Acts 20:7-12
‘We…came…to Troas…, where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week…, Paul preached to them…and continued his speech until midnight…. A certain young man named Eutychus…, as Paul was long preaching…, sank down with sleep and fell down from the third loft and was taken up ‘dead’…. Paul went down…. Embracing him, (he) said… “There is life in him!”… And they brought the young man alive!’ Acts 20:6-12.
Calvin commented: “‘On one day of the Sabbaths’…means…the first day of the week…. According to custom, that day was most suitable for holding a meeting…(Matthew 28:1f; Luke 24:1f; John 20:1f)…. It is also very likely that Paul waited for the Sabbath, so that it would be easier for him to gather all the disciples into one place on the day before his departure….
“Paul draws out his sermon longer than usual…. If the upper room had not been full, those who were present would not have allowed Eutychus to sit on the window…
‘He was overpowered by sleep’…. What is strange about his struggling with sleep at the dead of night, and finally succumbing?… He was…overpowered by sleep against his will, and contrary to his expectation…. Just after midnight, he sank into a deep sleep — and fell down (three stories!)…. The Lord wished to awaken the faith of His Own people not only by the sleep but also by the ‘death’ of this young man, so that they might receive Paul’s teaching more eagerly….
“‘He (Paul) lay on him’…. That conjunction gave him a greater impetus to pray with all the feeling of his heart for the youth’s life from the Lord! Similarly, when he embraced the body of the ‘dead’ man, he was indicating by this gesture that he was offering it to God to be restored to life…. He did not give up his embrace, until he knew that life was given back….
“The chief cause of Paul’s concern, was that this sad event might not shake the faith of the godly and trouble their minds. At the same time, the Lord ratified the last sermon that Paul delivered at Troas, as if with a seal impressed before their eyes.
“When he says that ‘his soul is in him’ — he is not denying that he was ‘dead.’ Because he would be obliterating the glory of the miracle in that way! But the meaning is that life was restored to him, by the grace of God! I do not restrict the subsequent statement that they felt greatly ‘comforted’ — to the joy that they had at the young man’s recovery…. At the same time, I include the confirmation of their faith — since God had given them such a remarkable token of His love!”
Calvin also said in his Psychopannychia: “Sometimes the word ‘soul’…is called the breath which men inhale and respire, and in which the vital motion of the body resides…. Acts 20:10…. Hence we read that the multitude, after the body was raised, glorified God Who had given such power to men (Acts 20:12). This was certainly seen by Cyril, who agrees with us in the exposition of this passage… The soul never lost its life!”
Nevertheless, Paul revived Eutychus — who was picked up ‘dead’!
