Paul spent more time in Ephesus than in any other city where he founded a church. But finally, after nearly three years of ministry, he decided that the church in Ephesus was stable enough for him to move on.

As he was preparing to go, a great conflict suddenly exploded. So many Greeks had been won to Christ that the local culture and economy began to feel profound effects. The city was the site of a great temple to Diana (known as Diana to the Romans, as Artemis to the Greeks). In mythology, Diana was a virgin goddess identified with the moon, but the Diana worshiped in Ephesus was really the same deity that had been the mother goddess of Asia Minor since time immemorial. The principal source of income for the people of Ephesus was the sale of silver shrines to worshipers of the goddess. The term "shrines" suggests something large and imposing, but it actually refers to small handwrought objects showing Diana and her lions standing in a niche of the temple. For many years the manufacture of such shrines had employed a large number of silversmiths.

But after the gospel came to Ephesus and the surrounding region, so many devotees of Diana switched their allegiance to Christ that attendance at the temple fell off sharply. The decline in the cult of Diana also cut deeply into the sale of shrines, and the income derived from their sale dried up. The silversmiths, feeling the pain in losing so much money, decided to take action to preserve their livelihoods. One of them, a certain Demetrius, called together his fellow craftsmen and made a rousing speech protesting Paul's influence. He accused Paul of preaching that any god depicted by an image made with men's hands is no god at all. The result, said Demetrius, was that many people had turned away from paying homage to Diana. Now the silversmiths' means of support was in jeopardy, and the importance that Ephesus enjoyed as the center of Diana's veneration was slipping away. Worst of all, the Hebrew preacher had diminished the glory that rightly belonged to the goddess and her temple. We gain a better sense of Ephesian pride in their temple of Diana when we consider that it ranked as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The men listening to Demetrius became more and more excited as he spoke. His concluding appeal to defend the honor of Ephesus and Diana worked on their emotions with great effect, and stirred them up to great wrath against Paul. They cried out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." They crossed the line from being rational individuals to being an irrational mob in blind submission to their leader.

They hurried away to do mischief. First they carried their anger to the whole city and infected it with confusion. Then they ran to and fro, seeking a target for their wrath. The person they especially wanted to find was Paul, but the best they could do was to catch two of his companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, both from Macedonia. Luke identifies them as men who had traveled with Paul in the past. Several individuals by the name of Gaius appear in the records of Paul's ministry: one was from Derbe in Asia Minor (Acts 20:4), another from Corinth (1 Cor. 1:14; Rom. 16:23). But of this Gaius in Ephesus there is no other mention in the New Testament. Aristarchus, however, is an important figure who worked for a long time beside Paul and eventually became his fellow prisoner in Rome (Col. 4:10).

Having apprehended Gaius and Aristarchus, the mob rushed them into the theater, which was a large amphitheater outside, with space enough to hold virtually the whole population of the city. From the ruins still in existence, we can estimate that it could have held as many as 25,000 people. The silversmiths brought their prisoners to the theater because they intended to subject them to a public trial.

News of the commotion somehow reached Paul. Far from provoking him to flee for his own safety, it aroused in him a great anxiety for the men taken captive, and he hurried to help them. In the company of other believers, he arrived at the theater and heard all the noise. He intended to enter and speak in defense of his friends under arrest and of his own ministry, but his friends outside held him back.

Among those inside the theater were "certain of the chief of Asia," a reference to the local political leaders. These were men that the Romans had chosen from the chief families in the region to uphold Roman interests. Their duties were religious as well as political, for they served as high priests in the cult of the emperor. Luke informs us that some in the highest echelon of local government counted themselves as Paul's friends. Whether they had become followers of Jesus is left an unanswered question. Perhaps they were merely men of nobility who felt more kinship with a man of Paul's learning and bearing than with the superstitious mob. Yet if they were his friends, they could not have been far from Christ.

When these leaders heard that Paul was preparing to come into the assembly, they sent him a message begging him to remain outside for his own safety. No doubt they were also worried that his presence might fan the furor into an uncontrollable riot. Paul, out of respect for authority, complied with their request.

Meanwhile, the scene inside was becoming chaotic. Luke comments wryly that although everyone was shouting, few knew what they were shouting about. Most in the theater did not know why everyone had flocked together.

Finally the Jews found a certain Alexander and put him forward to speak. Nowhere else in this account is there any mention of Alexander, so we are not sure who he was or what his intentions were in speaking. Yet in 2 Timothy, written to Timothy apparently when he was in Ephesus, Paul refers to a certain Alexander the coppersmith who did him much harm (2 Tim. 4:14). It is therefore likely that the Alexander who spoke in the theater was not a believer, but a Jew hostile to Paul. The reason he rose to speak is perhaps revealed by what happened next. When the mob perceived he was a Jew, they let loose a ferocious outcry of support for the great goddess Diana, and for two whole hours the mighty din continued unabated. The mob clearly saw Jews and Christians as equal threats to their religion. Perhaps the Jews sensed the anti-Jewish mood in the theater and called upon Alexander to instruct the crowd that all Jews were not followers of Paul.

