Acts 19:13-16-17-20
Some itinerant Jewish exorcists who
happened to be in town at the time
tried their hand at what they assumed
to be Paul’s “game.” They pronounced
the name of the Master Jesus over
victims of evil spirits, saying, “I
command you by the Jesus preached
by Paul!” The seven sons of a certain
Sceva, a Jewish high priest, were trying to do this on a man when the
evil spirit talked back: “I know Jesus
and I’ve heard of Paul, but who are
you?” Then the possessed man went
berserk-jumped the exorcists, beat
them up, and tore off their clothes.
Naked and bloody, they got away as
best they could. It was soon news all
over Ephesus among both Jews and
Greeks. The realization spread that
God was in and behind this. Curiosity
about Paul developed into reverence
for the Master Jesus. Many of those
who thus believed stepped out into
the light and made a clean break with
their secret sorceries. All kinds of
witches and warlocks came out of
the woodwork with their books of
spells and incantations and made a
huge bonfire of them. Someone
estimated their worth at fifty
thousand silver coins. In such ways, it
became evident that the Word of the
Master was now sovereign and
prevailed in Ephesus.
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