Hechos 20

VBL · Chapter 20/28

1Una vez se disipó el alboroto, Pablo llamó a los creyentes a una reunión y los animó. Entonces se despidió de ellos y partió hacia Macedonia.

2Y anduvo por toda la región, compartiendo muchas palabras de ánimo con los creyentes que estaban allí, y entonces continuó su viaje hasta Grecia.

3Después de haber estado tres meses allí, y cuando estaba a punto de embarcarse rumbo a Siria, se supo que los judíos estaban organizando un complot contra él. Así que decidió regresar por Macedonia.

4Y estas fueron las personas que viajaron con él: Sópater de Berea, hijo de Pirro, Aristarco y Segundo de Tesalónica, Gayo de Derbe, Timoteo, Tíquico y Trófimo de la provincia de Asia.

5Ellos se fueron primero y nos esperaron en Troas.

6Después de la Fiesta de los Panes sin Levadura, nos embarcamos rumbo a Filipo, y nos encontramos con ellos cinco días después en Troas, donde permanecimos una semana.

7Pablo estaba predicando el primer día de la semana y estábamos reunidos para partir el pan. Él estaba planeando partir en la mañana, y siguió predicando hasta la media noche.

8(La habitación de arriba, donde estábamos reunidos, estaba iluminada por muchas lámparas).

9Y un joven llamado Eutico estaba sentado en la ventana y comenzó a sentir mucho sueño. Mientras Pablo seguía predicando este joven se durmió profundamente y se cayó del tercer piso. Cuando lo recogieron se dieron cuenta de que estaba muerto.

10Entonces Pablo descendió, extendió sus manos hacia él y lo abrazó. “No se preocupen, está vivo”, dijo.

11Entonces volvió a subir, partió pan y comió con ellos. Y siguió hablando con todos hasta que llegó la mañana y entonces se marchó.

12Luego se llevaron al joven a casa, vivo y sano, y estaban muy agradecidos por ello.

13Entonces continuamos nuestro camino hasta la embarcación y partimos hacia Asón. Allí debíamos recoger a Pablo, pues ese fue su plan al elegir viajar a pie.

14En efecto, nos encontramos con él en Asón. Lo recogimos allí y nos fuimos hacia Mitilene.

15Partimos de allí y llegamos a Quios, y al día siguiente nos detuvimos por un rato en Samos, y al día siguiente llegamos a Mileto.

16Pablo había planeado seguir directo hasta Éfeso para no demorarse en la provincia de Asia. Tenía prisa de llegar a Jerusalén para estar a tiempo para el Día del Pentecostés.

17Desde Mileto, Pablo envió un mensaje a los ancianos de la iglesia de Éfeso.

18Y cuando llegaron, les dijo: “Ustedes saben cómo me he comportado siempre con ustedes desde el primer día que llegué a la provincia de Asia.

19Serví al Señor con humildad y lágrimas. Enfrenté los problemas y el estrés que me causaban los complots de los judíos.

20Sin embargo nunca me negué a compartir con ustedes todo cuanto pudiera beneficiarlos, y les enseñé en público, yendo de casa en casa.

21Fui testigo tanto para judíos como para griegos de que era necesario arrepentirse y volverse a Dios, y creer en nuestro Señor Jesucristo.

22Ahora el Espíritu insiste en que vaya a Jerusalén, y no sé qué me sucederá allí.

23Lo único que sé es que en cada ciudad que visito, el Espíritu Santo me advierte que me espera prisión y sufrimiento.

24Pero considero que mi vida no tiene ya valor para mí mismo. Solo quiero terminar mi misión y el ministerio que el Señor Jesús me dio de ser testigo de la buena noticia de la gracia de Dios.

25“Ahora estoy seguro de que ustedes no volverán a ver mi rostro, ustedes entre los cuales compartí la noticia del reino.

26Así que hoy les declaro que no soy responsable de que alguno se pierda.

27No dudé en enseñarles todo lo que Dios desea que ustedes sepan.

28Cuídense ustedes mismos y cuiden el rebaño, el cual les ha sido encomendado por el Espíritu Santo para que cuiden de él. Alimenten la iglesia del Señor, la cual ha comprado con su propia sangre.

