Exalting Jesus Instead of Idols

People should magnify Jesus’s name in worship, never trying to misuse it for witchcraft. Only Jesus’s people have the Spirit of God. This episode shows us the reality and influence of the devil but also the superior power of Jesus over all forms of power (cf. Mark 5:6-7).

The people certainly recognized Jesus’s superior power (v. 18). After the sons of Sceva failed in their attempt to combat demonic powers, both Jews and Greeks began revering Jesus’s name and esteeming him all the more.

Acts 19:18-19

The story continues with a vivid picture of confession and repentance. Luke says “believers” were confessing and disclosing their practices. Apparently some of them realized for the first time that faith in Jesus and participation in magic and the occult were incompatible (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 238). So they burn their books—the scrolls prescribing occult rituals.

It shouldn’t shock us that “believers” were burning books. After all, salvation leads to a process of growth—a work of sanctification in which the Spirit shapes us into the image of Christ over time. After believing in Christ, then, there are often practices and ideas that new converts realize they must abandon as they come to understand more about Jesus.

In the Louvre there’s a painting by Eustache Le Sueur that dates to 1649. It’s entitled “The Sermon of Saint Paul at Ephesus.” It shows Paul addressing a crowd while people beneath him burn books. It’s one of my favorite pieces in the famed museum, as it conveys a powerful picture of repentance. Those who practiced sorcery confessed their evil practices and burned occult books publicly.

I love that they don’t just give the books away or sell them; they destroy them. That was a costly thing to do, considering the total expense of those burned volumes. I’ve read suggestions of their value ranging from thousands of dollars to millions. Yet the believers wanted a radical break with all that was ungodly in their lives because the Spirit of God produced a deep change in their hearts. Selling the volumes would’ve only spread the poison of what they contained: Christ’s followers are to spread the good news instead.

These Ephesian believers had a new affection. They had a new love for Jesus. Their actions shouted that he was more valuable to them than any god, power, false source of trust, or any amount of money. In Revelation the church in Ephesus is rebuked for abandoning “the love [they] had at first” (Rev 2:2-4). We may begin with passionate adoration of Jesus, but we must not grow cold in our love for the Savior. Continue to cultivate your love for him by confessing secret sins and forsaking ungodly practices (Rev 2:5). Seek his Word and remember that he is your greatest good and your highest joy. Reject all rivals and revere the Son of God, who loved you and gave himself for you (Gal 2:20).

Acts 19:21-41

After summarizing how the power of Jesus was displayed in Ephesus and spotlighting the triumph of the Word (v. 20), Luke tells about the protest in Ephesus. But before we see how the gospel impacted social norms, we get two verses about Paul’s travel plans (vv. 21-22). This gives a glimpse of what’s to come in the book of Acts. Paul plans on returning to Jerusalem via Macedonia and Achaia. Then he hopes to fulfill his desire to preach in Rome (cf. Rom 1:13). The Spirit prompts this decision, even though he lets Paul know that trials await him in Jerusalem (20:22-23; 21:10-11). Paul apparently wrote 1 Corinthians during his time here in Ephesus. He sent the letter ahead with Timothy and Erastus (1 Cor 16:5-10), and he later visited Corinth himself (Acts 20:1-2).

Paul’s purpose for visiting Jerusalem was to give the poor Jewish believers an offering from the Gentile churches. The gift is a wonderful picture of unity and generosity (cf. Rom 15:25-28; 1 Cor 16:1-4; 2 Cor 8–9). Paul sent his companions, Timothy and Erastus, ahead of him while he remained in Ephesus for a while to allow for these preparations (Johnson, Let’s Study Acts, 239). We should observe in this passage Paul’s heart for evangelism and also his care for the church and for the poor. Let’s follow his example.

In verses 23-41 we read the last recorded event in Paul’s stay in Ephesus. It’s a vivid picture of what happens when people exalt Jesus instead of idols. Paul’s gospel-centered, Jesus-exalting, Spirit-empowered ministry impacted the local economy and caused an uproar. The “disturbance” begins with a man named Demetrius, a leader among the silversmiths (v. 24). These craftsmen made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis. People would purchase them as souvenirs and for home altars. These have been found throughout the Mediterranean world. John Polhill describes this temple:

The temple of Artemis was indeed a hub of Ephesian economic life. It was an impressive building, some 165 feet by 345 feet in dimension and built on a platform 240 by 420 feet. The entire edifice was elaborately adorned in brilliant colors and gold leaf. The altar area was 20 feet square and contained a massive image of the goddess with a veiled head, with animals and birds decorating her head and lower body and numerous breasts from her waist to her neck. The animals and breasts were symbolic of her status as the ancient Asian Mother Goddess, the goddess of nature who was believed to protect and preserve the fecundity of all living things. (Acts, 408–9)

This temple grew so wealthy that it became the main financial institution of Asia, receiving deposits and making loans (ibid.). Clearly, Artemis and the god of money were tied closely together in Ephesus.

The angry Demetrius gathers a crew of craftsmen and delivers his speech (vv. 25-27). Here’s his argument: Paul’s preaching threatens the craftsmen’s idol-making business—both its profitability and its reputation; Paul is misleading people by proclaiming that gods made with hands aren’t gods (cf. 17:24,29). To these claims he adds a third argument: Paul’s preaching threatens to rob our world-renowned goddess of her rightful glory. This assertion was meant to stir up the emotions of patriotic Ephesians. In making it, he essentially said, “To attack Artemis is to attack Ephesus” (Polhill, Acts, 410).

Demetrius has no interest in trying to learn what Paul is teaching. He’s driven ultimately by greed (“which is idolatry,” Col 3:5), not by his love for the goddess. He’s driven by dollars, not doctrine. Many today may not bow down to a statue, but millions bow to the idol of money—oblivious to the fact that it can never satisfy or provide ultimate security (Eccl 5:10; 1 Tim 6:6-10).

What do people do when their idols are threatened? If they don’t repent and look to Jesus instead of idols, then they get angry. That’s what happens in this story. Instead of saying, “Jesus is Lord. Let’s either find a new profession or make some new products,” the craftsmen decide to assault the messenger. Chaos ensues. Since the wild rioters can’t get to Paul, they take Paul’s companions into the amphitheater, which seated around twenty-four thousand people (v. 29). Paul tries to enter the scene and speak on behalf of his brothers Gaius (cf. 20:4) and Aristarchus (cf. 27:2), but Paul’s friends (including some high-ranking officers) plead with him to avoid the mob (vv. 30-31). The scene is one of total chaos, with one group shouting one thing and another group shouting something else and some people not even knowing why they are assembled (v. 32)!

The Alexander moment adds to the confusion (v. 33). We aren’t told why the Jews put him forward. It was probably to distance themselves from the Christians. But before he can deliver his speech, his voice is drowned out by a two-hour chant: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” (v. 34).

Paul and his companions encountered much persecution in Ephesus from the Jews (20:19) and from the Ephesians (1 Cor 16:8-9; also consider 1 Cor 15:32 and 2 Cor 1:8-9 as possible allusions to this riot). But the Lord delivered his ambassador. On this occasion God used the city clerk—the chief administrative officer—to prevent this ordeal from turning into a violent riot. The clerk was the city’s liaison to the Roman provincial government of Asia, which had its seat in Ephesus. If local authorities couldn’t control the citizenry, then some of the city’s self-governing privileges—enjoyed under the empire’s authority—would be jeopardized.

The clerk basically says the worship and glory of Artemis stand secure. The rise of Christianity, he feels, poses no threat to Ephesus’s reputation as keeper of the grand temple. He asserts that no earthly movement can threaten one whose image dropped from the heavens. Then he deals with the legal ramifications of the gathering. He states that the two Christians whom they had seized were not guilty of any crime, but if anyone was guilty, it was the Ephesians who were running the risk of being charged with unlawful assembly (Polhill, Acts, 413). The assembly is thus dismissed, and the uproar ceases (20:1).

This story shows us how we advance the kingdom of Christ. It’s not by weapons, force, or violence. Paul preaches the gospel; people get converted; they renounce sin and idolatry; and by the power of the Spirit, the whole social order is impacted. Don’t underestimate the power the gospel. Keep exalting Christ in cities filled with idols.

When Paul writes his letter to the Ephesians later, he says the believers in Christ are joined together, growing “into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph 2:21). The church comprised of individuals on common mission is God’s real temple! He says, “In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit” (2:22). The power of Christ in his people stood in stark contrast to the renowned Ephesian temple. One had life. The other was lifeless.

We are made to worship but not to worship idols. Exalt Jesus, who comes to reside in repentant people, transforming them from the inside out.