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Acts 19:1–5. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul, having passed through the upper countries, arrived at Ephesus and, finding some disciples there, said to them: Have you received the Holy Spirit when you believed? They said to him: we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit. He said to them: What were you baptized into? They answered: in John's baptism. Paul said: John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in him who should come after him, that is, in Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. These, from “some of the disciples,” who did not even know what the Holy Spirit was, differed in many ways from the other disciples, because from the words “that they should believe in Him who would come after him,” it is clear that they did not believe in Christ either. He did not say that John’s baptism is nothing, but that it is imperfect. How did they, being in Ephesus, receive the baptism of John? Perhaps they were traveling to Jerusalem at that time and returned from there without even receiving information about Christ. Doesn’t he tell them, “Do you believe in Jesus?” But what does it say: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Paul knew that they did not have the Holy Spirit, but he had a desire to say so that, having learned what they were missing, they themselves would demand it. Acts 19:6–7. And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak in other tongues and prophesy. There were about twelve of them all. They did not see the Spirit because He is invisible; but some proof of His presence subject to the senses was the gift of tongues: one spoke Persian, another in Roman, the third in some other language; and from external signs it was clear that the Spirit spoke in everyone. Acts 19:8. Arriving at the synagogue, he fearlessly preached for three months, talking and confirming about the Kingdom of God. What does “fearlessly” mean? He exposed himself to dangers or began to speak even more clearly, without obscuring his teaching. Look: everywhere Paul enters the synagogues and always leaves the same way, since everywhere he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. Acts 19:9–10. But as some became hardened and did not believe, slandering the way of the Lord before the people, he left them, separated the disciples, and preached daily in the school of a certain Tyrannus. This continued for up to two years, so that all the inhabitants of Asia heard the sermon about the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Luke calls Christ the way, of whom it is said that He is the way (see John 14:6). Or the path calls the true faith that Paul preached. And with the words “he separated the disciples,” the instruction is given so that those who believe in the Son of God should distance themselves from those who revile Him. Acts 19:11–12. God worked many miracles with the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs and aprons from his body were placed on the sick, and their illnesses ceased, and evil spirits came out of them Not only at the time when Paul wore “handkerchiefs and aprons,” they touched them, but they also took them with them and placed them on the sick. But pay attention to the bitterness of the Jews. They were not touched by the fact that the clothes of Christ’s disciples produced miracles, although the miracles from the scarves and aprons and from the shadows of the disciples were greater than the miracles that Christ performed. The scarves and head-heavy pieces and ubrusts were made of linen; the head heavy men were thrown on the head, and the Ubrists were held in the hands of those who could not carry the head heavy men; The purpose of both is to wipe sweat, saliva, tears, etc. from the face. Acts 19:13. Even some of the wandering Jewish exorcists began to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying: We conjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preaches. They did not want to believe, but wanted to cast out demons in the name of Jesus, because these words clearly expose that these exorcists conjured unclean spirits in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, not as believers in Jesus, but as those who tested Him. And the expression “they began to use” shows that, although they did not hope for success, they nevertheless laid hands on them in order to achieve the goal of the test. Therefore, after a little, they paid for their recklessness. Acts 19:14–17. This was done by some seven sons of the Jewish high priest Sceva. But the evil spirit answered: I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you? And a man in whom there was an evil spirit rushed at them, and, having overcome them, took such power over them that they, naked and beaten, ran out of that house. This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Although the sons of Sceva did this secretly, their powerlessness is revealed. It is worthy of surprise that the evil spirit did not contribute to the seduction of these spellcasters, but exposed and discovered their deception. It seems to me that he was very irritated, just as someone, oppressed in extreme danger by some pitiful and insignificant creature, wants to pour out all his anger on this creature. Acts 19:18. Many of those who believed came, confessing and revealing their deeds. Every believer should tell his sins and, by exposing himself, renounce doing the same thing again in order to receive justification by virtue of what is said in Scripture: “Speak... in order to be justified” (Is. 43:26). Acts 19:19–21. And quite a few of those who were engaged in sorcery, having collected their books, burned them in front of everyone, and added up their prices, and they turned out to be fifty thousand drachmas. With such power the word of the Lord grew and became powerful. When this was done, Paul decided in spirit, having passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying: Having been there, I must see Rome also. Seeing that these books were no longer useful for anything, those who practiced sorcery “burned them in front of everyone.” The Ephesians were so devoted to idols and magic that magical books were valued very highly as those that contained the best in life. Having believed in Christ, they did not sell these books, but burned them, firstly, so that someone