Main news for 19 October 2022

This conversation of the apostle Paul with the Ephesian presbyters is one of the most dramatic passages in the book of Acts. Paul knows that he is going to meet trials, and that he will no longer see most of his brothers and coworkers. Therefore his words to them are a kind of spiritual testament, the most important thing he can say to the disciples of Christ.

Thus he reminds them that he did not preach a new teaching, a new law, or a new religion to them; he simply became a servant and witness of the beginning of their own direct relationship with God. He does not call them to cling to external authorities, but to pay attention to themselves and to the flock in which the Spirit dwells, the flock that Christ the Savior acquired for Himself. Now God will guide His Church, and the presbyters are only His servants. And finally, let them remember the words of Jesus, words that Paul himself fulfilled to the end: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." Paul proved that these words are not so much about money as about everything a person has: soul, time, strength, his whole life.

Setting out for Jerusalem, Paul understands that his earthly path is drawing to a close. And that is what will happen: from Jerusalem he will go to Rome no longer as a free man, but as a prisoner sent for trial before the emperor, which Paul will demand as a Roman citizen. And now the apostle sums up his ministry. This summary includes two sides. One is connected with faithfulness to what he has constantly instructed and taught all those whom God sent across his path. Paul says about himself that he has never betrayed the truth revealed to him and has always borne witness to it in all the fullness available to him. The second side is connected with his own life.

The apostle says that those present have nothing for which to reproach him: he has never violated the Torah in anything, no matter which of the people he met was involved. In this sense, according to Paul's own words, he is clean, and judging by the fact that no objections followed, that is how it really was. Of course, the connection between a person's preaching and his life has always been recognized: by definition, a teacher had to correspond to what he teaches.

"They say and do not do" is, in this sense, a completely devastating characterization: it can describe only a false teacher. But when the issue concerns a Christian, this connection becomes a necessary condition for a person's remaining in the Kingdom. Knowledge alone is not enough here, nor is even understanding what one has learned and thought through. For life in the Kingdom, awareness of oneself and of one's understanding is necessary, the awareness that makes it possible not only to understand everything, but also to change one's life in accordance with what one has understood and learned.

As long as knowledge, and even understanding of what one has learned, does not change the quality of a person's spiritual life, it is still too early to speak of awareness, and therefore too early to speak of spiritual wholeness. The Kingdom requires exactly this wholeness; otherwise one cannot live in it. And Paul shows such wholeness. He speaks of himself not only as a witness, but also as an inhabitant of the Kingdom, calling as witnesses those who saw his apostolic ministry. And they agree with the apostle, because they truly heard Paul with their own ears and saw his life with their own eyes.

The speech Paul addressed to the brethren before leaving for Jerusalem recalls Christ’s farewell words at the Last Supper, and this cannot surprise us, for Paul himself asked Christians: “...imitate me, as I imitate Christ” (1 Cor. 4:16). This is not imitation in the bad sense of the word, for Paul does not mimic the Teacher’s appearance and manner, as the many false christs and false prophets do; rather, he consciously carries out the task entrusted to him, measuring his words and actions against Christ.

Facing the trials ahead, Paul takes stock of his ministry. We know that it is not finished and that Paul still has much to do, but at this moment, as at any moment, he is ready to answer for what he has or has not managed to accomplish.

Having warned the brethren he is leaving about the dangers, Paul entrusts them not to the authoritative leadership of any apostle or other experienced church person, but to God and the word of His grace. Paul does not replace God and His will with human undertakings: however well designed and necessary they may be, they will not help without Him.