my first impression is of a bible study led by a man of God full of the holy spirit... in a room filled with people who love Jesus and are captivated by the stories paul is telling. he's telling them about how so many people are coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus... they just can't get enough and no one wants to go home. paul is leaving the day after and everyone is pressing him to stay just a little longer, just one more story they are asking... they are burning the midnight oil!
eutychus is young but he knows that this is a very special gathering and he doesn't want to miss a thing... he was listening as intently as he can but the flesh is weak and he gave in to the fatigue... he fell to his death.
ver. 10 says that paul rushed down and "threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him," then he assured those around him that eutychus was not dead. at first i thought it was odd that paul would throw himself on the boy... tabitha was resurrected from the dead by laying of (only) hands. after looking this up, i found that elijah and elisha both performed such miracles in the same way!
...then they all went back up to the upstairs room with the many lamps, ate and talked more till the sun came up. they didn't even need sleep... they were on fire!
the meaning of the name eutychus' is "fortunate." here i find the jem that adds to this historical event...
we are not always on fire... in fact, for me it's a daily struggle to keep my eyes on the Lord. but we know where we ought to be, to be growing and becoming more in the likeness of Jesus. so that when, not if we fall, we would be fortunate like eutychus to have the support of the body of Christ to lift him up...
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3 comments:
thanks, helen, for an insightful reflection on a difficult passage. these verses portray, as you say, an exemplary church. one of the younger members, for all his best intentions, falls, and the church body is there to pick him up. this figurative "falling" surely happens frequently in the life of the true believer. may we lovingly "pick up" and revive to life those who have "fallen asleep" in the faith.
First, I want to Praise God for the similarities in our reflections! I feel blessed and encouraged to read from your reflections what I have been pondering. I believe it is the Spirit speaking! Praise the Lord!
I too was touched to read how Paul threw himself on the young man. I was also convicted for it made me think how I would act on behalf of those who have fallen asleep in the church. What urgency and heart! Paul stopped everything to recover what seemed like a hopeless state. It reminds me of the parable of the lost sheep and how the shepherd would leave His 99 to go after the one that was lost. This is the heart of Christ, this is the work of the church.
Thank you, Helen for your reflection. I didn't know why such incident was recorded in the Bible. But reading of yours, Dulla's and Lynn's reflection,
truly there was definitely a lesson that I can learn from the passage. If Jesus were there, that was what he would do.
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