Acts 20:17Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

See how Paul hastens to depart and at the same time leaves nothing unattended, but orders everything well. He called the presbyters of the Church to himself and set before them what was said above.

“He called the presbyters of the Church.” Many are unaware of the custom of Scripture, especially of the New Testament, to call bishops presbyters and presbyters bishops.

Yet this is evident both from this passage, from the Epistle to Titus, and from the Epistle to the Philippians. We might also learn whether the same should be inferred, by conclusion, from the First Epistle to Timothy.

One can be convinced of this from the book of Acts. For it is written as follows: “From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the presbyters of the Church.” It is not said that he called bishops.

Yet afterward he adds: “in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops, to shepherd the Church of the Lord and God” (Acts 20:28).

In the last year of his free preaching about Christ, before the feast of Pentecost, the holy Apostle Paul was far from Jerusalem.

From the earliest times, Christians celebrated this feast, especially in Jerusalem, with particular reverence. Christian pilgrims gathered from distant lands for this day in Jerusalem, where the Holy Spirit had descended upon the Apostles.

The Apostle Paul hastened in every way to this feast. In this very year he especially wished to be in Jerusalem, because it had been revealed and appointed to him by the Lord to proclaim there for the last time the glory of God and faith in Christ.

He also knew that after the feast of Pascha, sorrows, bonds, and chains awaited him. In them he would be led from East to West.

That Paul simply taught what he knew, not only to those who were with him but to all who heard him, he himself shows.

For when the bishops and presbyters who had come from Ephesus and the other nearby cities gathered in Miletus, since he was hastening to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, he testified to them about many things.

Speaking of what would happen to him in Jerusalem, he added: “I know that you will see my face no more. Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all.

For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you bishops, to govern the Church of the Lord, which He acquired for Himself with His own blood” (Acts 20:25-28).

Here is exemplary apostolic virtue. Paul's zeal to preach the name of Christ in Jerusalem did not allow him to enter Ephesus. Yet pastoral vigilance compelled him to summon the clergy of Ephesus and teach them rules that could save both them and the flock entrusted to them. When the priests of Ephesus came to him, among other instructions he said to them: "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock" (v. 28).

As he made his return journey from Europe and directed his way toward Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul everywhere received revelation from the Holy Spirit that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem.

Although he did not know in detail exactly what awaited him, still, on the basis of these revelations of the Spirit of God, he foresaw that he would no longer personally visit the Churches he had founded in various places of Asia Minor (vv. 22-25).

The more certain he was of this, the more he now wished, for the last time, to see his many disciples in Asia Minor and give them a final farewell instruction.

He was also moved to this by his foreknowledge that, after his imprisonment, various false teachers would appear and begin to act in the Churches of Asia Minor (vv. 29-30).

Thus there were presbyters of the Church in Ephesus at that time. With what authority and what ministry were they clothed?

Since the Apostle no longer hoped to be in Ephesus again (v. 25), these presbyters, of course, had to replace him in everything necessary for the further existence, progress, and spread of the Ephesian Church.

Consequently, they had to replace him in preaching the Gospel, performing baptism, imparting the gifts of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands or anointing, absolving sins, consecrating and breaking the bread of life.

But for the Apostle’s absence to be fully supplied, some presbyters had to possess authority to appoint others to sacred ministry and to preside over those appointed.

Since the ship had to remain there for some time, the apostle used this circumstance to see and speak not only with the local Christians, but also with the presbyters of the Church of turbulent Ephesus. For this purpose he sent a messenger to Ephesus, which lay about fifty versts from Miletus, asking them to come and see him.

He called the presbyters of the Church: the presbyters of the Ephesian Church proper, as the text directly indicates. Yet one of the most ancient Fathers adds that presbyters of neighboring churches also came (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.14.2). This is not improbable, since the apostle was already in those regions for the last time (v. 25).

The farewell of the holy Apostle Paul with the presbyters of Ephesus in Miletus was as moving as it was remarkable in many respects.

Since most of the presbyters were his disciples, and all deeply honored him, it is understandable that they all came at his summons, not only from Ephesus, but also from the surrounding places.

Saint Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, testifies to this.

The Apostle began his address to the presbyters by pointing to his activity before their eyes in Ephesus and in all Asia. Certainly he did not do this without purpose, but to show in himself an example worthy of imitation.

What were the qualities of his ministry? First, he served, laboring for the Lord and not for himself. He always thought humbly.