It's really wonderful to read of the miracles that took place in Ephesus! It is important to notice that the miracles did not take place in isolation. They took place in an environment of regular teaching, worship, dedication and sacrifice.
Paul taught the folk in Ephesus for two whole years. They faced opposition and criticism but remained enthusiastic and faithful. There were sacrifices made - from his other letters we know that Paul worked as a self-supporting missionary in all his church planting endeavours. We will also see a little later in the chapter that the congregation were willing to leave behind their old lives and that there was great awe and respect for God.
From the above observations I think it is safe to say that the folk in Ephesus were on a solid foundation, well-grounded and not caught up in sensation-seeking, focussing only on the miracles (although there were some adherents to the Ephesian church that were doing this - we'll look at them tomorrow...)
The other important thing about the miracles is that we encounter this idea of "praying by proxy" for the first time here - that people could bring an object belonging to the sick or possessed person to Paul for prayer and healing would take place. We also read elsewhere in Acts we read that people were healed when Peter's shadow fell on them (Acts 5:15).
This fulfils a promise Jesus made to the disciples: "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. (Jn.14:12)
Very often we are tempted to think that the age of miracles is past. But when God's people come together in awe, dedication and commitment for teaching, fellowship and worship, great things happen.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
