Paul’s Farewell Speech
Acts 20:17–38
Acts 20 relates Paul’s solemn farewell address to the elders of the church at Ephesus. His itinerant evangelization and church-founding activity in Acts is drawing toward a close, and this farewell address provides a fitting conclusion.
A farewell address is a literary form that appears often in ancient Jewish and Greek writings. Several typical elements stand out in Paul’s speech. First, he addresses people who are succeeding him in his leadership role, the †presbyters who provide pastoral oversight to the church. Paul reminds them of his own conduct among them, presenting himself as an example of Christian life and leadership. He declares that he has fulfilled his obligations and asserts his innocence of any wrongdoing toward them. Then he intimates that his death is near and prepares them for the future by warning about crises that they will need to face after his departure, especially threats from false teachers. Paul gives a final blessing and prays with them. Finally, he expresses his affection for them with a tearful good-bye. Paul’s farewell speech illustrates his spiritual closeness to the churches he founded and to the leaders he commissioned to carry on his work.
Paul’s Farewell Speech at Miletus (20:17–24)
17From Miletus he had the presbyters of the church at Ephesus summoned. 18When they came to him, he addressed them, “You know how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia. 19I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, 20and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes. 21I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. 22But now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem. What will happen to me there I do not know, 23except that in one city after another the holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me. 24Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace.”
OT: Deut 31–34; Josh 23–24; 1 Sam 12; 1 Chron 28–29; 1 Macc 2:49–70; Isa 49:5–6
NT: Mark 1:15; Luke 9:51; 18:31–33; 22:24–27; 2 Tim 4:2–4
Catechism: our weakness, God’s strength, 853; priests called to holiness of life, 1589
Lectionary: Acts 20:17–18a, 28–32, 36: Rite of Ordination; Pope St. Gregory VII; Pope St. Damasus
[20:17]
Although Paul avoids Ephesus because of his haste to get to Jerusalem (see Acts 20:16), it is important to him to address that church’s leaders for what he thinks may be the last time (Acts 20:25). Therefore, he summons the presbyters to meet him at Miletus, an important seaport thirty-five miles south of Ephesus. Before his death Moses had likewise summoned the elders of Israel for a farewell address and solemn warning (Deut 31:28). Paul’s speech marks the transition from the apostles, the first-generation leaders of the Church who were directly appointed by Jesus, to their successors, the bishops.
[20:18]
Paul begins by referring to his own good example as a model for church leadership: “You know how I lived among you.” Ancient teachers—including the biblical prophets, Greek philosophers, and Jesus himself—were well aware that they taught their disciples as much by the way they lived as by the content of their teachings. Paul insists that his way of life and pattern of ministry has been steadfast from the day I first came to the province of Asia, of which Ephesus was the capital city. He is implying that he consistently practiced what he preached, a claim his listeners would be able to verify from their own experience.
[20:19]
Paul served the Lord Jesus in his ministry to the Ephesian church. Paul’s ministry, like that of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah (Isa 53) and the Lord Jesus, entailed personal sacrifice rather than self-aggrandizement. It was carried out with all humility and with tears and trials . . . because of the plots of the Jews. As Paul explains in Romans, these tears were not only because of persecution but also because of his anguish at seeing his fellow Jews miss out on Christ: “I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh” (Rom 9:2–3).
[20:20]
The first example of his ministry that Paul mentions is his open, honest, and courageous transmission of the entire gospel message that he was commissioned to teach, including its less-popular components. He testifies that he did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit. Preachers are always tempted to avoid touchy topics, such as repentance from sin. But Paul prized speaking the truth to his flock, not winning their approval by telling them what they want to hear.
Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy is also a kind of farewell address, and in it Paul insists on teaching the truth consistently, regardless of what the audience prefers to hear:
Paul taught the undiluted and unvarnished gospel message both in public, whether in the marketplace (Acts 17:17) or in lecture halls (19:9), or privately, as in the house of Titus Justus (18:7).
[20:21]
To both Jewish and Gentile audiences, Paul taught the same twofold response to the gospel: all must come to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus. Paul’s message echoes that of Jesus in the Gospels: “Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).
