Acts #53 - The Power of Jesus

2021-08-23

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Acts 19:13-22 (NIV) Read by: Ginger Montalvo Have you ever found yourself trying to use the name and the power of Jesus for your own gain? In today’s passage, Luke contrasts two groups of people and their response when they recognize the power of Jesus. One one hand we see the seven sons of Sceva, and on the other hand we have the people of Ephesus, particularly a number of people who practiced sorcery. The sons of Sceva are a group of Jewish men who try to cast out a demon by invoking the name of Jesus without a...

Acts 19:13-22 (NIV)
Read by: Ginger Montalvo

Have you ever found yourself trying to use the name and the power of Jesus for your own gain?

In today’s passage, Luke contrasts two groups of people and their response when they recognize the power of Jesus. One one hand we see the seven sons of Sceva, and on the other hand we have the people of Ephesus, particularly a number of people who practiced sorcery. The sons of Sceva are a group of Jewish men who try to cast out a demon by invoking the name of Jesus without actually knowing him or submitting to him. This does not end well for them.

The people in Ephesus and especially those practicing sorcery, were all too familiar with all kinds of magic incantations and pagan practices. As we’ll see in tomorrow’s passage Ephesus was a city that was known for its pagan worship. So, while it may sound strange to us, sorcery in that time was much more normal and less terrifying than it is today. Sorcerers would help people deal with things that they could not control and charge them to do so, albeit by means that did not honor the LORD. But when they recognize the power of Jesus, their reaction can actually teach us a lot about what it means to submit to Jesus.

----------REFLECT----------

1. What moment in this passage surprised you? What did you not expect?

2. The sons of Sceva get whooped because they try to baptize actions that are not actually submitted or empowered by the LORD by saying “in the name of Jesus.” How are you tempted to do this? To associate something you’re doing with Jesus without actually following His leadership?

3. One drachma is equal to one day’s wages, 50,000 drachmas are equal to 137 years of wages. Those who saw Jesus' power not only confessed and repented, they abandoned that in which they had placed their hope and it cost them a lot. We may not have sorcery scrolls, but we absolutely have things that we place our hope in that pale in comparison to Jesus’ power. What is that for you?

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Bible Project: Acts 13-28 Overview >>

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