Eutychus falls asleep and falls out a window – Crazy Bible Story 8

Eutychus sleep falling out a window during Paul's sermon

Everyone knows that the human body needs somewhere between 6 and 8 hours of sleep. For some people they want a lot more. For other people (like myself) coffee and caffeine become a sleep replacement drug. (Our friend Eutychus today could have used some nectar of the gods himself) Some of us are night owls. Others are morning people (ew). However, sometimes it seems that no matter how long we let our bodies rest we just can’t seem to keep our eyes open. Most of the time this causes a harmless head bob as we snap ourselves back awake. But this is a crazy Bible story. So, we know that’s not going to be the case here. Follow along to see what happens. (Try doing something really boring in the dark if you want to get the full affect)

Eutychus – Sleep or Die? Sleep AND Die!

For our unlucky victim of today’s crazy Bible story it would seem that lack of sleep was a cause of death. Let’s check it out in the Bible: (Acts 20)

On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

Acts 20:7-12

To be fair, it was getting late. The Bible describes Paul as “talking on and on.” Still, it would seem that Eutychus could have found a better place to listen to Paul than an open window. Especially if you find yourself starting to fall asleep! Sure, maybe it was the best vantage point for hearing Paul speak, but still, you aren’t listening if you are falling asleep.

We do it too you know.

Have you ever tried reading your Bible in the dark while reclining in your bed? It doesn’t normally go well. We tell ourselves we just want to read a chapter or two before going to sleep. But despite our best efforts, we begin to nod off. We try to stake awake and read another sentence or two but it’s not use. Sleep is calling us.

zzz Sleep Reading = Reading by osmosis
src: here

At least, when this happens to us we fall asleep on a nice pillow. This wasn’t the case for Eutychus – who falls 30 feet onto what had to have been very hard ground. (Ironically, falling our windows happens on multiple occasions throughout scripture) This kills him on impact. However, God is going to use this as a moment to glorify himself. He raises him from the dead and surely the message of Paul would have embedded itself deep into these people. After all, Paul was able to continue speaking until daylight!

Nevertheless, I do not recommend listening to sermons in the window. Sometimes we pastors put together something that sounds really good to us on paper, but is like hitting the snooze button to those listening in. This is probably why we have nice soft chairs to sit in. After centuries of smashing our heads on hard pews, we finally decided to upgrade. (Disclaimer: This is not an excuse to sleep in church!)

Want more Crazy Bible Stories? Start at the beginning!

Leave a Reply