This is an excerpt from the chapter entitled, "The Healing of Injuries in Scripture" and included the account of Eutychus who died from his injuries and was raised from the dead by Paul.
Though Paul had God’s grace on his life, I don’t want anyone reading this chapter to think that grace was only available to him. God’s grace is available to us all. There is another Bible account of a man with injuries so serious that he was thought to be dead, and like Paul, he was revived and healed from his injuries.
“On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.”
Acts 20:7-12 (NIV)
I want to start with the similarities between Paul’s stoning and Eutychus’ fall. Paul was dragged out of the city “supposedly dead.” Eutychus was “picked up dead.” I believe the power of God through prayer/laying on of hands brought both back from the dead.
Paul “threw himself on the young man.” We see Elijah lay upon a dead boy three times to bring him back to life in 1 Kings 17:17-24 and Elisha lay on a dead boy to bring him back to life in 2 Kings 4:32-35.
If, however, you don’t believe that Paul brought the young man back to life, we have to agree that the injuries sustained by the young man were so severe that those who picked him up thought he was dead.
What kind of injuries do we imagine a man falling out of a window asleep from a third-story window would have? A broken neck, broken back, head trauma? I believe it would have to be more than just broken arms, legs, and/or wrists for the people who “picked him up” to call him “dead.”
I want to point out what happened after Paul said Eutychus was alive. Let me pause for a moment. If this had happened today, the boy, now conscious, even if he miraculously had no broken bones, would have been taken to a hospital to be examined for internal injuries, fractures, and a possible concussion. I did a quick internet search of a few cases of people falling out of windows. I found instances of people dying from their injuries or being put in neck braces and taken to the hospital. Paul was so sure that not only was Eutychus alive but that he was healthy. So healthy that he resumed preaching until daybreak!
It gets better. The passage seems to read that the people didn’t take Eutychus home until after the meeting was over! I read the passage (verse 11) in different translations, and they support that interpretation:
“Then they all went back upstairs, shared in the Lord’s Supper, and ate together.”
Acts 20:11 (NLT)
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