Part XIX
The Holy Spirit’s Resurrection Ministry
It was time for Paul to move on once again, so he set off for other places, one of these being Troas. While there, he met with believers in a home. Paul had much to say to these believers, as we can read in Acts 20:7-11
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, he 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 storey 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.
So, even the apostle Paul could talk so long that believers could no longer stay awake. Unfortunately for this young man, he was not seated in a very safe place, so he ended up falling out of the window! Can you imagine how shocked the believers must have been when this happened. Paul stayed very calm in the midst of this commotion and, no doubt led by the Holy Spirit, lay on the young man’s body in a way that resembles the story of the prophet Elisha when he lay on the body of the son of the Shunammite woman, which we can read in II Kings 4:8-37
One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do-woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat. She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God. Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.” One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, “Tell her, “You have gone through all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?” She replied, “I have a home among my own people.” “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old.” Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. “About this time next year.” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she objected “Don’t mislead your servant, O man of God.” But the woman became pregnant and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her. The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. “My head! My head!” he said to his father. His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother,” After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out. She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.” “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” “It’s alright,” she said. She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look, there is the Shunammite! Run to meet her and ask her. “Are you alright? Is your husband alright? Is your child alright? “Everything is alright,” she said. When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, Don’t raise my hopes?” Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.” But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.” When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out upon him, the boy’s body grew warm. Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and stretched out upon him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes. Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite,” And he did. When she came, he said. “Take your son.” She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.
Just as the boy in the story of the Shunammite woman came back to life, so this young man, who was prayed over by Paul, came back to life, and the meeting continued, for Paul was determined to teach them all they needed to know.