Acts 19:35-41
A Calming Influence at Last

Responsibility for bringing the crowd under control fell to the town clerk. Ephesus, like other Greek cities, was ruled by the whole body of citizens, called the Demos, which had the power to enact laws. The town clerk, a local citizen who presided over meetings of the Demos, was the main liaison between the city and higher Roman authority. In the eyes of the Romans, he bore primary responsibility for maintaining order in the city. They would have held him accountable for a meeting of the Demos that failed to qualify as a legal proceeding. The present meeting was illegal both because it was out of control and because it was outside the schedule, which permitted only three meetings each month. The town clerk was therefore very keen on stopping the commotion and sending the people home.

Somehow he managed to make the mob give up their chanting. Then he made a carefully reasoned speech designed to defuse their anger. He started off by arguing that all their chanting in praise of Diana was unnecessary, because no one doubted that the Ephesians loved their goddess. They loved not only her, he said, but also the thing that fell down from Jupiter. He was probably referring to a meteorite that had become an object of veneration. Popular superstition had decided that this rock was a love gift from Jupiter, god of the sky. The town clerk counseled the people that since their loyalty to Diana was beyond question, they had nothing to prove. They did not need to commit rash violence against fellow citizens of a different religious persuasion. These fellow citizens, according to the town clerk, had done nothing to hinder or defame the cult of Diana. They had neither committed sacrilege against her temple ("church robbers" should be translated "temple robbers," meaning committers of sacrilege against the temple) nor blasphemed the goddess herself. So, in the view of the town clerk, there was no justification for all the excitement that nearly caused a riot. He said that if anyone had a legitimate complaint against the Christians, they should take it to court and follow due process, or if the matter fell outside the court's jurisdiction, they should take it before the Demos at a regularly scheduled meeting. But he warned them that the present meeting risked Roman wrath. Implicit in what he said was the threat that if the uproar continued, Rome might take away some of the privileges the city enjoyed, including the right of self-government.

No doubt the town clerk was highly respected, and no doubt he spoke with great authority, for when he then dismissed the crowd, no one protested. They all meekly obeyed. The crowd dispersed and left the Christians alone.

Acts 20:1-6
Another Tour of Macedonia and Greece

With the end of the riot started by Demetrius, peace returned to the church in Ephesus, and Paul was able to implement his plan to leave. He gathered the disciples, gave them his blessing and his embrace, and departed for Macedonia. There he revisited all the churches that he had started on his previous missionary journey and gave them further instruction in the things of God. It was probably also during this time that, according to a reminiscence in the book of Romans (Rom. 15:19), he made his foray into Illyricum (modern Yugoslavia). Thus, his activities summarized in the first part of Acts 20:2 might have stretched over a year.

After touring Macedonia and regions beyond, Paul proceeded into Greece. The account does not say exactly where he went, but tells us only that he remained three months. His earlier letter to the Corinthians reveals that one of his purposes in this journey was to collect contributions for the church in Jerusalem, which was full of needy brethren (1 Cor. 16:1-8).

His work again aroused strong resentment in the Jews who despised Christ, and they plotted to kill Paul, going so far as to prepare an ambush. Becoming aware of his danger, Paul changed his itinerary. Instead of taking a boat bound for the coast of Syria, he turned inland and headed for Macedonia. It has been suggested that he had intended to take one of the pilgrim ships that picked up Jews from Mediterranean ports and carried them to Palestine for the Passover. On such a ship, full of Jews hostile to Paul, he would have been an easy prey.

As he journeyed northward, Paul acquired additional companions. By the time he reached Philippi, at least eight other men had joined him. Seven of these were Sopater of Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius and Timothy of Derbe, and Tychicus and Trophimus from Asia. The eighth is not named, but the appearance of "us" in verse 5 and "we" in verse 6 signals that Luke was another member of the party.

Why had these men joined Paul? Earlier, when Paul instructed the churches to collect funds for the needy in Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:3), he told them to set men apart for the task of delivering the money. The men in Paul's traveling group were doubtless these men. Each was a church delegate carrying money to Jerusalem.

At Philippi, seven of the men separated from Paul and sailed across the Aegean to the port city of Troas in Asia. After the conclusion of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Paul and Luke also left Philippi and went to Troas, reaching it within five days. There the whole company remained seven days before moving on.

