The tall, scholarly looking man looked up from his writing as a shadow darkened his doorway. His momentary expression of incredulity gave place to manifest pleasure; he rose from his chair and went forward to grasp the hand of his visitor. The last thing Luke the physician expected was to see his close friend, Paul, walking into his house here at Philippi. It is easy to visualise the unfeigned delight with which he drew the newcomer to a seat, called for a meal to be prepared. He then began to enquire into the progress of his work at Ephesus and the reason for Paul's unexpected appearance so far from the scene of his labours.

Something like six years had elapsed since last these two men met. Upon the establishment of the church at Philippi during the course of Paul's second missionary journey Luke had remained there to nurture the infant community while Paul went on to Berea, Athens, Corinth and eventually home to Antioch. They had probably kept in touch; casual travellers would have carried letters and news, but such opportunities were few and far between so that in great measure Luke had been left to his own resources in the discharge of his obligations. How well he had succeeded was evidenced by the healthy state of the Philippian church. The two old comrades-in-arms must have sat up late that night satisfying each other's excited queries, the one asking after affairs in Philippi and the other seeking information about the many places Paul had visited since they parted six years earlier.

After the riot in the Ephesus stadium which precipitated the end of Paul's work there, and his rather hurried departure from the city, he took the road to Troas, the seaport for ships going to Greece, with the evident intention of visiting the churches he had established there during his second missionary journey. It was at Troas, six years earlier, that he saw in a dream the man of Macedonia calling him to come over and help them; those churches in Greece were the fruits of that call. He was in Troas again, doubtless in fellowship with the believers, waiting there for the return of Titus, who a little while previously had been despatched to Corinth bearing the letter known to us as the First Epistle to the Corinthians. From Paul's words in 2 Cor.2.12-13 it seems that Paul was getting worried about the failure of Titus to meet him in Troas as expected. The Epistle had been sent to correct certain abuses which had crept into the Corinthian church and it is only natural to surmise that the period of waiting, loaded with uncertainty, following his recent harrowing experience at Ephesus, had thrown the usually confident Apostle into a mood of deep depression. It seems that at last he could stand the inactivity no longer, and deciding that Titus was not coming to meet him at all, he took ship for Macedonia and made his way to Philippi where he could be certain of finding his old friend, Luke.

It was here that Titus did join him eventually. The news was partly good and partly bad. The brethren at Corinth had taken his letter of reproof and admonition (the First Epistle) in the right spirit and had taken steps to correct the abuses in their assembly. On the other hand, there had been other visitors to Corinth casting doubt upon the validity of Paul's apostleship and upon his personal integrity, and a section in the church had accepted these accusations as true and were repudiating his mission and his message. The upshot of this was the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, which was written probably at Philippi and sent to Corinth by the hand of the ever willing Titus. Paul himself determined to delay his own visit to Corinth for a while longer to give his letter an opportunity of having its full effect upon the Corinthian brethren.

As if the shortcomings of Corinth were not enough, the Apostle now encountered trouble from another quarter. News came to the effect that the churches in Galatia were being influenced by teachers who claimed that Christians must be subject to the Laws of Moses. This "Judaising" tendency was a constant problem in the early Christian communities and several generations passed before it was finally settled. Fully alive to the situation, Paul lost no time in preparing and sending to his Galatian converts a complete refutation of this doctrine, this "yoke of bondage", as he described it; thus did the Epistle to the Galatians come into being.

In addition to these literary activities, written in the house of Luke at Philippi, the Apostle found time for a brief tour through Macedonia, revisiting Thessalonica and Berea, and pushing farther westward than he had done before, into the district of Illyricum on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. On the other side of that sea lay Italy, and in Italy was Rome. Whilst he was still in Ephesus he had determined within himself that after this tour through Greece, and one more visit to Jerusalem, he must go to Rome (Acts 19. 21). As he gazed across the heaving waters of the Adriatic he pictured beyond the distant mountains that proud city which had become the capital and centre of the Empire. He told himself that he must certainly visit the Christian community which already existed there and proclaim the truths of the Gospel with no uncertain voice in the city of Caesar itself. With these thoughts in mind he finally made his way to Corinth.