29Yo sé que después de marcharme vendrán lobos rapaces entre ustedes, y querrán destruir el rebaño.

30Dentro del grupo de ustedes se levantarán hombres queriendo pervertir lo recto para lograr que los creyentes los sigan a ellos.

31¡Así que estén atentos! No olviden que durante tres años los instruí de día y de noche, a menudo con lágrimas.

32Ahora los encomiendo al cuidado de Dios y al mensaje de su gracia, el cual puede edificarlos y darles la heredad que pertenece a los que son santificados.

33Nunca quise la plata, ni el oro, ni la ropa de nadie.

34Saben que trabajé con mis propias manos para sustentar mis propias necesidades, así como las de aquellos que estaban conmigo.

35Les he dado ejemplo en todo: trabajen para ayudar a los débiles, recordando las palabras del Señor Jesús: ‘Más bendición hay en dar que en recibir’”.

36Y cuando terminó de hablar, se arrodilló y oró con todos ellos.

37Entonces todos lloraron mientras lo abrazaban y lo besaban.

38Lo que más los atribulaba era lo que él había dicho acerca de no volverlo a ver... Entonces descendieron hasta la embarcación con él.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

In Troas, Paul raises the young man Eutychus back to life after he fell from a window while dozing off during Paul's lengthy sermon. Later, in Miletus, he tearfully bids farewell to the elders of Ephesus, warning of future dangers for the church.

Explanation

The Eutychus episode has a human touch and even a hint of humor: the young man falls asleep during a long sermon and falls from a third-story window — but Paul restores him to life with striking calm, without fanfare. The farewell speech at Miletus is one of Paul's most personal, revealing his pastoral heart: he warns of 'fierce wolves' who would arise to distort the faith, a timeless warning to all Christian leadership about vigilance. His closing quotation of Jesus — 'it is more blessed to give than to receive' — does not appear in the written Gospels, showing that not everything Jesus said was recorded there.

