Read Numbers 29
Read Acts 19
The account of the sons of Sceva in Acts 19:11-20 is almost humorous to me. God is doing great miracles through Paul, so some "itinerant Jewish exorcists" (I wonder how many of those wandered around those days) decide to try a new magic formula. They see Paul performs miracles, so they try casting out demons using the name of Jesus that Paul was proclaiming. It's as if they saw a magician say "abracadabra" and do a neat trick, so they are trying out the magic words.
They end up leaving beaten and naked. What a shameful ending to what they hoped would be a wonderful (and profitable!) trick.
Why could Paul perform miracles "in the name of Jesus" but the sons of Sceva couldn't do a miracle "in the name of Jesus" and were humiliated? Well, the sons of Sceva had no faith. They didn't really believe in who Jesus was or what he did. And the evil spirit knew that they had no real strength and overpowered them.
Though this story is almost humorous for us, there is a lesson. We should be careful to ponder God's Word and the Christian life, to believe firmly in Christ, to understand what we say and do, and live for God's glory. Too often we might pray the Lord's Prayer, or hear "Take eat, the body of Christ for you," or engage in some meaningful activity in the Christian life and forget the significance. Not that that puts us on the same level as the sons of Sceva, but we should remember not to treat God's Word like magic formulas. There is great depth in God's Word and in the faithful response of the disciple, but it is so easy just to go through the motions and expect results.
So, instead, we should examine ourselves, root our sin, confess any misplaced trust or worries or doubts, and believe in Jesus. We have victory in him. Nothing can overpower him, and so if we are in Christ, nothing can overpower us either.
In the end, the fiasco with the sons of Sceva led to the glorifying of Jesus' name. We can rejoice that in spite of the sin in this world (including our sin), the name of Jesus continues to be proclaimed and to give life.
Thanks be to God!
Pray:
Pray from your heart today, asking God to help you to ponder the faith and take it seriously. Ask him to help you live for him today.
Study with me tomorrow,
Pastor Jon
Soli Deo Gloria!
The facinating part of this story to me is men who gave up their livelihood to become Christians. In Ephesus there were magicians who sold "Ephesian Letters" which were enchanted and brought about safe travel, long life, many children, or whatever the customer wanted. These men who burned their books and letter essentially gave up their jobs for Christ.
ReplyDeleteLooking at today's world, how hard is it for us to give up small sins that we continue to come back to, much less give up our entire life. To me this is a remarkable transformation, and one which we should all be able to learn from.