would not become infected with their soul-destroying ulcer, and also so that they would not gain anything from their sale. Since money received for a dog or income from idolatry was forbidden to be brought to God, they did not recognize it as a righteous deed to lay down the silver obtained in this way at the feet of the apostles. Acts 19:22. And, having sent two of those who served him, Timothy and Erast, to Macedonia, he himself remained for a while in Asia. He sent disciples to Macedonia to announce that he would come, and to instill in the Macedonians a stronger desire to see him. As for the fact that he himself remained for a while in Asia, this was so necessary, because in Asia there was a tyranny of philosophers. Acts 19:23–24. At that time there was a considerable rebellion against the path of the Lord, for a certain silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver churches of Artemis and brought considerable profit to the artists, By silver churches, perhaps, small arks are meant. Look: everywhere idolatry was defended because of money. And this Dimitri was fussing about money. He was busy not because their wicked religion was in danger, but because he was deprived of the means to make purchases; because he knew that he was deceiving people by making them silver gods and silver arks, and he was afraid that his cunning would be exposed by the true teaching of Paul; He was also afraid that the church of Artemis, which was in Ephesus, would disappear altogether, and thus predicted the disappearance of the church, which happened. Acts 19:25–27. having gathered them and other similar artisans, he said: friends! you know that our well-being depends on this craft. Meanwhile, you see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia, this Paul, with his convictions, seduced a considerable number of people, saying that those made by human hands are not gods. And this threatens us with the fact that not only our craft will come into contempt, but also the church of the great goddess Artemis will mean nothing, and the greatness of her, whom all Asia and the universe reveres, will be undermined. He drew their attention to the danger: we, he says, are in danger of falling into hunger from our craft. However, what he said could lead them to true worship of God. If, as he says, this man (Paul) is so strong that there is a danger that he will convert everyone, and if from him there is a danger to what belongs to the gods, then one should think about what kind of God he is. Everywhere this Dimitri reduces his speech to his craft. “I seduced a considerable number of people with my beliefs.” Not by violence, but this is how one should convince. It is enough that Paul said “they are not gods.” If the inconsistency of this cult is so clearly exposed, then it should have been rejected long ago; if it has strength within itself, then it is impossible to eradicate it so quickly. Acts 19:28–29. Having heard this, they were filled with rage and began to shout, saying: Great is Artemis of Ephesus! And the whole city was filled with confusion. Having seized the Macedonians Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's companions, they unanimously rushed to the spectacle. They became enraged when they heard about Artemis and about the undermining of the craft, because the mob tends to get excited and inflamed by any thing, even an empty one. They had gods in the city; and they assumed a threatening position in order to somehow restore respect for the gods with a cry and drown out what had happened. They shouted incessantly, as if fearing that the veneration of the gods would not fade away. Acts 19:30–32. When Paul wanted to enter the people, the disciples did not allow him. Also, some of the Asian leaders, being his friends, sent to him and asked him not to appear at the spectacle. Meanwhile, some shouted one thing, and others another, for the meeting was disorderly, and most of those gathered did not know why they had gathered. The disciples did not allow Paul to intrude into the excited crowd - so much did all the believers love him. And Paul listens to them because he was not ambitious. “Most of those gathered did not know why they had gathered.” This is already the property of a crowd: it rushes here or there unconsciously, like fire thrown into a forest. Acts 19:33–34. At the suggestion of the Jews, Alexander was summoned from among the people. Having given a sign with his hand, Alexander wanted to speak to the people. When they found out that he was a Jew, they all shouted with one voice, and for about two hours they shouted: Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Why did Alexander want to “speak to the people” in justification? He wasn't accused, was he? To seize a moment, give everything a different turn and calm the anger of the people. Acts 19:35–36. The guardian of order, having calmed the people, said: Men of Ephesus! What person does not know that the city of Ephesus is a servant of the great goddess Artemis and Diopetus? If there is no dispute about this, then you need to be calm and not act rashly. The scribe answers fairly and reproachfully; did not say “what person does not know Artemis?”, but “who does not know that our city “is a servant of the great goddess Artemis. .?” So why are you making noise like it's an unknown thing? The expression “minister” actually means the servant who sweeps or cleanses the church. Diopetus refers to the domed church of Zeus or the image of Pallas Athena, called Palladium, about which the Hellenes had a myth that it was thrown from the sky by Zeus, and not made by people; This is for the amazement of naive people. Acts 19:37–40. And you brought these men who neither robbed the church of Artemidin, nor blasphemed your goddess. If Demetrius and other artists with him have a complaint against someone, that is, there are judicial assemblies and there are proconsuls: let them complain against each other. And if you are looking for something else, then it will be decided in the legal assembly. For we are in danger of being accused of indignation for what has happened now, since there is no reason by which we could justify such a gathering. Having said this, he dissolved the meeting. He meekly reproaches them, showing that they acted rashly and that they should not have held a general meeting for private reasons. You might be interested in: