Christ the Conqueror
Last week Nate taught on the first half of Acts chapter nineteen in which Saint Paul finds “some disciples” in Ephesus, asking them promptly “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” To which the Ephesian disciples respond “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit”, for they clarified, they were baptized “Into John’s baptism.” As there was an old covenant which prepared the way for the new, likewise there was the baptism of John to prepare the way for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Baptism, as was practiced by John, served the purpose of liturgically cleansing oneself before both God and man, to bodily set oneself apart, to be made holy. Yet while John’s washing did not capture the fullness of the baptismal graces, it anticipated and prepared the way for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. John himself, the cousin of Christ, recognized this, as he preached regularly at the Jordan river;
I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
It appears that the Ephesian disciples must’ve forgotten the words of John. Paul, upon hearing that they had not received or heard of the Holy Spirit, taught them “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” Scripture then relates that upon
hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.
The significance of the number twelve here, paired with the fact that upon the laying on of hands the gift of tongues was dispensed, is signifiant; it confirms to us that at any time, at any place, where the faithful of God are baptized into the Holy Spirit, the apostolic authority is given onto us. Let us have the faith to believe this! Let us, in imitation of Paul, speak “boldly, reasoning and persuading [our neighbors] about the kingdom of God.” And let us have the faith to believe that through baptism we become citizens to the Kingdom of God, confident in our salvation, exercising the rule of reign of God in our world, fulfilling the end for which our original parents were created.
The second half of the beginning of Acts nineteen focused on the healing ministry, and the extraordinary miracles worked through the hands of Paul, in Ephesus. We are told that even the
handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them
After a number of “itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits” an evil spirit replied back “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?”, promptly mastering and overpowering them. After the news of this event spread through the country “fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled”. This event confirms what Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans that “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Upon hearing about the great miracles wrought by the disciples of Christ, and the power of Paul to liberate the spiritually oppressed, the whole country believed. Let us examine ourselves: do we have a faith comparable to even that of the pagans? For they, while not even baptized, believed. How much more ought we, who are baptized(!), believe that God’s power is operative even this hour?
We may ask ourselves: how did the Christian disciples in Ephesus, who had been baptized by the cousin of Christ who has explicitly preached on the coming baptism of fire, be ignorant of the existence of the Holy Spirit? Yet in asking that question we are blind to our own shortcomings, our own blind spots. The question we ought to be asking ourselves is: how can we, who have been baptized into the name of the Holy Spirit, be ignorant of the existence and operation of the Holy Spirit today? For if we confidently believed that the Holy Spirit was operative today, our lives would look much different. We would more zealously pray for the sick to be healed. We would more fiercely condemn the idolatry of our day. We would open our mouths at injustice, finding ourselves crucified. Let us believe. Holy Spirit come.
Let us read together the end of Acts chapter nineteen, verses twenty-one through forty-one:
A Riot at Ephesus
Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” So the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel. But when Paul wished to go in among the crowd, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs, who were friends of his, sent to him and were urging him not to venture into the theater. Now some cried out one thing, some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander, motioning with his hand, wanted to make a defense to the crowd. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all cried out with one voice, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Exposition
Last week I mentioned in passing that it appears Jesus is a big fan of economic inefficiencies. This week seems to confirm that.
Preparing to go to Rome, after making a stop through Jerusalem, Paul sends ahead of him “two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus”. While staying in Ephesus for a while longer, Paul encountered “no little disturbance concerning the Way.” This time, instead of magicians or exorcists, Paul encounters the fury of the silversmiths upset that he has disturbed the local economies idol trade. We are told that Demetrius, “who made silver shrines of Artemis” and “brought no little business to the craftsmen”, has gathered his fellow tradesmen to form a mob against Paul. Demetrius declares to them all
“Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
After this the city of Ephesus, “filled with the confusion,” dragged “with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul’s companions in travel” to attack them verbally, shouting aloud “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
I am reminded of a great essay by David Bentley Hart, in First Things, in which he writes about Christ’s conquering of the idols:
“I am the Lord thy God,” says the First Commandment, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” For Israel this was first and foremost a demand of fidelity, by which God bound His people to Himself, even if in later years it became also a proclamation to the nations. To Christians, however, the commandment came through — and so was indissolubly bound to — Christ. As such, it was not simply a prohibition of foreign cults, but a call to arms, an assault upon the antique order of the heavens — a declaration of war upon the gods. All the world was to be evangelized and baptized, all idols torn down, all worship given over to the one God who, in these latter days, had sent His Son into the world for our salvation. It was a long and sometimes terrible conflict, occasionally exacting a fearful price in martyrs’ blood, but it was, by any just estimate, a victory: the temples of Zeus and Isis alike were finally deserted, both the paean and the dithyramb ceased to be sung, altars were bereft of their sacrifices, the sibyls fell silent, and ultimately all the glory, nobility, and cruelty of the ancient world lay supine at the feet of Christ the conqueror.
The reason the tradesmen form a mob against Paul, and all the Christian disciples, is because Jesus is a threat to their livelihood, a livelihood predicated upon the exploitation of the vulnerable and poor among them whom are dependent upon the gods for their sustenance.
The same is true today. May we act like it, live in such a way that we bring destruction to the idol industry today. Let us discuss what that would look like.
Celebration of the Lord’s Supper
The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The body of Christ, broken for you. Take and eat.
In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
The blood of Christ, shed for you. Take and drink.
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Amen.
Benediction
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints. (1 Thessalonians 3:12–13)
