Acts 19:11-20 meaning

Many instances of healing and spiritual warfare are recorded in Acts 19:11-20 during Paul’s two-year ministry in Ephesus. Paul will later write a letter to the Ephesians where he will exhort them to awake each day and don their spiritual Roman centurion uniform and do battle against spiritual forces (Ephesians 6:13-17). Paul asserts there that we do not really fight against people, but against spiritual enemies (Ephesians 6:12).

Now on this, his third missionary journey, Paul has returned to Ephesus. After three months of preaching in the synagogue, he was rejected by some of the Jews (Acts 19:8). He began teaching in a local lecture hall every day (Acts 19:9). He taught the word of God in Ephesus for two years, so that everyone in the province of Asia heard about Jesus Christ.

During Paul’s two years in Ephesus, he did more than teach. Miracles were performed through him that evidenced that he was speaking the true message which the Almighty God wanted the world to hear:

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out (vs. 11-12).

Luke, the author of Acts, attributes these miracles to God, not to Paul. Paul is a mere man. Paul has no power on his own. Apart from God’s grace, Paul was the worst of sinners, to the point of persecuting God’s people (1 Timothy 1:15-17, Galatians 1:13). But now that Paul is obeying God’s will for his life, God is using Paul to bring other people to faith in Jesus.

Paul is preaching the gospel and persuading people to believe in Jesus Christ. The word of God is effective in its purpose (Isaiah 55:11). But to further verify the truth of what Paul is teaching, God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands. Here the miracles are called extraordinary given how out of the norm, impossible, and incredible they are. They are miracles no one could fake.

The extraordinary miracles are specifically acts of healing, both physical and spiritual, that are demonstrably real. Elsewhere in scripture, supernatural healings are called “signs” or “attesting miracles” (John 2:23, Acts 2:22) because they attest to anyone who witnesses them how the one performing the miracle is a genuine ambassador of the Living God. Most of the miracles Jesus performed were those that undid the corruption of sin and death in the world, making the lame walk, the blind see, freeing people from demonic possession, bringing peace to those suffering chronic pain, and bringing the dead back to life (John 5:1-9, Mark 8:22-26, Matthew 17:14-21, Luke 8:43-48, John 11:38-44).

Jesus’s miracles attested to the fact that He really was God’s Son as He claimed. Jesus made it clear that the purpose of these miracles was as a testimony. He even chided His disciple Phillip for asking to see the Father, replying that at the least he should believe the Father is in Him because of the works He did, which would include miracles (John 14:11).

Here Paul is performing similar extraordinary miracles so that anyone who sees the miracles will say, if they are honest with themselves, “God is working through this man, Paul. Humans cannot wish away diseases. Only God can instantly change a sick man into a healthy man. If God works through Paul, I had better listen to what Paul says. God speaks through his words just as He heals through his hands.”

These miracles were so extraordinary that people began taking bits of Paul’s clothes or rags he had held. They took these rags and laid them on sick people. This may sound superstitious, and yet—it worked! This might have tempted Paul to begin to focus on himself and use this power in ways that were self-serving. But as we see throughout Acts and Paul’s writings, Paul actively resisted this temptation, even earning his own living rather than charging for his services lest he hinder the gospel or abuse his authority (1 Corinthians 9:12, 18).

Common bits of fabric like handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched Paul’s body (or that he had worn or handled) were carried away from him to the sick. Paul was probably not distributing his personal articles of clothing for the purpose of healing. Paul healed to the glory of God, by God’s power, so that others would believe the gospel.

It could be the case that Paul’s handkerchiefs or aprons were taken, such as a rag he used to clean his face being snatched the moment he set it down. Regardless, these handkerchiefs and aprons were effective. When they touched the bodies of the sick, whether Paul was there or not, the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out (v. 12). Men and women with physical ailments would suddenly be totally healthy. People controlled by evil spirits would immediately regain control of their senses as their demons would be banished from their bodies.

Paul, of course, had no power or authority to make these handkerchiefs and aprons heal the sick and cast out evil spirits. It was God who was performing extraordinary miracles by his hands. Paul was simply God’s tool, His vessel, His servant. But God allowed these scraps of clothing to successfully heal any sick person they touched. This would serve as a witness to ultimately drive people to listen to the gospel. It could also be that God was rewarding their faith, even though their understanding of God was elementary. In a real sense, all of us have an elementary understanding of God, so God meets all of us where we are (Romans 11:33-35).

