The following incident throws more light on the spiritual darkness that enveloped Ephesus as well as the power of Jesus Christ and the gospel.
19:13 "But"introduces a contrast to the good miracles that "God was performing . . . by . . . Paul"(v. 11). As had been Peter's experience, some of Paul's observers tried to duplicate his miracles (cf. 8:18-19). They wrongly concluded that the simple vocalization of Jesus' name carried magical power. Some people feared the Jews in the ancient world because they thought the name of God, which the Jews refused to utter, was the key to their powers, including their success in business. This was Paul's third contact with demonic powers that Luke recorded (cf. 13:6-12; 16:16-18).
"The use of magical names in incantations to exorcise evil spirits was common in the ancient world, and it seems to have been especially prominent at Ephesus."782
Earlier Jesus' disciple John had asked Jesus to rebuke someone who was casting out demons in His name, and Jesus refused to do so. He replied, "Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you"(Luke 9:49-50; cf. Mark 9:38-40). This incident exposed an attitude of rivalry among the Twelve that existed toward other disciples of Jesus. This was not a problem of orthodoxy; that exorcist believed in Jesus. It was rather a problem of fellowship or association; he was not one of the Twelve. He appears to have been on the fringe of Jesus' followers. The Twelve wanted to exclude him, but Jesus wanted to include him. Jesus' reply was proverbial. He had stated the reverse truth earlier (Matt. 12:30). Disciples should regard people who do not oppose them as associates rather than as enemies. The exorcists whom Paul encountered in Ephesus, however, appear to have been unbelievers.
19:14-16 Sceva may have been a chief priest or the head of a priestly family (cf. 5:24), or he may have only claimed to be one.783
". . . whoever he was, he was not a Jewish high priest who had held office in Jerusalem, since their names are all known; nor is it likely that he even belonged to a high-priestly family. It is possible that he may have been a self-styled high priest' of one of the innumerable pagan cults, who found that it paid him to pass himself off as a Jew."784
Apparently two or more--the Greek word autoncan mean "all"(NIV) as well as "both"(NASB) in verse 16--of Sceva's sons participated in the exorcism that backfired. They were fortunate to have escaped from the house with their lives.
"The name of Jesus, like an unfamiliar weapon misused, exploded in their hands; and they were taught a lesson about the danger of using the name of Jesus in their dabbling in the supernatural."785
19:17 News reports of this event greatly elevated the reputation of Jesus among all the Ephesians, both Jews and Gentiles.
19:18-19 Some people in ancient times believed that the power of sorcerers' rites and incantations lay in their secrecy, as noted above. The fact that the converted Ephesian magicians disclosed these shows the genuineness of their repentance. Likewise the burning of books symbolizes the public and irreversible repudiation of their contents. Luke did not describe the silver coin to which he referred in enough detail to determine its value, though it was probably a drachma. Fifty thousand silver coins in any case represents much money and many converts. If these were drachmas, the value was 50,000 days worth of wages. That would amount to several million dollars worth of wages in present earning power.
"It is all too true that too many of us hate our sins but cannot leave them. Even when we do seek to leave them there is the lingering and the backward look. There are times in life when treatment must be surgical, when only the clean and final break will suffice."786
19:20 As a consequence of the repentance described in the preceding verses, the church became purer as well as larger (cf. 5:1-11). Luke gave us this sixth progress report to mark the end of another section of his book. The section we have just completed (16:6-19:20) records the church's extension in the provinces around the Aegean Sea.
While in Ephesus Paul had considerable contact with the church in Corinth. He wrote that church a letter that he called his former letter in 1 Corinthians 5:9. Then sometime later he wrote 1 Corinthians, probably near the spring of 56 A.D. Timothy travelled from Corinth to Ephesus, then evidently went back to Corinth, and returned later to Ephesus (Acts. 18:5; 1 Cor. 4:17; 16:10-11; Acts 19:22). Following Timothy's visit to Corinth Paul evidently made a so-called "painful visit"to Corinth (2 Cor. 2:1; 12:14; 13:1-2) and returned to Ephesus. Then he wrote another "severe letter"to Corinth from Ephesus (2 Cor. 2:3-4; 7:8-12; 12:18). These facts come to us through Paul's two epistles to the Corinthians the first of which he wrote during the years he used Ephesus as his base of operations. He undoubtedly had other contacts with many other churches about which we know nothing. Luke's purpose was not to give us a complete record of Paul's ministry or the church's growth as a whole. It was to document its advance to the heart of the Roman Empire (1:8) and to show by repetition how Jesus Christ was building His church (Matt. 16:18).
