Jesus Christ alone
Acts 19:11-22
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. 13 Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use 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 said to them in reply, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ 16 Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. 17 When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. 18 Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. 19 A number of those who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. 20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
21 Now after these things had been accomplished, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go through Macedonia and Achaia, and then to go on to Jerusalem. He said, ‘After I have gone there, I must also see Rome.’ 22 So he sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he himself stayed for some time longer in Asia.
This passage feels odd to us because it appears to be outside our experience.
The basic assumption behind this passage and others like it is: there is a world beyond the one we can see with our eyes and touch with our hands, a world beyond the measurable in scientific terms. That world breaks into the observable world at times, for example, in the healings described and in the showdown with the sons of Sceva. At core this is about power, and whose power is going to succeed in the end. Paul, and Christians, argue that it is God’s power that will succeed, and it will be seen in the lives of people who have confessed their loyalty to Jesus Christ. Those who try to use God’s power without being loyal to Jesus will be exposed as the frauds they are.
We have seen that also in our time, as people who claim to be followers of Jesus and who have used Jesus’ name to enhance their position and their personal agenda, have been exposed for being frauds and worse.
The other thing to see in the text is that followers of Jesus realized that they could not worship Jesus and engage in magic. Out of voluntary choice they publicly renounced their practice of magic and burned their books of magic and other related items, worth millions of dollars. They had come to realize that being loyal to Jesus meant loyalty to Jesus alone, no “Jesus and”. So not Jesus and magic. Applying this to our time, we could suggest, no “Jesus and some economic system” – so not “Jesus and communism”, nor “Jesus and capitalism”. Not Jesus and anything that competes for our attention or which stands at odds with a full-hearted commitment to be loyal to Jesus Christ alone. Jesus Christ and him alone.
PRAYER:
O Lord, it is easy to believe that we need Jesus and something more – that Jesus is not sufficient – that Jesus is not enough. Shape as people who live in the joy of knowing that Jesus is enough, that your are sufficient for our salvation. In Jesus’ name. Amen.