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Act_19:10-22
At his first brief call at Ephesus, the field of labor among the Jews had seemed very promising, and they manifested some eagerness of desire to hear his doctrine more fully.
Hence his conditional promise to return to them; and, as we are thus prepared to expect, we find him engaged during the first three mouths after his return in reasoning with the Jews in their synagogue, and pressing the Gospel upon their acceptance. Many received it: but many were hardened; and finding that the latter were going rapidly from passive disbelief into active hostility, and that they began to speak evil of the way of salvation by Jesus which he opened, he felt it his duty to abandon his attendance at the synagogue, and withdraw the converts from the unpleasantness of their abuse, and the influence of their persuasion and example. In those early times, there were no places specially set apart for religious meetings; the disciples met in any suitable room which might be in the house of any one of their number; and if the congregation was too large for any such room, the use of some other suitable place was obtained by interest or hire. In this case, they obtained the use of the large school-room of one Tyrrannus, who may, or may not have been himself a convert. If not, it was probably hired just as the school-room at the corner of the street in which this is written, is very frequently let out for lectures in the evening after school hours. We suppose this was the case here; for Tyrrannus would only want his school-room by day; and Paul, although he preached there daily, would only require it in the evening, as both he and the disciples were occupied during the day time in their various employments.
In this school-room the apostle for two years diligently set forth the truths of the Gospel to all who chose to attend, whether Jews or Greeks. In a city like Ephesus, a preacher so eloquent and so cogent in reasoning as Paul, could not be hid; his reputation spread quickly; and soon the room became crowded, not only with Ephesians, but with strangers from all the country round, and indeed from distant parts, who were continually resorting to the city on business or pleasure, and who, like most provincials on visiting a metropolitan city, were more eager than even the residents to see and to hear things new. Thus Paul enabled, through those who thus heard him, and then returned to their homes, to preach the Gospel of Christ far around, without quitting Ephesus. We would not contend, indeed, that during the two or three years of his stay, he never quitted the city. There is indeed some possibility that he made a short trip across the Aegean Sea to Corinth; but the expressions which he himself uses to the Ephesians at a subsequent period, are unfavorable to the idea that he was frequently, or for any length of time, absent from the city. But although it was quite possible in such a place as Ephesus that, as declared, “all that dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus,” without his leaving the city at all; and that without this, he might have done what one of his heathen opponents accuses him of—that “not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there be no gods that are made with hands,”—yet, it is hard to suppose that he who was now in that “Asia” which he had been formerly restrained from entering, did not himself or by his friends, endeavor to extend the Gospel to the various cities which lay within easy distance around. The seven celebrated churches in Asia, of which Ephesus was one, were either founded by him or already existed. If founded by him as this one was, it must have been during this period, unless it be supposed that he visited some of them on his journey to Ephesus, by way of Galatia and Phrygia; or if already founded by others, he could not fail to interest himself in their welfare—and we may be sure that he did this, whether he visited them or not. It is, however, remarkable, that the epistle to this Ephesian church, is the only one addressed by Paul to any of the seven churches; and that in his writings the only recognition he gives of the existence of the other six is in an allusion to that of Laodicea, in Col_4:16, which seems to show that he had written to the Laodiceans an epistle, no longer extant, unless it be the Epistle to the Ephesians, which by those who take that view is regarded as a sort of circular letter to all the churches in the province, of which Ephesus was the chief city. Note: That both external and internal evidence are wholly against the notion that “either Laodicea by itself, or Ephesus with a cluster of sister communities, was the designed recipient of this epistle,” has been ably shown by the Rev. Professor Eadie, in the Introduction to his admirable Commentary on the Greek Text of the Epistle of Paul to the Ephesians, which has reached us while correcting these sheets.
The abundant and signal display of miraculous powers is mentioned, as having been at this place a most effective instrument for the advance of the Gospel. So frequent and so certain were Paul’s acts of supernatural healing, that the people came to have such confidence in the power that rested in him, as to conceive that handkerchiefs and aprons, which had been brought in contact with his person, derived from him virtue to heal those to whom they were applied. And Luke assures its that this was no delusion of theirs, for that “diseases departed from them, and evil spirits went out of them.” But it does not follow that all who thus received benefit, nor even all who believed that he possessed supernatural powers, became believers in that Jesus whom he preached. Ephesus was the chief seat of the black art at this time, and the popular mind was familiar with the pretension to supernatural gifts and endowments, and was, in a measure, hardened against the due effect of miracles, by their experience in sorceries and charms. Indeed, the incantations in use here were widely celebrated under the name of “the Ephesian charms.” The most famous of these charms sounds marvellously like the gibberish of modern conjurers, “Aski Cataski Lix Tetrax Damnameneus Aision.” Nor were those arts merely left to strolling vagabonds, as a means for extracting a few pence from idle women and ignorant men, but were believed by the educated, and studied as a science by philosophers and men of letters. They wrote many books on these matters, some of which, opening the arcana of the occult arts, were highly valued, and sold for immense sums. It is easy, therefore, to understand that many of those who believed in and availed themselves of Paul’s supernatural powers, went away with the impression that he had acquired some superior skill which had not yet been made known in books. One incident, however, occurred to stagger them, and had altogether a very salutary effect.
Jews and Gentiles were equally believers in magical and occult arts. The Jews, however, had one form of procedure peculiar to themselves. This was the exorcism of demons; and they had various adjurations, ascribed to Solomon, by which these might be effectually cast out. Some itinerant exorcists, the seven sons of one Sceva, a scribe, observing the cures wrought by Paul in the name of Jesus, conceived that this name was used by him as a kind of spell, and was in fact his secret. They, therefore, determined to try their skill with it. So in their next experiment, their adjuration was “in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.” The evil spirit answered, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” And on these words the man in whom the evil spirit was, flew at them, and in the fury of such terrible strength as enabled the Gaderene demoniac to rend the chains from his hands, he mastered all the seven, and handled them severely before they could escape, naked and wounded, from his presence. This incident made a prodigious sensation at Ephesus. The report of it spread far and wide; and at the conquering name of that Jesus whom Paul preached, the sorcerers turned pale. Indeed, many of the believers themselves, who had not thought it necessary to abandon the practice of curious arts, nor to part with their precious books, now so clearly saw their error, that they produced their books and unreluctantly made a bonfire of them. Some curious person made a calculation of the money they were worth, and found that it amounted to fifty thousand pieces of silver, which, if these were drachmae, would be equal to about £1,800—a large sum to be thus conscientiously sacrificed by persons few of whom were probably of the wealthy class.