The Way
Eutychus Falls from the Window
A long night in a lamplit upper room
Story
After the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Paul and his companions sailed from Philippi and reached Troas five days later, where they stayed seven days. On the first day of the week, the believers gathered to break bread and share the Lord's Supper. Paul meant to leave the next day, so he kept on talking, and he went on until midnight. Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where they met.
A young man named Eutychus was sitting in a window, and he grew very sleepy. As Paul talked on and on, he fell sound asleep and dropped from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, put his arms around him, and said, “Do not be alarmed. He is alive.”
Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. He talked with them for a long time, until daylight, and then he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
Walk this scene on the map →Words of the Lord and of Paul
On the first day of the week, when we gathered to break bread, Paul spoke to the people because he meant to leave the next day, and he kept talking until midnight.
Do not be alarmed. He is alive.
The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
The sayings are fresh renderings of the original meaning in today's language. Text: Acts 20:6–12
Background
The word “we,” which disappeared after the Philippi story, appears again in Acts 20. This is taken as a sign that Luke, the writer of the book, walked with Paul again from Philippi. The name Eutychus means “lucky.”
Pause and Reflect
Do I treasure the time spent sharing God's word with other believers?