‘Jesus I Know and Paul I Know. But Who Are You?’

Comparative commentary by Rebecca Dean

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Acts 19 recounts Paul’s missionary adventures in and around Ephesus. A series of short, self-contained stories are linked together throughout this chapter. They are geographically connected, but they also share some common themes—chiefly, perhaps, that of authentic discipleship.

The section begins with Paul’s discovery of a group of twelve disciples who have only heard part of the Christian story: they have taken on board John the Baptist’s call to repentance but have not yet received the life-changing gift of the Holy Spirit. A little later, we read about seven exorcists who also think they have understood the Christian message and who attempt to use the name of Jesus to cast out an evil spirit. They learn the hard way that their understanding was only partial. As Willie James Jennings writes, ‘[T]hey discerned power instead of presence and did not sense the ecology of touch and relationship that moved in and through Paul and these disciples’ (2017: 186).

The embodied, relational faith depicted in the Acts of the Apostles can be easy to overlook, but it is this idea that is highlighted in Angu Walters’ painting The Evening Prayer II. This lively image also captures something of the dynamism of Acts 19. The chapter is set in the bustling city of Ephesus, famous for its temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis (the Roman goddess Diana), which was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The temple functioned as a financial centre where people could obtain loans and deposit money, with its priests functioning as protectors of this wealth (Brinks 2009: 782). Worship, wealth, and social affiliations are deeply entangled within such spaces, and authentic religious devotion must be carefully discerned. However, authentic faith is not confined to ‘set apart’ spaces, as can be seen from Paul’s relocation from the synagogue to a public lecture hall belonging to the interestingly named Tyrannus (‘tyrant’) (Acts 19:9). The Christian God is at work, right in the midst of things.

The final third of Acts 19 is focused upon the discord between the Christian missionaries, led by Paul the tentmaker (see Acts 18:3), and the Ephesian devotees of Artemis, headed up by Demetrius the silversmith. Here are two artisans, both utilizing their skills in the service of their religion. Yet Demetrius is presented as being primarily concerned with the protection of his own income (19:25), while Paul’s generous and selfless service of the living God is underscored (vv.21, 30).

Consideration of the Pieter Coecke van Aelst tapestry foregrounds these questions of motive. While the vibrancy of this object makes an interesting contrast with the usually ‘polite’ and ‘tame’ biblical tapestries of the era (Alberge 2018), it is its possible symbolism within the context of the English Reformation that has generated the most discussion. The events of this period raise serious questions about censorship, religious freedom, and the use and abuse of religious authority, and as such the tapestry represents a challenging lens through which the biblical passage can be re-examined.

With its assertion of the superiority of Christianity over the religion of the Ephesian natives and its apparent celebration of the politically and historically complex act of book burning, this chapter does not always make comfortable reading. This discomfort may be compounded further by the mention of items of clothing that heal the sick (vv.12–13) and of evil spirits and exorcism attempts (vv.13–16). There is much in this account that may seem strange to many contemporary readers.

This sense of discomfort and uncertainty is profoundly captured in the painting by Norman Lewis. His depictions of ritual and procession have often confounded interpreters because of the ambiguity and even ambivalence that can be found within them. Art historian Ann Gibson suggests that such ambiguity should not be seen as a problem but rather as a ‘purposeful theme’ and a ‘strategy’ in Lewis’s negotiation of complex layers of meaning (1998: 41).

These are sentiments that may also serve as a helpful guide to readers of Acts. If we are able to sit with the questions and the emotions that this chapter generates, we may find a portrayal of authentic discipleship that is far richer and more nuanced than many interpreters have allowed.

 

References

Alberge, Dalya. 2018. ‘Lost Henry VIII Tapestry Rediscovered in Spain to Go on Display for First Time, 22 September 2018, www.telegraph.co.uk

Brinks, C. L. 2009. ‘“Great Is Artemis of the Ephesians”: Acts 19:23–41 in Light of Goddess Worship in Ephesus’, The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 71.4: 776–94

Gibson, Ann Eden. 1998. ‘Diaspora and Ritual: Norman Lewis’s Civil Rights Paintings’, Third Text 13.45: 29–44

Jennings, Willie James. 2017. Acts: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press)

See full exhibition for Acts of the Apostles 19

Acts of the Apostles 19

Revised Standard Version

19 While Apolʹlos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. 2And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” 3And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” 4And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve of them in all.

8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God; 9but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyranʹnus. 10This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

11 And God did extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12so that handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. 13Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?” 16And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, mastered all of them, and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17And this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks; and fear fell upon them all; and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18Many also of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19And a number of those who 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. 20So the word of the Lord grew and prevailed mightily.

21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedoʹnia and Achaʹia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22And having sent into Macedoʹnia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erasʹtus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

23 About that time there arose no little stir concerning the Way. 24For a man named Demeʹtrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Arʹtemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25These he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26And you see and hear that not only at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable company of people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Arʹtemis may count for nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”

28 When they heard this they were enraged, and cried out, “Great is Arʹtemis of the Ephesians!” 29So the city was filled with the confusion; and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaʹius and Aristarʹchus, Macedoʹnians who were Paul’s companions in travel. 30Paul wished to go in among the crowd, but the disciples would not let him; 31some of the Aʹsi-archs also, who were friends of his, sent to him and begged him not to venture into the theater. 32Now some cried one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not know why they had come together. 33Some of the crowd prompted Alexander, whom the Jews had put forward. And Alexander motioned with his hand, wishing to make a defense to the people. 34But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for about two hours they all with one voice cried out, “Great is Arʹtemis of the Ephesians!” 35And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, “Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Arʹtemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? 36Seeing then that these things cannot be contradicted, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. 37For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38If therefore Demeʹtrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against any one, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls; let them bring charges against one another. 39But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40For we are in danger of being charged with rioting today, there being no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.” 41And when he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

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