“Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

Acts 20:25-31

Paul begins this part of his farewell by telling the Ephesian elders that they will never see him again, and as we see in Acts 21:11, he has in mind a prophecy about coming troubles in Jerusalem, to which he is about to travel. He continues by warning them that they will be dealing with “savage wolves” that will come upon the church after he leaves. Clearly, these “wolves” are false teachers, many of whom will arise from among the believers themselves, who will seek to lead the entire flock astray.

Looking at these verses, we can see that Paul has been warning the leaders about this for quite some time, and while his presence has kept false teaching at bay for three years, it will soon be up to them to protect their flock as a shepherd protects his. In all of this, Paul makes a curious point: He is not to blame for what is coming, precisely because of his continual warnings, and the fact that he has ensured that they all understand God’s entire will. Interestingly, this carries with it the implication that God’s will for them and the church is that they be tested by false teaching, which is not the way we usually understand such threats today.

In any case, as we know from Paul’s letters later on, that trial did sweep through the churches of Asia.

 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

Acts 20:32-35

With these words, Paul concludes his farewell to the elders of Ephesus. By committing them to God and “the word of his grace”, Paul is reminding them that it is only through their relationship with God, and the truth of His Gospel, that they will grow and prosper spiritually and thus be sustained through the challenges they will face; and so it is with us today…

Then he turns to an area of temptation that cannot be avoided for those who find themselves in a position of leadership; he reminds them of the fact that at no time over the past three years has Paul or his companions ever asked for any enrichment financially. Rather, he reminds them that it was by the work of his own hands that all of his party was sustained. Notice that he says that it is by “hard work” that they help the weak. In this, Paul is not referring to those who are poor or disadvantaged in monetary terms, but rather it was the elders themselves who were the “weak” ones, for this is not a monetary admonition as much as it is a spiritual one. In fact, the really interesting, and frankly significant aspect of this admonition is that it was by his hard work to pay his way that he supplied the spiritual needs of his (spiritually) weak brothers, for he took the earthly element of money completely out of the picture by hard work.

I mention this because it is entirely counter-intuitive for most of us today, for so great is our attention to money and material things. Once again, notice that throughout the entire farewell, Paul’s emphasis has been entirely on spiritual concerns, and not those of this world.

Luke ends the section in vv. 36-38 with their last tearful moments together, and then Paul heads for his ship, never again to see these dear ones. Luke picks up in chapter 21 with Paul’s journey to Jerusalem, where a whole new set of adventures await his arrival.