Monday, March 22, 2010

Reflections on Acts 19


    Acts 19 (Contemporary English Version)

  1. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled across the hill country to Ephesus, where he met some of the Lord's followers.
  2. He asked them, "When you put your faith in Jesus, were you given the Holy Spirit?" "No!" they answered. "We have never even heard of the Holy Spirit."
  3. "Then why were you baptized?" Paul asked. They answered, "Because of what John taught."
  4. Paul replied, "John baptized people so that they would turn to God. But he also told them that someone else was coming, and that they should put their faith in him. Jesus is the one that John was talking about."
  5. After the people heard Paul say this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
  6. Then Paul placed his hands on them. The Holy Spirit was given to them, and they spoke unknown languages and prophesied.
  7. There were about twelve men in this group.
  8. For three months Paul went to the Jewish meeting place and talked bravely with the people about God's kingdom. He tried to win them over,
  9. but some of them were stubborn and refused to believe. In front of everyone they said terrible things about God's Way. Paul left and took the followers with him to the lecture hall of Tyrannus. He spoke there every day
  10. for two years, until every Jew and Gentile in Asia had heard the Lord's message.
  11. God gave Paul the power to work great miracles.
  12. People even took handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched Paul's body, and they carried them to everyone who was sick. All of the sick people were healed, and the evil spirits went out.
  13. Some Jewish men started going around trying to force out evil spirits by using the name of the Lord Jesus. They said to the spirits, "Come out in the name of that same Jesus that Paul preaches about!"
  14. Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this,
  15. when an evil spirit said to them, "I know Jesus! And I have heard about Paul. But who are you?"
  16. Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and beat them up. They ran out of the house, naked and bruised.
  17. When the Jews and Gentiles in Ephesus heard about this, they were so frightened that they praised the name of the Lord Jesus.
  18. Many who were followers now started telling everyone about the evil things they had been doing.
  19. Some who had been practicing witchcraft even brought their books and burned them in public. These books were worth about fifty thousand silver coins.
  20. So the Lord's message spread and became even more powerful.
  21. After all of this had happened, Paul decided to visit Macedonia and Achaia on his way to Jerusalem. Paul had said, "From there I will go on to Rome."
  22. So he sent his two helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. But he stayed on in Asia for a while.
  23. At that time there was serious trouble because of the Lord's Way.
  24. A silversmith named Demetrius had a business that made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis. Those who worked for him earned a lot of money.
  25. Demetrius brought together everyone who was in the same business and said: Friends, you know that we make a good living at this.
  26. But you have surely seen and heard how this man Paul is upsetting a lot of people, not only in Ephesus, but almost everywhere in Asia. He claims that the gods we humans make are not really gods at all.
  27. Everyone will start saying terrible things about our business. They will stop respecting the temple of the goddess Artemis, who is worshiped in Asia and all over the world. Our great goddess will be forgotten!
  28. When the workers heard this, they got angry and started shouting, "Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!"
  29. Soon the whole city was in a riot, and some men grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, who had come from Macedonia with Paul. Then everyone in the crowd rushed to the place where the town meetings were held.
  30. Paul wanted to go out and speak to the people, but the Lord's followers would not let him.
  31. A few of the local officials were friendly to Paul, and they sent someone to warn him not to go.
  32. Some of the people in the meeting were shouting one thing, and others were shouting something else. Everyone was completely confused, and most of them did not even know why they were there.
  33. Several of the Jewish leaders pushed a man named Alexander to the front of the crowd and started telling him what to say. He motioned with his hand and tried to explain what was going on.
  34. But when the crowd saw that he was Jewish, they all shouted for two hours, "Great is Artemis, the goddess of the Ephesians!"
  35. Finally, a town official made the crowd be quiet. Then he said: People of Ephesus, who in the world doesn't know that our city is the center for worshiping the great goddess Artemis? Who doesn't know that her image which fell from heaven is right here?
  36. No one can deny this, and so you should calm down and not do anything foolish.
  37. You have brought men in here who have not robbed temples or spoken against our goddess.
  38. If Demetrius and his workers have a case against these men, we have courts and judges. Let them take their complaints there.
  39. But if you want to do more than that, the matter will have to be brought before the city council.
  40. We could easily be accused of starting a riot today. There is no excuse for it! We cannot even give a reason for this uproar.
  41. After saying this, he told the people to leave.


The beginning of Paul's third missionary journey began in the accounts of chapter 18 along with the conclusion of his second journey. At the conclusion of the second journey, Paul made a stop in Ephesus before continuing on to Jerusalem and then Antioch to conclude the journey. He arrived in Ephesus on this stop with Aquila and Priscilla and left them there as he went on to Jerusalem and Antioch. His third journey begins then in 18:23 as he set out from Antioch "traveling through one place after another in the Galatian territory and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples." Meanwhile, back in Ephesus, a man by the name of Apollos arrived in town. He is described as a man who "had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit." He knew and taught about Jesus accurately but had experienced only the baptism of John the Baptist. Aquila and Priscilla, who were still in Ephesus, came to know Apollos as he spoke in the synagogue. After hearing him speak, the couple took him home with them so they could explain "the way of God to him more accurately." Apollos then set out, with endorsement from the brothers, to preach in Achaia where he led many to the Lord.

After Apollos had left Ephesus for Achaia, Paul arrived in Ephesus. He soon found some disciples who had not yet received the Holy Spirit. As with Apollos, these disciples only knew the baptism of John. After Paul explained to them that John only pointed to the One who was to follow and who was greater, these disciples were "baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus." It was then, after Paul laid his hands on them, that they received the Holy Spirit. As in some other instances, the sign of tongues was given them to verify their receiving of the Holy Spirit. Paul later told the Corinthians, in his first letter to them, that the gift of speaking in other languages was a sign to unbelievers, and this is how we should understand these instances in Acts. In each case, the unbelievers were Jews. Following these events, Paul returned to his practice of speaking in the synagogue. The synagogue in Ephesus allowed him the longest speaking tenure of any place where Paul spoke - a period of three months. Then the usual resistance to the gospel set in and Paul left to take the gospel to the Gentiles.

Unique to Ephesus, Paul used a lecture hall to meet daily with the disciples to conduct discussions. This continued for two years. Over this period there were evidently many besides the disciples who came to these discussions for we are told that during this period "all the inhabitants of the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord." Adding to Paul's teaching was the ability he received to heal many of diseases and evil spirits. This power over the occult brought many others to the Lord. An account is given of the sons of a Jewish priest trying to practice exocism. When they heard Paul drive out evil spirits in the name of Jesus, they thought they would try it. But when they attempted it with a man possessed with a spirit, the spirit in the man said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize--but who are you?" Then, empowered by the spirit, the man overpowered the men and they left naked and bleeding. This encounter caused fear to fall "on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." Then many who had followed the occult burned their cultist books and turned to the Lord.

The last account of the chapter gives a view of how widespread this Christian movement had become in the province of Asia. A silversmith who made "silver shrines of Artemis" became disturbed that with so many turning to the Lord his business would be hurt, so he gatherd a group of craftsmen and stirred them up against Paul and his group of disciples. These craftsmen "filled the city with confusion" and then grabbed a couple of disciples and dragged them into the amphitheater along with a large crowd. They were in a frenzy for over two hours until a city official pointed out that their gathering was illegal and that they had a lawful means of dealing with this is they wished and was thus able to break up the gathering.

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