Magnify and Confess Christ

The Jewish sons of Sceva (a chief of the priests) took it upon themselves to be travelling exorcists, and this foray into itinerant ministry did not go well for them.  Jesus gave authority to His disciples over unclean spirits, yet these men decided to follow a formula they picked up from the apostle Paul.  We need God and a relationship with Him by faith in Jesus Christ to accomplish anything of value for His kingdom, for without Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5).  They imagined by invoking the name of Jesus who Paul preached, the demon would comply with their commands.  Acts 19:15-16 says, "And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" ¹⁶ Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded."  There were two different Greek words for "know" employed by the spirit:  that he knew Jesus by interaction and experience and he was familiar with Paul, having heard of him.

This event was widely reported in Ephesus with great effect as we read in Acts 19:17:  "This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified."  The sons of Sceva who sought to make a name for themselves were shamed, and the name of the LORD Jesus was magnified.  The malevolent spirit who overpowered 7 men knew of Jesus by experience, and based on Christ's sovereignty he would have cowered before Jesus in fear when confronted by Him.  The demon in Luke 8 who identified himself through the wild man of Gadara as "Legion" because they were many, he begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss because Jesus could, the combined power of spirits stripped from them by Christ's presence and power.  All spirits, principalities and powers are subject to Jesus.

As a result of the name of Jesus being magnified, Acts 19:18-19 describes the response of Christians and new believers:  "And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. ¹⁹ Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver."  There were Jew and Gentile Christians in Ephesus who continued in occultic practices after confessing Jesus as Christ or kept books of sorcery and incantations in their possession.  Perhaps they had not been willing to make a complete break with their old lives by renouncing, confessing and repenting of sins that marked their lives before following Jesus.  Rather than seeking to profit from selling books of lies and deceit to others, they brought their books and burned them together publicly.  This is a good example for Christians to follow to this day, to destroy relics and materials relied upon as guides before Christ.  Should we treasure books or their monetary value more than Jesus Christ who is the living word of God?  Is it right to pawn off crystals or charms we used so others can be ensared and deceived by them?  Choosing to take a financial loss can be a step of faith to honour Christ above all, knowing He will supply all our needs.

The possessed man leaped upon the sons of Sceva and prevailed against them, wounded and stripped them naked.  As a result of the fear of God falling on people and the name of Jesus being magnified, people believed in Jesus and destroyed all occultic materials they once relied upon.  Then Acts 19:20 says, "So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed."  Isn't this amazing?  God used the exposure of imposter exorcists to cause the word of the LORD to grow mightily and prevail.  The strength of the demon possessed man prevailed over the 7 sons of Sceva, yet the name of the Jesus and the word of God grew mightily and prevailed over the people of Ephesus and beyond.  The power and strongholds of Satan were destroyed by Jesus Christ who lives and is sovereign over all.  May it be Jesus and His word would prevail in our lives as Christians, that we would willingly sever all our old ties with sin so we might walk in the fear of God and newness of life.