“What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”
Acts 20:38 (NIV)
Paul’s final moment with the Ephesian leaders wasn’t simply a strategy session or one more sermon. He knelt down with all of them and prayed. Before they carried the weight of shepherding God’s people, they needed humility, prayer, and one another. Practicing what Paul preached is hard, and we cannot do it alone.
Luke tells us they wept, embraced Paul, and kissed him goodbye. What grieved them most was that they would never see his face again. This was not just a goodbye. It was the goodbye. But their tears were not weakness. They were evidence of real spiritual relationship: the kind formed when people kneel together, pray together, carry heavy things together, and love one another deeply.
But I think the grief went even deeper. Paul had shown them the cost of following Jesus and leading his flock. He had already told them his life was worth nothing unless he used it to finish the work God gave him. Prison and hardships were ahead, yet he was running toward obedience at all costs, not away from it. Now these leaders had to trust God without leaning on Paul as the strongest person in the room. That kind of responsibility can feel heavy, but God can turn grief into joy, contentment, and peace when we trust His plans.
So today, are you building relationships like Paul had, relationships that may one day make goodbye hurt? If not, start building that kind of community around you. We need people we can kneel with, pray with, cry with, and hug. Without that kind of family in Christ, what are we even doing? We can’t follow Christ alone, and we were never meant to try.