“If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly.” –Acts 19:38-39 (NIV – Read Acts 19).
Paul left Corinth and went overland to Ephesus. Chapter 19 of Acts is a summary of events as they happened. These events move rapidly and can be confusing as Bible students try to understand the situation. Remember that the church was young then, and the converts at best were sometimes ungrounded in the faith. Those who had been brought up as Jews and converted to Christianity had heard the Scriptures as they had them then (the law and the prophets and some of the wisdom literature) taught in synagogues. The Gentile converts had come out of pagan backgrounds and knew little if any of the Scriptures that had anticipated the Messiah coming to the people. Is it any wonder that from these perspectives confusion was rampant? People needed to be taught the Way of Jesus—and before the time when writings about His birth, life, ministry, sacrifice on the cross, resurrection, assignment of ministry and ascension were available to be used in Christian instruction, there was bound to be confusion.
Read all of Acts 19 to see and try to understand some of the confusion found at Ephesus when Paul visited there. First, about the city itself: It was the stronghold of the worship of Diana, goddess of the Ephesians (Artemis was her Greek name, Diana her Roman name). It was a busy seaport town, very commercial in nature, and the crossroads of many cultures. Under Roman rule, the city had grown to be the fourth largest city in the world. It was not uncommon for citizens to be very proud of their city, and to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28). Into this stronghold of paganism and idol worship, practice of witchcraft and magic (see Acts 19:23-31), Paul went with the gospel message.
He first met up with a dozen disciples of John the Baptist. They had known only “the baptism of John” and did not know Jesus as Saviour. Paul instructed them, they believed and were baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this passage (Acts 19:1-7) brings about the impartation of the Holy Spirit as “the second blessing.” Before Paul instructed them, these dozen men had heard and believed John the Baptist when he preached repentance and the coming of Messiah in the wilderness. They were unaware that of Christ’s having sent the Holy Spirit to believers, the Paraclete, the one who indwells the Christian. Paul, with the laying on of his hands, symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit to these followers of John the Baptist.
In other confusing and hard to explain events in Ephesus, some used cloths that had touched Paul’s body to heal the sick (Acts 19:11). Jews who had the tenuous gift of driving out evil spirits invoked the name of Jesus to drive out demons from those possessed. They did not understand fully what they were doing and one of the evil spirits turned upon them and overpowered them. A great burning of witchcraft scrolls (representative of a great loss of money to them) ensued when Paul had more adequately instructed the people and they came to understand what it really meant to call upon the name of Jesus. The word of the Lord spread (v. 20).
Demetrius, a silversmith, who made much money from crafting idols of silver and gold, called his guild workers together and warned against Paul and the new doctrine that was sweeping Ephesus. He incited them to be true to their regionalism, their love for Ephesus. At a public assembly, the city clerk—name not given in Acts—quieted the rioting people and talked them into breaking up the crowd, since there was no lawful reason why they should be acting in such an orderless manner. Luke, in writing the account of the early church and its spread in Acts, was led by the Holy Spirit to include the account of the confusion in Ephesus, and how the crowd was dispersed by someone not even connected with the Christian movement, an unnamed city clerk.
Sometimes even in our Christian churches, confusion exists. We see items of business with different viewpoints. We hold fast to our own desires and are sometimes resentful when the majority vote goes against what we want. “You ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.” These words of a city clerk in Ephesus, should be a guide for churches with internal strife. There is a way to peace and harmony. But it involves give and take, forgiveness and resolution to seek the will of God and His direction. It takes mature Christians to seek and practice this way of conducting the business of the church. May we be found faithful in the exercise of the business of the church, knowing that the primary goals are to present Christ and to do His work in the world.
Read all of Acts 19 to see and try to understand some of the confusion found at Ephesus when Paul visited there. First, about the city itself: It was the stronghold of the worship of Diana, goddess of the Ephesians (Artemis was her Greek name, Diana her Roman name). It was a busy seaport town, very commercial in nature, and the crossroads of many cultures. Under Roman rule, the city had grown to be the fourth largest city in the world. It was not uncommon for citizens to be very proud of their city, and to cry out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (Acts 19:28). Into this stronghold of paganism and idol worship, practice of witchcraft and magic (see Acts 19:23-31), Paul went with the gospel message.
He first met up with a dozen disciples of John the Baptist. They had known only “the baptism of John” and did not know Jesus as Saviour. Paul instructed them, they believed and were baptized and received the Holy Spirit. Sometimes this passage (Acts 19:1-7) brings about the impartation of the Holy Spirit as “the second blessing.” Before Paul instructed them, these dozen men had heard and believed John the Baptist when he preached repentance and the coming of Messiah in the wilderness. They were unaware that of Christ’s having sent the Holy Spirit to believers, the Paraclete, the one who indwells the Christian. Paul, with the laying on of his hands, symbolized the coming of the Holy Spirit to these followers of John the Baptist.
In other confusing and hard to explain events in Ephesus, some used cloths that had touched Paul’s body to heal the sick (Acts 19:11). Jews who had the tenuous gift of driving out evil spirits invoked the name of Jesus to drive out demons from those possessed. They did not understand fully what they were doing and one of the evil spirits turned upon them and overpowered them. A great burning of witchcraft scrolls (representative of a great loss of money to them) ensued when Paul had more adequately instructed the people and they came to understand what it really meant to call upon the name of Jesus. The word of the Lord spread (v. 20).
Demetrius, a silversmith, who made much money from crafting idols of silver and gold, called his guild workers together and warned against Paul and the new doctrine that was sweeping Ephesus. He incited them to be true to their regionalism, their love for Ephesus. At a public assembly, the city clerk—name not given in Acts—quieted the rioting people and talked them into breaking up the crowd, since there was no lawful reason why they should be acting in such an orderless manner. Luke, in writing the account of the early church and its spread in Acts, was led by the Holy Spirit to include the account of the confusion in Ephesus, and how the crowd was dispersed by someone not even connected with the Christian movement, an unnamed city clerk.
Sometimes even in our Christian churches, confusion exists. We see items of business with different viewpoints. We hold fast to our own desires and are sometimes resentful when the majority vote goes against what we want. “You ought to be quiet and do nothing rash.” These words of a city clerk in Ephesus, should be a guide for churches with internal strife. There is a way to peace and harmony. But it involves give and take, forgiveness and resolution to seek the will of God and His direction. It takes mature Christians to seek and practice this way of conducting the business of the church. May we be found faithful in the exercise of the business of the church, knowing that the primary goals are to present Christ and to do His work in the world.
c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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