paul's own letters fill in what he leaves out.
The historian is very brief in his record of what Paul did at this time. He packs all his information into these words: "He said farewell and departed for Macedonia. When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months." Most take these few words to cover a period of nine or ten months. Happily, the apostle's letters supply what is missing. The letters written on this journey give us many historical details. Better still, they give us from his own pen a living picture of the deep and painful struggles of mind and heart he was going through at the time.
Paul went back to people who already believed. One writer sees in that care the clearest difference between those early days and our own.
This passage, like many others in Scripture, shows us the joints and ligaments that held the saints together so well in the days of the apostles, keeping them in unity, fellowship, and love. There was no lack of missionary zeal. But the Spirit of God also worked much in the exhortation and encouragement of the saints. This is how the body of Christ was built up. Here is where we see the clearest contrast between our own times and those earliest days. Keeping converts from turning aside is usually the most that anyone attempts now. Zeal usually goes out towards the conversion of sinners... Growth in the truth is rare, and almost unknown even among the teachers, let alone the converts.
The care shown in these visits was not only spoken.
In these early days we see the opposite: the greatest care and zeal in going back to visit those who had already been brought to God and gathered to the name of Jesus. And it was not only by spoken teaching. A new and distinctive kind of Christian teaching, which took shape in the letters of the apostles, was now fully at work. No form of writing allows greater openness and closeness; none gives such room for the affections of the heart.
Paul encouraged others while he waited for news from Corinth. His fellow worker Titus carried that news, and Paul's own words show the strain.
At last the long-awaited Titus arrived in Macedonia, probably at Philippi. Now Paul's mind is at rest and his heart is comforted. Titus brings him better news from Corinth than he had expected to hear... "For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn — fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus."
Those three months in Greece produced one of the great letters of the New Testament. They also show God overruling a plan Paul had held for years.
It was during the three months spent there that he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. He had long wanted to visit Rome in person, but so far he could not. Urgent duties kept him elsewhere, and God purposed that His servant should enter Rome only as a prisoner. This is not how even the apostle would have arranged things, and still less the saints. It is good, however, to learn and accept God's profound wisdom in all these dealings of His.
- Silence — One sentence covers about nine or ten months. What Luke leaves out, Paul's own letters supply.
- Strengthening — Paul went back to believers he had already won. Building them up is how the body of Christ was built.
- Writing — The visits were not only spoken. The letters of the apostles were now fully at work, with an openness and closeness no other writing allows.
- Suffering — He encouraged others while he had no rest himself. There was conflict outside and fear inside, until God comforted him by sending Titus.
- Sovereignty — Those three months in Greece produced the letter to the Romans. God also kept His servant from reaching Rome except as a prisoner.
And having spent three months [there], a treacherous plot against him having been set on foot by the Jews, as he was going to sail to Syria, [the] resolution was adopted of returning through Macedonia.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And there accompanied him as far as Asia, Sopater [son] of Pyrrhus, a Berean; and of Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius and Timotheus of Derbe, and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
A plot against Paul has just changed his travel plans. Why does Scripture record seven men, their home towns, and even a father's name — and what does the list show about how God's work moved forward?
The list belongs to a journey Paul had not originally planned. He meant to sail for Syria, but the danger made him double back overland through Macedonia.
Yet complete good sense marks Paul's action. The Jews plotted against him as he was about to sail to Syria. He avoided it by deciding to return through Macedonia instead of straight from Achaia. The Jews had enormous influence in that great trading centre, Corinth. Humanly speaking, he could easily have met injury or death as a passenger on one of the many ships of that day.
Luke does not lump them together. He names each one with the city or region he came from, and the group then travelled ahead of Paul.
He returned by land to Philippi, with his companions Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, as Luke most likely wrote... They separated on the road, though where is not stated. His companions went ahead to Troas to wait for him, while Paul stayed a little at Philippi with Luke.
Commentators differ over whose home town Derbe was.
It is not important, but in verse 4 we should read, "Gaius and Timothy of Derbe."
Paul was carrying a gift to Jerusalem. Commentators link this travelling party with that collection.
His mind was set on going to Rome. But first he had this mission of charity on his heart... "For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem." (Romans 15:26) The names listed in Acts 20:4 are thought to be believers carrying the collections made in the different places named.
Paul would not handle such money alone. The churches themselves chose the men who carried it.
In 2 Corinthians 8:18-19 we see the same thing. The churches chose a brother to travel with Paul and Titus. This kept things honest not only before the Lord but also before men. That is what the phrase "messengers of churches" means. The churches that sent help to the poor believers elsewhere chose these men. The apostle would not take charge of the collection otherwise.
The verse shows a whole company of servants moving with Paul rather than settled in one town.
Here we find no fewer than seven companions in service, who were in no way limited to one fixed local area. The elders laboured and took the lead in their own places. Many others besides the apostles moved about with perfect liberty. They sought the blessing of the faithful and the spread of the gospel.
They were free men. Yet Paul sent them where he could not go himself.
It is worth noticing how the gospel Paul preached stirred these hearts. All were free. Some, such as Apollos, laboured on their own. The others were companions of the great central figure... Paul kept them busy and sent them to carry on and complete the work in places he would himself have visited, if he had not been obliged to go elsewhere.
The very next verse changes pronoun, and the change tells us something about the man holding the pen.
