And having said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.
Paul has just finished his farewell speech to the church leaders at Ephesus, and now he kneels with them before boarding the ship. Commentators find a lot in that small act: how a servant ends his work, what posture says in prayer, and why he prayed with them.
One writer notices where this scene sits in the story. Paul's missionary travels end here, and they end the way they began.
And lastly, having spoken to men, he turns to God: he knelt down and prayed with them all. So the curtain drops on the scene, for the record of his active missionary work closes here. It ends as it began. "Behold, he is praying." (See Acts 9:11.)
The same writer notes that Paul knew he was leaving, and left them with something that would not leave.
In all this he had to remember that he was only a servant, and that he was passing off the scene. He could not continue. So we find him commending these Ephesian elders "to God and to the word of His grace." The most faithful, the most tireless servant must go, but God and His word remain.
One writer weighs the small word "with", and finds in it evidence about the elders themselves.
Notice, he prayed with, not for, them all. A lovely picture of dependence on God, and so a fine evidence of beginners who dug deep! Those who know how to kneel before God in complete dependence on Him, and who search His word every day — they are the ones who dig deep. They give proof of building on the rock. And no one advances in the things of God who fails in these two spiritual exercises.
One writer ties the act to God's own supremacy, and points to others in Scripture who knelt before Him.
Kneeling in prayer is a physical act. It shows a recognition of the supremacy and greatness of the eternal God. Have you ever felt compelled to bow the knee? I do not mean forced by power, but moved because you feel it is the right thing to do... And we have good examples. Best of all is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as we see Him kneeling in the garden of Gethsemane... Paul (Acts 20:36), Solomon (2 Chron. 6:13), Ezra (Ezra 9:5) and many others bowed their knees in the presence of God or of Christ.
But an example is not a law. Another writer was asked whether kneeling is a duty, and refused to make it one:
We find the apostle Paul kneeling with the elders of Ephesus (Acts 20:36). Kneeling is in every way a fitting posture. But when people call it "an imperative duty," we regard that as an unwarranted assumption... let them kneel, or sit, or stand, as they feel led; but let them not try to force their attitudes as an imperative rule on other people.
Paul knelt among the believers, not above them. One writer uses this to draw a line between the standing all believers share before God and the ministry given to some.
The disciples needed his instruction and guidance, and were to know that he had authority. But they were able to worship just as well when the apostle was away as when he was present. He might have led their worship, or he might have followed others in it. His office was lost, so to speak, when they stood together as worshippers before the Great High Priest. He might have prayed with the disciples (as in Acts 20:36), or they with him (as in Acts 21:5). It is very important to distinguish clearly between the standing all believers share as priests to God, and the different kinds of ministry.
One writer will not let the story end with the speech. The parting itself, he says, shows what Paul's faith produced in him.
Yet the account is not complete without the parting scene. It proves that faith in what is unseen does not hinder the love that comes from God, but produces it, in this world of sorrow and selfishness... Such was the bearing of the greatest of apostles... How far short are any of us! As truth and love faded, hierarchy in every form built itself a throne. It stood as far from the mind of Christ as earth is from heaven. But let us beware that our own love does not grow cold while wickedness abounds.
- Ends as it began. Paul's missionary work opens with "behold, he is praying" and closes with him on his knees. Prayer frames the whole service.
- From men to God. He had said all he could say to them. So he stopped speaking and prayed — the fitting close of a message.
- With, not for. He knelt among them, not above them — dependence shared, not performed.
- Posture, not policy. Kneeling shows dependence, and it follows the Lord's own example. Even so, commentators refuse to make it a rule for others.
- Love, not cold. Faith in what is unseen did not dry Paul up. It brought him to his knees with them — and it is our love that must not grow cold.
And they all wept sore; and falling upon the neck of Paul they ardently kissed him,
Paul has finished his last words to the elders of Ephesus, and has knelt and prayed with them. The chapter ends not with teaching but with tears on a beach at Miletus, and commentators ask what those tears show and what became of the men who wept.
One writer treats these tears as proof of where such love comes from — and adds a warning.
The account is not complete without the parting scene. It proves that faith in the unseen does not hinder the love which is of God, but imparts it, in this world of sorrow and selfishness… But let us beware that our love does not grow cold while lawlessness abounds.
One writer stops on the word used for their kiss.
His words to men over, he went to his knees in prayer with them all, amid their tears. It must have been a moving scene. The word used for "kissed" means to kiss ardently. It is the word used for the kisses the father gave his returning son in Luke 15.
Another writer sees love moving both ways here.
Now he knelt down and prayed with the elders. His heart went out for them. Their feelings went out towards him. They kissed him, weeping bitterly and falling on his neck, distressed that they would see him no more.
The verse says they all wept. One writer asks what the tears were actually for.
Their deepest sorrow, however, was not the coming danger that threatened the flock of God. It was that he had told them they would not see his face again on earth. Too often we think more of the Lord's servant than we do of his message.
The writer who noted the ardent kiss finds a weakness in the same detail:
Yet perhaps we detect a weakness here. They sorrowed most of all because they could not hope to see him again. Might they not have sorrowed even more that wolves would ravage God's fair church, and that men who twist the truth would damage it?
