11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even 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. 13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
God worked powerfully through Paul enabling him to do extraordinary miracles. These miracles parallel those of Peter (Acts 5:15-16) including items of cloth that had touched Paul being used in healing the sick and demon-possessed. These items were symbols of God’s power working through the apostle and contained no magical power in themselves. Some traveling Jewish exorcists who saw Paul’s miracles decided to invoke Jesus’ name over those who had evil spirits. Luke highlights the seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva who tried this. When they invoked Jesus’ name, the spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognise, but who are you?” There is no magical benefit in Jesus’ name to those who do not belong to Him. Then the man possessed by the spirit overpowered them and sent them fleeing from the house naked and wounded. As people found out about this story, they responded in awe, and Jesus’ name was held in reverence. This also led all those who had become believers to confess their prior involvement in the magic arts and they brought their books and publically burned them all. The total value of the destroyed volumes was equivalent to fifty thousand pieces of silver (the value of about fifty thousand days of labour). For the sixth time, Luke reported on the spread of the gospel and the growth of the church.
Is there something from your life prior to belief that still has a hold on you? Confession to others can help you move forward in freedom (Jas 5:16).
Major Stories of the Bible Reading Plan
False Doctrine: 1 Timothy 1-2