Corinth

Paul stayed in Corinth for three months. Three momentous months they proved to be, for during this time the Epistle to the Romans was written. First of all he had to undo the work of the false apostles who had been busy in Corinth, and set things in order in the church. Secondly there was the question of the money gift for the brethren at Jerusalem. Throughout Greece the Christian communities had been working on this proposal; news had come their way of the desperate straits of poverty to which the Jerusalem church had been reduced, partly because of famine and partly the disturbed political state of the country. Judea was already entering into that era of active rebellion against Rome which came to a head ten years later when the Roman general Titus destroyed Jerusalem and expelled the Jews from the land. Paul had made himself responsible for seeing that the gift was safely taken to its intended recipients. Already he had travelling with him as joint custodians, Jason and Aristarchus of Thessalonica, Sosipator of Berea, Gaius of Derbe, together with Timothy, Trophimus and Tychicus, all of Ephesus, and his close friends Luke and Titus. It had been a lonely journey up to this point, but now he was with a goodly company of stalwart warriors of the Lord and his heart must have rejoiced. It was in that exultation of spirit and relative freedom from stress that the Apostle Paul sat down to write what is universally acclaimed the greatest of his written works, the Epistle to the Romans.

Paul was no stranger to the Roman fellowship. Although he had not as yet visited Rome many of the Christians living there were personally known to him. Aquila and Priscilla, whom he first met at Corinth and afterwards worked with at Ephesus, were now back in the capital. The decree of Claudius expelling all Jews from Rome was never rigorously applied by the authorities, and by now, fourteen years after its promulgation, had become a dead letter. So Aquila and Priscilla had gone back. Epenetus, the first convert in Greece, and Andronicus and Junia who worked with Paul at Ephesus, were also in Rome. So were a number of others whom the Apostle had met or with whom he had laboured at various times and at the end of the Epistle he makes special mention of them all. There he reveals his intention, not mentioned in any other record of his work, of one day journeying not only to Rome but onward into Spain, the western extremity, as Judea and the adjacent lands were the eastern extremity, of the Roman empire. So the epistle was finished, and Phoebe, the deaconess of Cenchrea, who had been converted when Paul first came to Corinth, was entrusted with the task of making the long journey to Rome to convey it into the hands of the Christians in the great city. There must have been considerable excitement among the brethren there when the letter arrived, and at the prospect of a visit from the famous Apostle. There was as yet no persecution of Christians in Rome. The

Emperor Nero had been on the throne for four years but had not yet developed those characteristics which bore such terrible fruit a few years later. The church in Rome included Romans as well as Jews, highly born as well as slaves, and all were able to follow their faith without let or hindrance. So the Apostle was able to discourse to them without necessity or thought for exhorting to streadfastness under persecution as the writers frequently do in some other New Testament books. This three months at Corinth was a quiet interlude in the Apostle's stormy life, an interlude that he used to good purpose in writing the most celebrated of all his epistles.

Journey to Jerusalem

The interlude was all too short; three months was as long as the orthodox Jews of Corinth could stand before making plans to do him a mischief. It had apparently become known that he intended to take ship direct to Syria, en route to Jerusalem with the money gift that had been collected, and the Jews plotted to waylay him as he set sail. Taking evasive action by a change of route, Paul and his party travelled overland into Macedonia instead, doubtless calling at Philippi on the way, and sailed across the sea to Troas on the Asiatic coast, from which port he had come to Greece. To all intents and purposes this concluded the third missionary journey. From now onward he was making his way to Jerusalem to hand over the gift.

Troas

The brethren at Troas were not going to let him go easily. The Apostle spent a week in the city and while he was there the incident of Eutychus occurred. The believers had come together on the first day of the week to break bread; Paul was present with them and was to preach. The story is of value as showing that at this early date, only twenty five years after the Crucifixion, the adoption of the first day of the week as the day of gathering for worship, instead of the seventh, the Jewish Sabbath, had become established. It was to be another three centuries before the Emperor Constantine legalised Sunday as the weekly day of rest and worship throughout the Empire. The reference to breaking of bread is often taken as indicating a celebration of the Last Supper, or "Holy Communion", but this is open to question. There is no indication in the New Testament as to how frequently the early Church obeyed our Lord's injunction "this do, as oft as ye do it, in remembrance of me". It is perhaps more likely that this occasion at Troas was the weekly "agape" or love feast, mentioned several times in the Book of Acts. The simple communal meal which was held at frequent intervals in the life of each local Church to express in symbol and practice their joint fellowship in Christ. At any rate, the centre of attention was the Apostle Paul; he continued his preaching until midnight and apparently was showing no sign of finishing even then. His hearers were not tired of listening and gave him their undivided and rapt attention; all, that is, save one young man, Eutychus.