Acts 20:7-12
A Life Restored

A body of believers existed at Troas, showing that by now the gospel had spread to every significant city and town in Asia Minor. Paul and his company joined these believers when they gathered on the first day of the week; that is, on Sunday. It was the practice of Christians in all the churches derived from Paul's ministry, and perhaps in other churches as well, to meet on Sunday evenings for a meal followed by a service. The meal was later called a love feast.

During this meal celebrated in every local assembly, the gathered believers broke bread together, just as Jesus and His disciples had done on the night before His death. In reenacting the Lord's Supper, they were obeying the Lord's command. He had told the church that they should never cease to share bread and wine as a memorial of His death. These represented His body and blood, given as a sacrifice for their sins.

We do not know how long the love feast in Troas continued into the evening. But after everyone was done eating and perhaps after others had spoken, Paul took the floor and began to preach. The word for preach is the source of our English word "dialogue." We infer that Paul's presentation was far from a formal sermon. It was rather an informal talk, conversational in style. And in contrast to modern preachers, Paul did not feel bound to stop after forty minutes or so. He went on preaching until midnight. If we surmise that he started at about eight o'clock, he was still going strong four hours later. Perhaps he retold his triumphant missionary tours, or perhaps he gave one of his long discourses on salvation by faith, as we read in the book of Romans. Whatever he spoke about, the congregation as a whole was undoubtedly delighted to have the great apostle as their guest speaker. No doubt they hung on every word.

Yet there was a young man present who failed to pay attention. His name was Eutychus. Perhaps he was like many young people today, who find the book of Romans rather heavy reading. Or maybe midnight was past his bedtime. For whatever reason, he fell asleep. And his place to sleep could not have been more ill-chosen, for the gathering took place in a large third-story room, and he was sitting in the window. No one saw his peril while there was still time to save him. Suddenly, he toppled out of the window and plummeted to the ground perhaps thirty feet below. In horror, many rushed outside to his aid, but it was too late. They found him dead. The wording leaves no doubt that in the professional judgment of Luke, who was a physician, the boy was indeed dead. Shock and dismay swept over the crowd, completely erasing from their thoughts all of Paul's edifying words. A time of joyful fellowship instantly turned into a time of grief. Not only had a believer died, but the believer was a young man. A moment's mistake had erased all the potential of a full life dedicated to God.

Paul himself was deeply moved by the tragedy, and embracing the boy, he urgently pleaded for his life before the throne of God. In so doing, he exercised his privilege as a believer guided by the Spirit of God to do greater works than even Christ had done (John 14:12). God heard his plea and miraculously restored the young man to life. Then Paul, looking around at the anxious onlookers, including the young man's friends and perhaps his family as well, gave them all the glad news that life had returned to his body. But he had not yet regained consciousness. Why God did not grant him immediate recovery, as in most instances of healing, is unclear. Perhaps the Lord was willing for him to sleep, as he desired.

The interruption did not put an end to the meeting. Paul returned to the upper chamber and, after taking an invigorating snack, resumed conversing with the saints. They all knew that he was leaving the next day and that they would never see him again. So, they wanted to glean as much precious truth from him as possible before he departed, even if it meant getting no sleep. As it turned out, no one went to bed. Paul kept talking until the break of day.

Then, although neither he nor the church had taken any sleep, they all remained together to see him off in the morning. Just before he left, they brought Eutychus to him so he could see that the young man was alive and uninjured. Together they rejoiced at his recovery, and no doubt they lifted their voices to God and thanked Him for the miracle.

Acts 20:13-16
Progress toward Jerusalem

The next few verses relate Paul's journey from Troas to his next stop, Ephesus. The many exact details are characteristic of those portions of Acts where we find first-person pronouns; in other words, of those portions speaking of events that the author himself observed firsthand. The reason Luke's eyewitness accounts are always rich in information is that he could rely on his own memory. Although we find no obvious spiritual lessons in the record of Paul's exact movements, the Holy Spirit inspired Luke to include it because it has been invaluable for proving the authenticity of Acts. Modern authorities have established that all the references to places and sailing routes are absolutely correct.

From Troas, Luke and certain companions sailed without Paul to Assos, a short distance away. There they waited for Paul to come by foot. No reason is given for Paul's decision to travel overland, but his desire for souls makes it likely that he wished to preach along the way. At Assos, his friends picked him up, and they all sailed further down the coast of Asia Minor to Mitylene. They went next to Chios, Samos, and Trogyllium in succession, and came finally to Miletus, an important city about thirty miles south of Ephesus. Paul had resolved not to visit the church at Ephesus, lest the delay prevent him from reaching Jerusalem before the feast of Pentecost. Yet he stayed briefly at Miletus so that the Ephesian church leaders might come and bid him farewell.