Life after death

A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third storey to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he is still alive!’ (verses 9,10)

Read Acts 20:1-16

It’s not surprising that a young man fell asleep during Paul’s long speech; many people fall asleep during lectures and even sermons. Nor is it surprising that this young man fell to his death; people have died falling from lesser heights.

But it is surprising that Paul announced that this dead young man was alive again. What could have been quite disastrous for the community and for Paul’s mission was turned into a great miracle of God’s grace. When all seems lost and final, life comes after death.

The people had heard the message of Jesus and what he had done for them by dying and being raised to life. They had also witnessed a powerful miracle of a dead man among them being raised to life again. No wonder they went home greatly comforted.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you for your continuing signs of life after death, which give me such comfort. Amen.

by Stuart Kleinig, in ‘Guidance for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2002)

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