Acts 20:36 - Meaning and Application

After Paul’s moving farewell sermon to the elders of Ephesus, we read of an even more touching farewell, his prayer and their tears. It is hard to read this account without feeling it deeply. The scene is full of love, sorrow, and faith.

They parted with prayer. When Paul finished speaking, he knelt down and prayed with them all (Acts 20:36). No doubt his prayer fit the sadness of the moment. He commended them to God and asked that the Lord would not leave them, but stay with them in his presence.

This was a shared prayer, not just Paul praying for them. He prayed with them, so they could join in the same requests for themselves and for one another. Public prayer is not meant to replace private prayer. Instead, it should stir us up and teach us how to pray when we are alone.

It was also a humble and reverent prayer. Paul knelt, which is a fitting posture for prayer. It shows honor toward God and a humble request for mercy, especially when asking forgiveness for sin. Paul often prayed this way, as when he said, “I bow my knees” (Ephesians 3:14).

This was a prayer after preaching, and we may think Paul prayed over what he had just said. He had given the care of the Ephesian church to these elders, and now he asked God to help them carry that serious responsibility well. He prayed that the great Shepherd of the sheep would care for the flock and keep them safe from harmful teachers, the “grievous wolves” he had warned about.

In this way, Paul taught ministers to pray for the people they preach to, so they would not labor in vain. He also prayed as a friend taking leave. Such parting prayer often leaves a lasting mark, just as a farewell sermon does. It is good for friends to part with prayer, so they may continue to pray more warmly for one another after they are separated.

A prayer like, “The Lord watch between us and watch over us both,” is a good parting prayer (Genesis 31:49). So is the hope that the next time we meet will be either closer to heaven or in heaven itself. In this, Paul followed Christ, who, after teaching his disciples and taking leave of them, prayed with them all (John 17:1).

They also parted with tears, many tears, and tender embraces (Acts 20:37, Acts 20:38). They all wept deeply. Paul likely began, for he was resolved to leave, yet he was truly sorry to go. He had often been in tears while among them (Acts 20:19, Acts 20:31), and he surely shed many at this parting, watering the seed he had sown among them.

But the text especially notices their tears. There was not a dry eye among them, and Paul’s affectionate words in prayer likely stirred them to weep. These were tears of love and deep attachment, like the tears of Jonathan and David when they were forced to part, weeping until David overcame his grief (1 Samuel 20:41).

They fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him, one after another, each one grieving his own loss. One may have said, “How can I part with this priceless man, this blessed Paul, whose life is so closely tied to mine?” Another may have said, “Farewell, my dear friend. I thank you a thousand times, and I thank God ten thousand times, for you and for all your labor on my behalf.” Another may have said, “Must we part? Must I lose my spiritual father, nurse, and guide?” Another may have said, “What will become of us now, when we can no longer come to him for counsel and direction? What will I do if the Lord takes away the one who has guided me?” Their love was strong because Paul’s love for them had been strong. Those who love deeply are often deeply loved in return.

These tears at parting were a grateful return for the tears Paul had shed in preaching and praying for them. “He who waters others will himself be watered” is proved true here. The sorrow cut them to the heart because Paul had said they would see his face no more. If he had given them hope of returning, they might have borne the separation better. But now they knew this was a final farewell in this life, and that made the grief very heavy.

Other sorrows likely added to their pain. They would lose his public teaching, his leadership in their meetings, and his personal counsel and comfort. We may also hope they were sorry for their own failure to profit more from his ministry while they still had him. Still, the greatest sting was that they would see his face no more.

When friends are separated by death, this is often what deepens our grief, the thought that we shall see their faces no more. Yet Christians do not grieve like those without hope. If our friends died in Christ and we live to him, they have gone to see God’s face and to behold his glory. His glory shines on them, and we hope to be with them soon. Though we shall not see their faces again in this world, we hope to see them in a better world, and to be together forever with the Lord.

They went with him to the ship, partly to honor him and escort him as far as they could, and partly to enjoy a little more of his company. If this must be their last meeting, they wanted as much of him as possible and wished to see him off well. When they reached the water and Paul was ready to board, the tears and embraces likely began again, for those who hate to part often say farewell many times.

Yet both sides soon found comfort in this, that Christ’s presence went with Paul and remained with them. That quiet truth helped ease the rush of grief.