Fun facts

  • Paul's quotation 'it is more blessed to give than to receive' is a saying of Jesus that appears in none of the four Gospels — a rare example of a word of Jesus preserved only by oral tradition and recorded here.
  • Miletus was an important Greek port near Ephesus; Paul chose not to detour to Ephesus so as not to lose time, showing his urgency to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Hechos 20:1As soon as the uproar of the Ephesian craftsmen dies down, Paul embraces the disciples in farewell and leaves for Macedonia, resuming his interrupted journey.
  2. Hechos 20:2Passing through Macedonia, Paul keeps encouraging the local churches with a great deal of teaching, before moving on to Greece.
  3. Hechos 20:3After three months in Greece, Paul discovers a plot against him by the Jews just as he is about to sail for Syria, and for safety he decides to change his route, going back by land through Macedonia.
  4. Hechos 20:4A list of traveling companions is recorded, coming from different cities Paul had already visited, showing how the network of churches he founded already had its own representatives traveling along with him.
  5. Hechos 20:5This group of companions goes on ahead and waits for Paul to arrive at Troas, the agreed meeting point before the final crossing.
  6. Hechos 20:6After the Jewish feast of unleavened bread, Paul sails from Philippi and takes five days to rejoin the group at Troas, where they stay another week.
  7. Hechos 20:7The “first day of the week” is Sunday, the day Christians gradually adopted as their weekly gathering because it was the day of Jesus’s resurrection, although the Jewish Sabbath continued to be observed by many for quite some time still.
  8. Hechos 20:8The setting of the gathering is described in detail: many lamps lit in the upstairs room where they were meeting, a detail that helps make sense of the accident that follows.
  9. Hechos 20:9Eutychus dozes off during a long speech by Paul that stretches on until midnight, and falls from a high window. The account treats the fall as real and severe, not a mild fainting spell, since the text says he was picked up dead.
  10. Hechos 20:10After Eutychus’s fatal fall, Paul goes down, falls on the young man, and embraces him, declaring that his life was still in him—a gesture and statement that precede the resurrection.
  11. Hechos 20:11After tending to the young man, Paul goes back up, shares in the meal (“breaking bread”), and keeps talking with everyone until daybreak, before finally leaving.
  12. Hechos 20:12The young man is brought back home alive, and the community is greatly comforted after the scare and the miracle.
  13. Hechos 20:13The group of companions sails on to Assos, where they were to pick up Paul, who preferred to make that leg on foot, probably wanting some time to walk alone.
  14. Hechos 20:14Paul joins them at Assos as planned, and the journey continues by ship to Mitylene, following the coast of Asia Minor.
  15. Hechos 20:15The sea voyage continues in short stages, passing by Chios and Samos before reaching Miletus, a route of stops typical of ancient coastal navigation.
  16. Hechos 20:16Paul tries to reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, an important Jewish feast, showing that he still organized his travel around the Jewish festival calendar even after years of preaching among the Gentiles.
  17. Hechos 20:17Paul gathers the local leaders of Ephesus at a stopping point on the journey, without entering the city, probably so as not to lose time. It is an emotional farewell speech, given knowing he might never see them again.
  18. Hechos 20:18When the Ephesian elders arrive, Paul begins by recalling his own conduct during the entire time he spent among them, a kind of accounting before the farewell.
  19. Hechos 20:19Paul describes his ministry as full of humility, tears, and trials, caused by the constant plots of the Jews opposed to his preaching.
  20. Hechos 20:20Paul assures them he never held back from teaching anything that was helpful, whether publicly or by visiting people from house to house.
  21. Hechos 20:21Summing up his preaching in a single sentence, Paul says he always testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance and faith in Jesus.
  22. Hechos 20:22Paul reveals that he now feels “bound in the spirit” to go to Jerusalem, even without knowing exactly what he will face there.
  23. Hechos 20:23In every city he passes through, the Holy Spirit has been warning Paul that imprisonment and suffering await him in Jerusalem.
  24. Hechos 20:24Despite the warnings, Paul declares that he does not value his own life more than completing the mission he received from Jesus: proclaiming the gospel of the grace of God.
  25. Hechos 20:25Paul makes a personal and emotional prediction: he is certain that none of those leaders will see his face again after this farewell.
  26. Hechos 20:26Paul declares himself free from any guilt for the salvation or ruin of those who heard his preaching, since he had done his part in proclaiming the full message.
  27. Hechos 20:27He stresses that he never hid or softened any part of God’s teaching, even when it brought trouble or persecution.
  28. Hechos 20:28“Bishops,” elders, and pastors are used here as synonyms describing the same local leadership role. The hierarchical distinction the word bishop would later gain in later centuries did not yet exist.
  29. Hechos 20:29Paul warns that after he leaves, “grievous wolves” will come in, trying to harm the community—an image of false or destructive leaders.
  30. Hechos 20:30The danger does not come only from outside: Paul warns that even from within the very group of leaders present, people will rise up distorting the teaching to draw away their own followers.
  31. Hechos 20:31Paul calls for constant watchfulness, reminding them that for three whole years he himself never stopped warning each one of them, with tears, day and night.
  32. Hechos 20:32In his farewell, Paul commits the leaders to the care of God and to the message of His grace, trusting that this would be enough to sustain them after he left.
  33. Hechos 20:33Paul points out that he never coveted anyone’s money or possessions during his work among them, an important detail reinforcing his integrity.
  34. Hechos 20:34Paul recalls that he supported himself and his companions with his own manual labor, likely tentmaking, without depending financially on the community.
  35. Hechos 20:35This saying attributed to Jesus does not appear in any of the four written Gospels. It is an example of a teaching of Jesus passed down orally and preserved only here, in Paul’s speech.
  36. Hechos 20:36After finishing his farewell speech, Paul kneels down and prays together with everyone present, closing the meeting solemnly.
  37. Hechos 20:37The farewell is emotionally intense: everyone weeps freely, embraces Paul around the neck, and kisses him, a common gesture of affection and respect in the culture of the time.
  38. Hechos 20:38What saddens the group most is the certainty, spoken by Paul himself, that they would not see his face again; even so, they accompany him to the ship before his final departure.

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