Acts 19

There are several interesting things that I found in this passage. Least important is that Paul was in Ephesus for over two years. I guess reading these passages in detail is good because it's shattering the perception that I always had from Sunday School of Paul continually moving from place to place, never staying anywhere more than a few weeks.

Of the more interesting things, though, the first is that it is clear in this passage that just invoking the name of Jesus carries no weight. Several Jews, non-believers, tried to invoke the name of Jesus to force evil spirits out of people, and they were met with failure. Not only that, but one of the spirits responded that he knew who Jesus was, that he knew who Paul was, but that he had no idea who the people using those names were. That must have been embarrassing for those guys.

The real meat of this, though, is the realization that "Jesus" is not a magic word. Just saying the name doesn't do anything and doesn't carry any weight. People all over America say, "In Jesus' name," or "In God's name," and then they wonder why nothing changes. This isn't a David Copperfield show where you say the magic word and a car disappears, it's a relationship. I think of it like this, if someone random off the street came up to me and said that my mother sent him to tell me that I needed to give him $100 I'd look at him like he was crazy. I'd say, "Hey, I know my mom, and I know that she'd want me to help people out, but I don't know you, and I don't see how you could possibly know her." On the other hand, if one of Mom's friends came up with the same request I'd probably give them the $100 knowing that Mom has a good reason for sending them to me.

Okay, so the analogy is weak and breaks down in several places, so do most other analogies. The point is that it's about the relationship, and that relationship is what creates the authority to speak on another person's behalf, and it's what puts the power and authority into the name of Jesus. It doesn't do you any good to go running around saying things in Jesus' name if you don't know Jesus.

The second interesting thing is the thought process of the citizens of Ephesus. Especially Demetrius is so wrapped up in his own well being that he's not even reasoning through what he says and neither is anyone else that's listening to him. Did you catch that he says, "…[she] will be robbed of her divine majesty," when he was talking about their goddess Artemis? Did you think about that statement? If I'm in that crowd, I hope that I would ask myself two questions: Why do I want to worship a goddess that could have her divinity stolen? And who is the higher power that is going to take it away?

If you're a simple farmer or tradesman in the Roman Empire and you're superstitious about everything, wouldn't you just want to opt for the winner in a situation like that? It's not the best reason in the world to turn to God, but it would probably be good enough for me at the time. The reality, though, is that we still don't think that way; at least not as a society. Take prayer in school for example. If we let that run rampant, then we'll be limiting the cultural education that a kid could receive. Effectively, it's the same thing. God will rob your "cultural" idol of its power. I'm sure that you can think of many more and better examples than me, so hopefully you get my point.