God’s Word for You
Acts 19:28-31 Stand up, stand up for Jesus
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, November 21, 2020
28 When they heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with confusion and people rushed into the theater, dragging Gaius and Aristarchus with them (they were Macedonians who were Paul’s traveling companions). 30 Paul wanted to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Some of the asiarchs, who were friendly to him, sent him a message urging him not to go into the theater.
After the silversmith made his accusation, there was an uproar from the crowds. A shout rose up that may have been the kind of thing that was yelled after victories in the Ephesian games in honor of the goddess: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Here it wasn’t just a cheer for “our side,” it must have been chilling for the Christians who were there. Here was a city that was polarized, us against them. The crowd ran to the public theater. This theater is still there today in pretty good condition. It would hold about 25,000 people. Two of Paul’s companions were grabbed and dragged in. They were probably brought on or near the front of the stage in the middle of the shouting crowd.
“Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” was being shouted by everyone, but there was no leadership in this crowd. That’s probably what saved the lives of the two disciples who were grabbed. But what would happen next was anybody’s guess. At any moment a single man with some kind of authority might order their deaths or their release; he might order that Paul be arrested or that the crowd disperse and everybody should go home.
Paul’s desire to throw himself into the crowd and hopefully onto the stage was not just heroics. It was the usual way of addressing a situation like this in Greece. But Paul’s other Christian companions held him back, and there is the amazing detail that the asiarchs even sent word to keep him from going in. Asiarchs were respected men who held a position of authority on a council for one year (after that they kept the title), a council that judged matters in Asia Minor and met there in Ephesus. These men were sympathetic and even friendly toward Paul. It seems that as men of standing in the community and having heard both sides of many arguments over time, they were not swayed so easily by the shouts of the silversmith and the other craftsmen. They had enough wisdom to see through the argument: “What’s good for the craftsmen is good for every Ephesian.” There is more to a city than the income of a few greedy men, and far more to the good of a city’s people than in trickle-down economics. Crowds, however, are often swayed by a loud voice or a catchy slogan that is shouted by many voices.
Jesus said that there would be times when the apostles should pull up their stakes and go to another town rather than allow persecution to reach its violent conclusion. “When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. I tell you the truth, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes” (Matthew 10:23). That is to say, you will not stop having to flee from place to place as long as the world continues, until the Lord once again returns on the Last Day. This is what David did when he was persecuted by Saul. David “kept moving from place to place” (1 Samuel 23:13). The gospel and God’s people will always be opposed by the devil and by the sinful world. Writing about the Second Commandment and the name of God, Luther said:
“The greatest and most difficult part of this Commandment is to defend this name against those who not only misuse it in spiritual matters, but also spread it [their false definition of God’s name] among men. It is not enough that I praise the divine name in prosperity and call upon it in adversity for myself and in my own heart. I must also step into the open and for the sake of God’s honor and name incur the enmity of all men according to Christ’s word: ‘All men will hate you because of me’ (Matthew 10:22).”
Is there any work more difficult than taking a stand for the Lord against the enemies of God, whether those are the people of the world, my own sinful flesh, or the devil himself? But like all things we do from faith, this is what pleases God. This is what gives him glory. This is what we do to thank him for his forgiveness and the promise of everlasting life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.