17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. 20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. Acts19:17-20
It was a pretty expensive bonfire! A drachma was a silver coin equating to about a day's wages. The scrolls burned in the wake of the "Sceva Incident" were valued at 50,000 times a day's wage!
This gives us some idea of the stakes involved for those who Paul wrote his letter to.
Ephesus was the most important city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). It had a harbor that at that time opened into the Aegean Sea. Because it was also at an intersection of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. It had a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (or Artemis in Greek)
There were many temptations in Ephesus!
The Sceva Incident taught God's people to be whole-hearted in their commitment to God. There was no room for divided loyalties.
The act of repentance is often described as a 180-degree turn.
The Christians in Ephesus were:
1. Filled with a sense of awe before God.
2. They really believed.
3. They confessed their sins
4. They broke with the past in a radical way (their temptations went up in smoke!)
When this happened, God's Message spread even faster. This is counter-intuitive: One would think that the high cost would turn people away, but it seems that people were (and are) longing for the "pearl of great price."
What are you willing to give up in your pursuit of Christ?
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