[20:22–23]
Next Paul foretells his sufferings. He asserts that he is compelled (the Greek literally means “bound”) by the Spirit to return to Jerusalem. The Holy Spirit is guiding Paul’s journey, as God’s plan had similarly motivated Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51). Paul explains his foreboding: “In one city after another the holy Spirit has been warning me that imprisonment and hardships await me.” Luke has not yet recounted any such prophetic warnings, but he will give explicit examples in the next chapter (21:10–14).
[20:24]
Responding generously to the threat of suffering, Paul goes further: “I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course.” His supreme priority is carrying out the mission Jesus has entrusted to him. Paul likes to use sports metaphors (1 Cor 9:24–27; 2 Tim 2:5), perhaps because he was an ardent fan or an athlete himself. He uses the same metaphor in his farewell message in 2 Tim 4:7: “I have competed well; I have finished the race.”
Paul’s advance knowledge and willingness to suffer in Jerusalem parallel Jesus’ predictions of his passion: “He took the Twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise’” (Luke 18:31–33).
It is instructive to see how Paul sums up the ministry he received from the Lord Jesus. His role is to give testimony: “to bear witness to the gospel of God’s grace.” Paul can testify to God’s grace with conviction because he has experienced it himself (see 1 Cor 15:9–10; 1 Tim 1:15–16). Similarly, recovering alcoholics are often particularly eloquent witnesses to God’s mercy and grace because of their own experience of forgiveness.
Paul’s Farewell Speech Continued (20:25–35)
25“But now I know that none of you to whom I preached the kingdom during my travels will ever see my face again. 26And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, 27for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God. 28Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood. 29I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock. 30And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. 31So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night and day, I unceasingly admonished each of you with tears. 32And now I commend you to God and to that gracious word of his that can build you up and give you the inheritance among all who are consecrated. 33I have never wanted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34You know well that these very hands have served my needs and my companions. 35In every way I have shown you that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
OT: 1 Sam 12:3–5; Ezek 3:17–19
NT: 1 Cor 8:1; 9:18; 2 Cor 11:9; Gal 3:18; Eph 1:14
Catechism: living in the truth, 27, 2470, 2752; humility, 2546, 2559, 2713; bishops, 1560; priests, 1562; deacons, 1571
[20:25–27]
Believing that impending imprisonment or death in Jerusalem will prevent his return to Ephesus, Paul solemnly tells the Ephesian elders, “None of you . . . will ever see my face again.”
Paul emphasizes that he has fulfilled his obligations to the Ephesian church (see vv. 18–21). He did not shrink from proclaiming . . . the entire plan of God, that is, he did not avoid the hard teachings. By saying he is not responsible for their blood, Paul places himself in the role of a prophet as a sentinel, or watchman. In Ezekiel, God tells the prophet,
[20:28]
If Paul is a sentinel, so are the elders, and he advises them where to begin their guard duty: “Keep watch over yourselves.” Leaders can hardly help others if they are not living godly lives themselves. Jesus made a similar point about removing a beam from one’s own eye to see clearly enough to remove a splinter from a neighbor’s eye (Luke 6:41). The elders are to care for the whole flock of which they are overseers (Greek episkopoi, from which the word “bishops” is derived). Luke seems to use the terms overseers and elders (v. 17) interchangeably (see sidebar, p. 111).
The overseers’ leadership role is conferred not by human decisions but by the holy Spirit, who calls them to tend the church of God. The explanatory phrase, that he acquired with his own blood, may sound strange, as though implying that God the Father has blood. Therefore, some manuscripts instead have “church of the Lord,” more obviously referring to Jesus, who acquired the church by shedding his blood on the cross. But if “the church of God” is the original wording, it is a clear instance of asserting the divinity of Jesus.
[20:29–30]
A common feature of farewell addresses is warnings of future dangers. Thus, continuing the shepherd imagery, Paul warns that after his departure savage wolves will enter the church and will not spare the flock. False teachers from the outside will prey on vulnerable members for their own advantage. But Paul predicts a threat from the inside as well: from your own group, false teachers will emerge, perverting the truth to draw the disciples away after them. True teachers lead people to fidelity to Jesus’ person and teaching, whereas false teachers reshape the message to enhance their own influence, undermining faith and unity. The New Testament contains numerous warnings about false teachers.
