"From 20:5 through the end of Acts (28:31), Luke's narrative gives considerable attention to ports of call, stopovers, and time spent on Paul's travels and includes various anecdotes. It contains the kind of details found in a travel journal, and the use of we' in 20:5-15; 21:1-18; and 28:16 shows its eyewitness character."815
20:7 We do not know if Paul or someone else planted the church in Troas (cf. 16:8-9; 2 Cor. 2:12-13). This is the first clear reference in Scripture to the early Christians meeting to worship on the first day of the week rather than on the Sabbath, the seventh day (cf. John 20:19, 26; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10). This day has continued to be the normal one for Christian worship. They selected Sunday because it was the day on which the Lord Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This group of believers met "to break bread"(Gr. klasai arton).
"The breaking of the bread probably denotes a fellowship meal in the course of which the Eucharist was celebrated (cf. 2:42)."816
"In the early Church there were two closely related things. There was what was called the Love Feast. To it all contributed, and it was a real meal. Often it must have been the only real meal that poor slaves got all week. It was a meal when the Christians sat down and ate in loving fellowship and in sharing with each other. During it or at the end of it the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was observed. It may well be that we have lost something of very great value when we lost the happy fellowship and togetherness of the common meal of the Christian fellowship. It marked as nothing else could the real homeliness, the real family spirit of the Church."817
"Breaking bread is not merely the occasion for the Eutychus story, as v. 7 might suggest. Because Paul is departing, the community's breaking of bread becomes a farewell meal, resembling Jesus' farewell meal with his apostles, when he took bread' and broke' it (Luke 22:19). The echoes of Jesus' Jerusalem journey and its consequences that begin in Acts 19:21 and continue thereafter may suggest that this resemblance has some importance, even though it is not developed."818
Luke did not record when Paul began his address, but the apostle kept speaking all night. Probably some of the Christians present would have been slaves or employees who would have been free to attend a meeting only at night.
Luke's references to time are Roman rather than Jewish. For him days ran from sunrise to sunrise, not from sunset to sunset (cf. vv. 7, 11).
"I tell congregations very frankly that I'm a long-winded preacher. I'm known as that. I love to teach the Word of God. I have a system of homiletics that I never learned in the seminary. I picked it up myself--in fact, I got it from a cigarette commercial. This is it: It's not how long you make it but how you make it long. I believe in making it long; my scriptural authority for it is that Paul did it. He spoke until midnight [really until daybreak, v. 11]."819
20:8-9 Luke's reference to the many lamps (Gr. lampades hikani, lit. many torches) suggests that it was the combination of a long message and lack of oxygen that caused Eutychus to fall asleep. The Greek word translated "young man"(meanias) elsewhere describes a boy of eight to 14 years old. Doctor Luke pronounced Eutychus (lit. fortunate) dead.
"The length of Paul's preaching may incline us to sympathize with sleepy Eutychus. The well-developed synoptic theme of wakefulness puts a different perspective on the matter. Falling asleep is a serious failure with potentially grave consequences. Paul's dedicated preaching makes demands on his audience. They must be dedicated listeners who hear the word and bear fruit with perseverance (en upomone)' (Luke 8:15). Eutychus failed and fell."820
"I confess that Paul's experience has always been a comfort to me. When I look out at the congregation and see some brother or sister out there sound asleep, I say to myself, It's all right. Just let them sleep. Paul put them to sleep, too.'"821
20:10-11 This seems to be a definite instance of Paul raising a dead person back to life similar to what Elijah, Elisha, and Jesus had done (cf. 1 Kings 17:21; 2 Kings 4:34-35; Matt. 9:32-33; Mark 5:39). The incident shows the miraculous power of Jesus Christ working through His apostle at this time (1:1-2). (If you are a preacher and have the gift of gab, you may also need the gift of healing!)
There are also several similarities between this incident and Peter's raising of Tabitha (Dorcas) in 9:36-42.
"Whereas Peter raises Tabitha by a command, following the pattern of resurrection stories in Luke, Paul fell upon (epepesen)' Eutychus and embraced him and then announced that he was alive (20:10). If there is a healing act here, it is by bodily contact, not by word, and follows the pattern of the Elisha story (2 Kings 4:34 = 4 Kgdms. 4:34). Peter and Paul are similar in part because they fit a common scriptural type. Through both, the prophetic power of Elijah and Elisha continues to be available to the church."822
20:11 The Christians returned to their third-story room and resumed their meeting. The Greek phrase klasas ton arton kai geusamenos, "broken the bread and eaten,"can refer to an ordinary meal rather than the Lord's Supper823, or the Lord's Supper may be in view here.824Paul then continued speaking until daybreak. He and the Troas Christians realized that this might be their final opportunity to meet together, so in spite of the unusual incident involving Eutychus they made the most of their opportunity.
20:12 Luke closed his account of this incident by assuring the reader that Eutychus was indeed all right and that the believers found great comfort in Paul's ministry of restoration as well as in his teaching.
"These early believers sat up all night listening to Paul. I know someone is going to say, If I could listen to Paul, I'd listen all night, too.' Probably Paul was nothing more than a humble preacher of the gospel. We do know that Apollos was an eloquent man, but that is not said of Paul. These believers simply wanted to hear the Word of God. How wonderful that is!"825