In verse 5 we learn of another devoted personal companion: Luke, who wrote this very book by inspiration. "These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas." This honoured man quietly hints that he too was with the apostle at this time and at Philippi.
Aristarchus appears again years later, on a voyage where Paul travelled as a prisoner.
Luke is with the apostle on his voyage, and Aristarchus also. He has appeared before us from time to time in this book as the companion of the apostle. See Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4; and he is named afterwards in Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24. Neither appears to have been a prisoner at this time. Both became sharers with the one who was so treated. Love led them to join him in the face of shame and danger.
These weeks on the road left their mark on Gaius.
He was with him at the breaking of bread at Troas. He heard the all-night talk there, and the warnings and instructions given to others afterwards. Gaius knew the apostle's teaching, conduct, purpose, pleadings, tears, hopes and fears. He held fast to the truth. He was still walking in it long afterwards, when John wrote to him.
- Plot — a plot sent Paul back through Macedonia; the list of companions is the fruit of a route he did not choose.
- Company — seven men from Berea, Thessalonica, Derbe and Asia went with him. Each is named with his home town.
- Gift — they are linked with the collection for the poor believers in Jerusalem. The churches chose the carriers, keeping the money honest before men as well as before the Lord.
- Freedom — no one tied them to a single town. Some worked with Paul; others, like Apollos, worked on their own.
- Endurance — Aristarchus later shared Paul's shame and danger. Gaius still walked in the truth years later. A travel list becomes a record of lasting faithfulness.
These going before waited for us in Troas;
Seven named men go on ahead to Troas, and the writer of Acts rejoins the story with one word: "us." Why did the party split? Why Troas? And why does Luke never name himself?
The previous verse named these seven. One writer sees in them how the work spread — through many travelling servants, not one leader.
It was not just that the apostle laboured in all directions. Here we find no fewer than seven companions in service, who were in no way tied to one fixed local sphere. The elders laboured and took the lead locally. Many others besides the apostles moved about with perfect liberty. They sought the blessing of the faithful and the spread of the gospel. Among these labourers we can see at least two classes. A few attached themselves as much as possible to Paul's company, and we have a sample of them before us. But others, like Apollos, worked in a more independent way. They spent less time with him, though they had his entire love and confidence.
One commentator reads their scattered origins as evidence of what the gospel does:
Seven names of those accompanying him are listed in this case, from four different areas. This is a lovely testimony to the unity the Gospel of Christ brings about among people of different backgrounds and cultures.
The seven were not only travelling companions. One account explains their errand and Paul's roundabout route:
The list of names in Acts 20:4 — Sopater, Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Tychicus, and Trophimus — are thought to be brothers carrying the collections made at the different places named. Instead of sailing straight to Syria, he goes round by Macedonia, because of the Jews who were lying in wait for him. At Troas he spent a Lord's day, and even a whole week, to see the brothers.
With the word "us," the narrator puts himself into the scene without announcing himself.
In verse 5 we learn of another deeply attached personal companion, Luke, the inspired writer of this very Book. "These went on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas." This honoured man quietly shows that he too was with the apostle at this time and at Philippi. It will be remembered that it was in these regions that Luke had first become the companion of Paul.
Commentators differ. One takes it that Paul went ahead with the seven, and that Luke stayed on at Philippi for the feast days:
These seven and Paul left Philippi before Luke and whoever was with him. No doubt Luke, who had already spent some time at Philippi, wanted a longer visit there, taking in "the days of unleavened bread," that is, the week following the Passover.
Kelly reads it the other way. He will not guess further, and he is sharp about one popular theory:
Why the party did not move together, why the others went before, and Paul and Luke waited till after the feast, we can only guess. But we see the special association of Luke with the apostle, and we utterly reject the empty explanation Wieseler suggests, that Luke travelled with him as his physician.
This "us" is the only trace Luke leaves of himself anywhere in two long books.
The Gospel of Luke and its sequel, the Acts of the Apostles, are unique in this. They are books of important historical events, and the writer took part in many of them. Yet he never once mentions himself as having done or witnessed anything at all. He does not even mention his own name or existence. The only way he lets us hear of his presence is where he sometimes changes the pronoun from "they" to "we."
And it is not a small role he is covering over:
Through it all he certainly filled no unimportant place — more so, one would say, than others who are named. Yet he keeps to the reserve that marks him all along the way. There is no trace of self-consciousness about him; and how beautiful this is in the inspired historian of such a book as this! What an example for us! Sadly, we are so quick to give all our own doings at least their due value.
The delay was not empty time. Believers already gathered at Troas:
Leaving Philippi, in five days they come to Troas, and there stay seven days. Everywhere assemblies had been formed… We do not know how the gathering at Troas began; but there was one, and we are allowed to look into it a little — not at its discipline or gifts, as in Corinthians, but at its ordinary walk.
- Sent. Seven men from four areas travelled with Paul, tied to no one place, while elders led at home.
- Trusted. They are thought to be carrying the collections made in the places they came from.
- Waiting. Troas already had an assembly, so the delay became a Lord's day and a whole week among believers.
- Rejoining. The word "us" puts the writer back with the party; commentators differ over who waited at Philippi for the feast days.
- Hidden. Luke names everyone but himself — the model of a servant who fills a large place and leaves no trace of self in the record.