A healing handkerchief that Paul had touched would further attest to Paul’s authentic role as a messenger of God. Every healing, by Paul’s hand or Paul’s clothing, would further prove that Paul should be listened to. Thus, the gospel’s audience would increase, as would the persuasiveness of the gospel. This was God’s power and God’s message.

And while Paul’s hands worked miracles by the will of God, some opportunistic healers who did not have faith in God now attempt to replicate these miracles. They copy Paul’s words, as though Paul were speaking magic spells:

But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches” (v. 13).

Luke, the author of Acts, introduces to us a sect of Jewish exorcists who travel throughout Asia, who went from place to place. Their profession is to cast out demons. But as will soon be apparent, these Jewish exorcists do not serve Jesus, but attempt to use His name to further their own interests. They do not actually believe in Jesus. They are more akin to sorcerers, like Simon and Elymas from earlier events in Acts (Acts 8:9, 13:6, 8).

These traveling exorcists have heard or witnessed how Paul, in the name of Jesus, casts demons out of those who had the evil spirits. These exorcists wrongly believe Paul’s power is in the words he speaks, or by the name of the Lord Jesus which he invokes. They view the name of Jesus more like a charm or spell that can be used to accomplish their will. However, the name of Jesus is the name above all names.

They attempted to speak this name over people suffering from demon possession. It is as though they believe they have found a new incantation or spiritual therapy to ply on demoniacs (people possessed by demons), so that they can become famous like Paul and, likely, expect to profit financially.

In particular, there was a group of brothers who were exorcists who attempted to free a demoniac by commanding the demon away in the name of the Lord Jesus, that powerful name about whom the famous healer Paul preaches.

There were Seven of these brothers, Seven sons of one Sceva, who was a Jewish chief priest. These sons of the chief priest were doing this copycat exorcism (v. 14) on a certain man with a powerful evil spirit in him. Since these exorcists are calling upon a name they do not believe in or know—the name of the Lord Jesus—the exorcism goes poorly for them.

This event took place in someone’s house (v. 16), and we can imagine the seven exorcists standing in a circle around the possessed man or in a group in front of him. All together, they command the evil spirit to leave the man. Perhaps in unison, these seven men chant, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches” (v. 13).

The demon is puzzled by this foolhardy attempt to command it. The exorcists speak names that the demon knows, but God’s power is not working through them. There is no authority in their words. The Holy Spirit of God is not dwelling inside of them to empower them to do anything. They are in over their heads.

They chant, “We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”

The demon responds.

And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (v. 15).

The evil spirit unsurprisingly knows who Jesus us is. As an evil spirit, this demon once was an angel who served God, and knew the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But this evil spirit joined Satan’s rebellion against God. This evil spirit would certainly recognize the name of Jesus. The spirit knew that God’s Son had come to earth as a man (Mark 1:23-24). Every demon who encountered Jesus in person was terrified of Him (Matthew 8:29). They knew Jesus had the authority to send them away from the earth into a spiritual prison known as the abyss (Luke 8:31).

This demon in Acts 19 is not afraid of these exorcists, even if they invoke the all-powerful name of Jesus. This evil spirit of course recognizes Jesus’s name, but Jesus Himself is not present. This evil spirit acknowledges too that “I know about Paul.”

We know little of the spiritual world, only that there is a constant war between rebellious supernatural powers and God’s angels (Ephesians 6:11-13, Revelation 12:7-9). But this evil spirit has apparently heard about or observed the extraordinary miracles God has been performing through Paul.

This evil spirit has heard of his fellow evil spirits being cast out of the possessed, even at the brush of handkerchiefs which Paul has touched. This demon has heard of Paul’s reputation and knows God is working through him. If Paul had been there to adjure the demon by Jesus’s name to leave the man, the demon would have left.

But these seven exorcists are not Paul. They do not have handkerchiefs or aprons which Paul has touched. They have no affiliation with Paul or Jesus.

The evil spirit then asks the exorcists, “but who are you?” The question comes across as a challenge. As though the evil spirit is scoffing at these men. They are not backed by Paul or Jesus. They have entered a dangerous situation without real power.

Since the seven exorcists present no threat to the evil spirit, he attacks them:

And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded (v. 16).

The evil spirit uses the body of the man whom he possessed to assault the exorcists. The demonic encounters in the New Testament are similar in that the evil spirits by themselves don’t necessarily harm people, but when they take control of human bodies they can work violence and influence (Mark 5:3-5, Acts 16:16-17).