Commentators differ here: one reads the tears as love proved, another sees a weak spot in them.
The later record of these same men is sobering. One writer follows them to the end of Paul's life.
You remember they all wept bitterly, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him. But now Paul was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon. They were ashamed of him, and it was dangerous to be known as one of his friends. So all in Asia forsook him, and that included those elders at Ephesus. This does not mean they turned away from Christ. Later the apostle John writes a letter to the assembly at Ephesus with much good to say of them. But they were a fallen assembly, outwardly so fair, because they had left their first love (Revelation 2:4). I think that fall began when they turned away from Paul.
Against that, one writer offers a hopeful reading of what was left behind.
God has caused the address they received to be recorded in His word. So we may be sure they kept it in their hearts as well. And from the later state of the assembly at Ephesus, as seen in Paul's letter, we may perhaps conclude that it shaped their lives and governed their conduct in shepherding the flock and caring for the church of God.
And the reach of those words did not stop at Miletus:
Across a distance of eighteen centuries, those words still come with undimmed freshness and power to the hearts and consciences of God's flock and its pastors and teachers. The same Spirit who gave them to the apostle, and has recorded them for us, carries them there — despite all the storms in the church and the winds of doctrine that have raged and blown since then.
- Love proved. The weeping is not weakness of faith. The parting scene shows that faith in the unseen imparts the love which is of God.
- Love expressed. The word for their kiss is the ardent one used of the father's welcome to his returning son. Paul's heart went out to them in prayer, theirs to him in tears.
- Love misaimed. Their sharpest grief was never seeing his face again, not the wolves he had warned of. Too often we think more of the Lord's servant than of his message.
- Love tested. Real tears are not yet faithfulness. When Paul was a prisoner in Rome, all in Asia turned away from him, these elders included, and Ephesus lost its first love.
- Love outlasted. What remained was not the man but the word. God recorded it, it shaped the flock at Ephesus, and it still reaches shepherds and teachers centuries later.
specially pained by the word which he had said, that they would no more see his face. And they went down with him to the ship.
Paul's last words to the elders of the church at Ephesus are over, and the scene ends in tears rather than instruction. Their sharpest pain came from one thing he had told them: this was the last sight of him they would ever have.
The chapter could have ended with Paul's warnings and his charge to watch. The tears belong to the record too, and one writer says they settle a question about faith and love.
Yet the account is not complete without the parting scene. It proves that faith in the unseen does not hinder the love that is of God. Faith imparts that love, in this world of sorrow and selfishness. Such was the bearing of the greatest of apostles. … But let us beware that our love does not grow cold while wickedness abounds.
The word used here for their kiss is not the ordinary one. One writer points out where else it appears.
The word used for "kissed" means to kiss warmly. It is the same word used for the kisses the father gave his returning son in Luke 15. It must have been a moving scene.
One writer sets this scene beside the Lord's own farewell to His disciples. He finds something human here that the other scene could not hold — then turns it on us.
Let me ask further: is there not an expression of humanity in this closing scene? We could not get it in the similar scene between the Lord and His apostles. … This is precious to the heart. We long to have more of it, and to see more of it. We are narrow and cold. The heart has little capacity to let itself out in this way.
The record is exact about the cause of their deepest grief. It was not the danger coming to the church; it was the loss of Paul himself. One writer will not let that pass without comment.
Their deepest sorrow, however, was not for the coming danger that threatened the flock of God. It was because he had told them they would not see his face again on earth. Too often we think more of the Lord's servant than we do of his message.
Paul had already named what he was leaving them with. One writer rests the whole farewell on those few words.
"I commend you to God and to the word of His grace." That will do. Let me turn to Him. There is no one else fit to be trusted. There is no one else needed. He is enough for the darkest and hardest day that has ever come, or that is yet to come. He was enough for Paul, He was enough for those elders of Ephesus, He is enough for reader and writer.
Commentators differ on what became of these men. One draws hope from the fact that their charge was written down at all.
With such holy emotions in their hearts they went with the apostle to the ship, and there they parted for ever. But God has put the address they received into His word. So we may be sure they kept it in their hearts too.
Another traces a sadder line, from these tears to a later letter written from a Roman prison.
But now Paul was a prisoner in a Roman dungeon. They were ashamed of him, and it was dangerous to be his friend. So everyone in Asia deserted him, and that included those elders at Ephesus. This does not mean they turned away from Christ… but they were a fallen assembly, however fine they looked from outside, for they had left their first love. I think that fall began when they turned away from Paul.
- The tears. Love like this is what faith in the unseen produces, not what it kills off — and cold hearts should feel the rebuke.
- The kiss. The word here is the strong one used of a father welcoming his returning son: deep feeling, not formality.
- The grief. They wept hardest over a face they would not see again, not over the danger coming to the flock — a warning against valuing the servant above his message.
- The resource. God and the word of His grace remained when the face was gone; that was enough for Paul, enough for Ephesus, and enough now.
- The sequel. Commentators differ on what followed: one writer sees the charge kept in their hearts, another sees an assembly that lost its first love.