[20:31]
Therefore, Paul warns them, “Be vigilant,” literally, “watch,” and be ready for such false teachers from without and within. Paul explains how to be vigilant by recalling his own example: he unceasingly admonished each of them with tears. The Greek for “admonish” means warn, exhort, or instruct. As a pastor, Paul was deeply invested in the well-being of every member of his flock.
[20:32]
Paul commends them, that is, entrusts them for safekeeping, to God and to that gracious word of his, literally, “to the word of his grace” (RSV). Paul recognizes that a dynamic power resides in the gospel (see Rom 1:16). It has power to build them up; the Greek verb, oikodomeō, means to build a house, in this case, the house of God that is the Christian community. The word of God’s grace can also give them the inheritance that God has planned for them. In the Old Testament, the inheritance of God’s people was the promised land of Canaan (Num 34:2); now in Christ it is eternal life (Heb 9:15; 1 Pet 1:4). This inheritance will be for all who are consecrated, that is, all who are made holy by baptism into Christ.
[20:33–34]
Now Paul echoes the solemn declaration of the prophet Samuel that while he was in authority over the people, he never cheated them or enriched himself at their expense (1 Sam 12:3–5). Similarly, Paul never took advantage of his authority or coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. Instead, he provided for himself and his companions with his own hands—probably referring to his tentmaking trade (see Acts 18:3). Paul must have been a highly skilled and industrious craftsman to have earned enough outside of ministry hours to provide materially for himself and others. For Paul, it was extremely important to the credibility of the gospel that he did not depend on the fledgling Christian communities for financial support (see 1 Cor 9:18; 2 Cor 11:9).
[20:35]
Paul’s example was intended to teach that by hard work of that sort we must help the weak. Consistent with his Jewish heritage, Paul emphasizes the dignity and importance of work. The biblical teaching on work differs radically from many Greek philosophers, who tended to look down on manual labor as befitting only slaves. To reinforce the precept of using one’s labor to benefit those less fortunate, Paul appeals to words of the Lord Jesus himself, a saying not recorded in the Gospels, which Paul must have learned from oral tradition: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Parting Gestures (20:36–38)
36When he had finished speaking he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37They were all weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him, 38for they were deeply distressed that he had said that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.
OT: Gen 48:11; 1 Sam 20:41
NT: Luke 22:41; Acts 21:5; Rom 16:16; Eph 3:14; 2 Tim 1:4
Catechism: intense fellowship, 2636
[20:36–38]
Paul concludes his address with farewell gestures: he knelt down and prayed with them all. Although standing is also a common biblical posture for praying (see Dan 3:25 [= Prayer of Azariah 2 NRSV]; Luke 18:13), kneeling is a way of expressing humility and supplication before God (1 Kings 8:54; Luke 22:41; Acts 9:40; 21:5). Paul’s departure evokes profound emotion, with the elders weeping loudly as they threw their arms around Paul and kissed him good-bye. Their sorrow is due to his statement that they would never see his face again, which seems to imply his impending death. The episode ends with their accompanying Paul to the ship.
Reflection and Application (20:36–38)
Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders reveals the love he had for those to whom he ministered. It also demonstrates the nobility and generosity of his ministry, and it provides a salutary example for church leaders today. Throughout Church history Paul has been esteemed for the theological content of his teaching. But in this address, as in his Letters to the Corinthians (1 Cor 4:15–17; 9:15–27; 10:32–11:1), Philippians (1:21–26; 3:7–17; 4:11–13), and Timothy (2 Tim 1:13; 2:8–12; 3:10–11), Paul emphasizes the teaching conveyed through his example. He demonstrates an extraordinary consistency in sacrificial service, hard work, generosity, and patience in adversity. And he does not suffer from a false humility that can make people reluctant to point to their own example. He realizes that his flock needs to learn the Christian life not just by words but also by watching and imitating him, as he imitates Christ (1 Cor 11:1).
Like Jesus in his farewell to the Twelve at the Last Supper, Paul teaches the elders at Ephesus the true meaning of Church leadership. Their authority should be exercised in a spirit of service, not of self-promotion. As Jesus told his apostles, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them and those in authority over them are addressed as ‘Benefactors’; but among you it shall not be so” (Luke 22:25–26). As Paul was about to leave, he and his followers wept and prayed together, expressing grief at their separation. We too can support one another in life’s hardships by showing brotherly and sisterly Christian affection and by praying together and for each other.
