May the mumbling commence!
In today’s Scripture passages from Acts, Paul had been ministering in the province of Asia for awhile. He had been preaching, teaching, and performing miracles. Paul’s ministry in Asia was having lasting effects – not all of the effects were intended or wanted. We read about some of these unintended and unwanted effects in Acts chapter nineteen.
The first unintended effect had to do with Paul’s ability to produce miracles in the name of Jesus. In fact, some people got a hold of handkerchiefs that Paul had touched and used them to heal those who were sick or possessed by demons. And these people were healed. To some, these healing seemed to be magical. How would it be to use the name of Jesus and Paul as a magical source of healing others? Read about the experience of the sons of Sceva:
Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. One day the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. (Verses 13-16)
When relationship is casted aside and the Name is used outside of its context, the effects (though unintended) can be disastrous. Ask the seven sons of Sceva! They were badly beaten – naked and bleeding. And word got around in the province of Asia. Some good came from this beat down. Read about it below:
When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. (Verses 17-20)
Those who practiced sorcery – magic – burned their scrolls that were worth fifty-thousand day’s worth of wages. The people feared the Name of Jesus and held it in even higher honor. Those who believed came public with their belief and confessed their sins. The word of the Lord spread widely… If my being beaten badly would cause such rapid spread of the Good News, I would gladly take the beating for the Name of Jesus – just let’s make it for the Name’s sake, not a misuse of the Name.
Well, what about Paul’s teaching ministry? Yes, it had some unintended effects on the economy and spiritual and religious life of the community. But, it was the economic effects that were anticipated that drove the people to great demonstrations – even if it was given the mask of religiosity. Read about Demetrius and his friends below:
A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty." (Verses 24-27)
Demetrius spends nearly two-thirds of his inspiring speech on the adverse effects on the peoples’ pocketbooks, only to put an addendum about the temple and the goddess Artemis herself. Calling on the name of Artemis would hide the self-centered nature of the bone that they had to pick with Paul’s teaching ministry. This riot inducing rallying call of “great is Artemis” denied Paul a chance of publicly appearing and defending the Good News of Jesus.
May we stand firmly in relationship with Jesus, no matter the consequences!
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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