Foreshadowing of Paul's Death (Acts 20)

1. Paul wrote at least two letters during the first three verses of Acts 20.  Paul writes 2 Corinthians on his way through Macedonia after he left Ephesus.  He goes as far south as Corinth and writes Romans before he heads back north again through Macedonia.

2. Paul picks "Luke" back up at Philippi.

3. The group accompanying him look like those bringing gifts to Jerusalem (1 Cor. 16:3-4).  But quite puzzlingly, Acts never mentions the gift.  Did it fail to get delivered?  Did Paul use the money to pay for the vow of the men mentioned in Acts 21? Some of the men delivering the gift are mentioned in various of Paul's letters (e.g., Tychicus in Ephesians).

4. They came together for worship on the first day of the week, probably as a weekly reminder of the resurrection.  Paul preaches long enough for Eutychus to fall out the window and die, so we can imagine that the sermons of Acts at the very least are abridgments of what were originally much longer sermons. Paul raises someone from the dead, just as Peter did, just as Jesus did.

5. Paul avoids Ephesus. I know Acts doesn't say so, but could it at least be in part because he left there in big trouble, maybe even was kicked out of the city?  It's fun that Paul wants to get to Jerusalem in time for Pentecost, since this is where Acts began. Verse 21 gives us a great glimpse of the early message preached--repent and have faith.

6. The rest of the chapter is filled with foreshadowing. "You will see my face no longer" (20:25, 38). What does that mean???

• The "fourth missionary journey" hypothesis of F. F. Bruce, the one that has 1-2 Timothy-Titus written after Paul is released after his first appearance before Nero, requires Paul to see their face again.
• By the way, Ephesians 3:2 is quite bizarre if Ephesians was written primarily to Ephesus just a couple years later. Of course they had heard of Paul's ministry. He had been there for some 3 years. In this regard, it's worth noting that the words "at Ephesus" are not in the earliest manuscripts of Ephesians 1:1.
• So 1) Does Luke not know what happened to Paul at the end of Acts when he finally appeared before Nero?  I don't consider this option likely at all, even though it is often suggested. Luke's paraphrase of Mark 13 seems to assume the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 and the most likely source reconstruction puts Luke in that same period.
• 2) Does Luke syncopate two appearances before Nero into one, for space reasons or artistic purposes?  I think it's relevant to mention that this two appearance theory is a fairly recent trend. Wesley, for example, assumed that Paul died at the end of Acts.
• 3) Paul died at the end of Acts, Luke knew it, Luke foreshadowed it.  This hypothesis creates other problems, but seems by far the most likely conclusion.

We will see this foreshadowing of impending doom throughout the rest of Acts. 20:23--I know hardships and prison is a comin'.

7. I wonder if there are allusions to 2 Timothy in these comments. Paul wants to finish the race (20:24). He warns them about false teachers who will come in. Verse 30 may allude to some of the people that John would later have trouble with.

Paul has not taken their money, like the lovers of money in 1 Timothy 6. He has worked with his own hands. He gives us a Jesus quote that isn't in the gospels, which is really cool.