Eutychus was sleepy. The weakness of flesh had overcome the eagerness of the spirit. He might well have been a slave who had performed an arduous day's work before coming to the service. The meeting was being held on the third floor of the building and Eutychus had seated himself in one of the window embrasures which were just plain openings admitting light and air—perhaps in the hope that the cool night breeze would keep him awake. But "Paul was long preaching" and "there were many lights in the upper chamber where they were gathered together". Despite his best endeavours, Eutychus began to nod. The voice of the speaker went on and on, impinging dully on his consciousness, but all the time Nature was demanding, and receiving, the blessed relief of sleep. The account is so realistic that one might think that Luke, who was there and recorded it, was himself looking apprehensively toward Eutychus at the time but was not near enough to prevent the mishap. The lad was at first "fallen into a deep sleep" but as the sermon went on "he sunk down with sleep and fell from the third loft, and was taken up dead". One can picture the cry of alarm which suddenly interrupted the meeting and the rush of some downstairs to the inert body lying in the courtyard, and then perhaps the anxious faces as Luke, the physician, knelt by the unfortunate lad to ascertain the extent of his injuries.

There is a certain amount of doubt as to whether Eutychus was actually dead or merely rendered unconscious by the fall It is a doubt which is due to the remark attributed to Paul himself, who came down, embraced the still form, and said "Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him". Later on "they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted". Against this hypothesis there must be considered several factors. In the first place, a fall of this nature, even if it did not result in death must have involved serious physical injuries ‑ at the least broken bones. Secondly, with Luke present it is most unlikely that Paul would take it upon himself to give what amounts to a medical opinion. By common consent the examination of Eutychus would have been left to Luke, and he says that he was "taken up dead". A layman might have been mistaken but not so likely a professional medical man. It seems more probable that we have here one of the very few examples of Divine intervention following the end of Jesus' life on earth and that Eutychus was literally dead and was restored to life. The action of Paul in "embracing" the body is reminiscent of Elijah and of Elisha in Old Testament days; both those prophets raised from the dead, one the widow's son, the other the Shuna-mite's child, in a similar fashion.

In the New Testament gives a detailed account of the restoration of Tabitha to life by Peter shortly after death had taken place, so that Paul here might well have done what his brother Apostle had done a few years previously. Such an exercise of miraculous power would, of course, include the healing of such physical injuries as might have been sustained; thus Eutychus could be brought back into the meeting shortly afterward as implied by the account.

Paul continued his discourse until break of day, so that the gathering must have been in session for almost twenty-four hours. That accounts for what appears to be a second breaking of bread in Chapter 20.11 in the small hours of the second day of the week. They probably needed it. This was most likely a more substantial meal during which the Apostle talked in a more informal fashion; that seems to be the implication of verse 11. Then he took his leave of the brethren at Troas and set out on the last lap of his journey to Jerusalem.

Miletus

The ship on which the little party of evangelists had secured a passage was evidently one of the small trading vessels that coasted along the shore. It called at each port in turn, remaining a while to discharge and take on cargo, and if night was imminent waiting until next morning before resuming the voyage. A few days sailing brought them to Miletus, which was the port for Ephesus, distant from the city about forty miles. The vessel was evidently scheduled to stay here for several days, long enough for Paul to summon the elders of the church to meet him at Miletus for a brief conference before the ship departed. It was a memorable meeting. The Apostle reminded them of the ministry and teaching he had so freely given them over the space of three years and exhorted them to prove true to their calling and their obligations as elders in the church. He warned them that 'grievous wolves' would enter among them and wreak havoc with the 'flock', men speaking perverse things and drawing away disciples after them. "/ have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God" he said, striking sadness into their hearts by telling them "/ know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God, shall see my face no more". It is apparent that at this time Paul did not expect ever to return to Ephesus; he felt that the unrelenting enmity of his Jewish opponents was bringing him steadily nearer to the day that he would fall victim to their machinations. He had just told these very elders "And now, behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there; save that the Holy Spirit witnesses in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me". At this moment Paul had no clear view of the future and probably no plans. He only knew that he must go to Jerusalem; after that all was in the hands of his Lord

So at length, after changing ships at Patara in Lycia, and again at Tyre in Phoenicia, Paul and his companions arrived at Caesarea, the nearest seaport to Jerusalem. There they entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, to spend a few days in quietude and rest before going up to meet the Jerusalem church.

There was to be no more quietude and rest for the Apostle after this. Within a few days he was to be Paul the prisoner, and more than four years were to pass before he was again to know freedom.

(To be continued)

AOH