Again, we do not know the full extent of the spiritual warfare going on in the unseen world around us, but we do see that a demon-possessed man can be very dangerous. Jesus notably cast out many demons from a violent man on the shores of the lake of Galilee. But here in Acts 19, this evil spirit alone has the strength to assault seven men. Using the body of the man in whom the evil spirit was living, he leaped on the seven exorcists and subdued and overpowered every single one of them.

They were beaten so badly by this possessed man that when at last they managed to escape the situation, they fled out of that house naked and wounded. They were physically injured, probably bruised and torn by the man’s fists, teeth, and nails, as well as naked. The demon-possessed man had ripped their clothes off them. It was a terrible turn of events. And it was not kept private either. Word of what happened spread throughout the city:

This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified (v. 17).

Perhaps the exorcists themselves told their story, so that it became known to all. Everyone, both Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard of the evil spirit who overpowered and wounded the seven sons of Sceva the chief priest.

The peoples’ reaction to this event is interesting. Everyone who heard of it naturally felt afraid; fear fell upon them all. But their fear was apparently a good fear because the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified.

Scripture tells us that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge as well as of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). There are many instances in scripture where someone is told not to fear something besides God, then told to fear God. Humans will fear something. And we worship what we fear. This is why scripture exhorts us to point our fear toward the proper target: God.

Two examples follow:

• Exodus 20:20. Moses tells Israel not to fear dying because they are hearing God’s words, but rather to fear sinning. God’s presence is frightening because He is God and we are His creation. But the real thing to fear is operating outside His design in disobedience to His commands. This would be an example of properly pointing fear at God, recognizing the harm we do ourselves when we refuse to follow in His ways.
• Luke 1:30. The angel Gabriel assures Mary by telling her not to fear. In this case, the inference is not to fear all the rejection and shame that might come from being misunderstood as a virgin who is with child. Then in Luke 1:50, Mary exalts God declaring that He shows mercy on those who fear Him. Again the point is to have a proper fear of the Lord.

The people were afraid of the harm evil spirits could work against humans—one by itself could beat up seven men. But they likewise concluded that, based on the failure of the seven sons of Sceva, the name of the Lord Jesus was not merely something that could be wielded like a club. Rather the name of the Lord Jesus was a name to be honored above all other names.

Jesus’s name was not a magical spell and His power could not be used by people who did not believe in Him. The contrast between the seven sons of Sceva and Paul was that Paul could actually cast evil spirits out in the name of the Lord Jesus. This was because Paul was submitted to the power and authority of Jesus, and Jesus was working through him as a chosen vessel (Acts 9:15-16).

This served to direct the Jews and Greeks who lived in Ephesus to pay attention to Paul. Paul was the real thing. Jesus was clearly on Paul’s side. The name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified because everyone could see that His power was real.

There is something of a parallel in this contrast between false exorcists vs. Paul and the priests of Baal vs. Elijah in the Old Testament. The priests of Baal called for fire from heaven to light their altars; they screamed and cut themselves to try to make a miracle happen. But God lit Elijah’s altar, proving to the watching crowd that Elijah was the prophet of God, and the priests of Baal had no power (1 Kings 18:20-40).

These miracles and exorcisms were not the point; their purpose was to guide people to the message of the gospel. Since Paul was the only one who could cast out evil spirits in Jesus’s name, he was the only one trustworthy and reliable when it came to explaining the things of God.

His credibility and audience increased now because he was the one through whom God worked. The people of the city, hearing about this incident with the evil spirit, now came to fear Jesus and Paul but not the Jewish exorcists. They would now perhaps come to the hall of Tyrannus where Paul taught daily to hear the gospel of Jesus and learn of His ways:

Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices (v. 18).

We see a life transformation here. Luke tells us that Many also of those who had believed kept coming. They had already put faith in Jesus Christ and were justified in the sight of God. But they kept coming to hear Paul teach them how to live in right fellowship with God.

Paul wrote a quarter of the books of the New Testament. It is probable that these two years of daily teaching involved many of the spiritual principles he would put down on paper in his letters to the various churches he planted. Paul was not simply giving a gospel presentation every single day. He was teaching those who had believed how to now give up the old life of sin and self-serving, and to live the resurrection life of Jesus according to God’s good design (Colossians 3:10-11).

Many of these new believers were employed in sinful practices. Luke will specify about the many magicians who believed in Jesus, but we can suppose that there were other sinful practices which these new believers were confessing and disclosing. Now that they were reconciled with their good Father God who called them to live separate from sin, they could give up their old, exploitative practices. For the magicians, now that they saw where the true authority over the physical and spiritual world came from—Jesus—they repented of their careers and gave them up.

The worldly, financial sacrifice made by these Ephesian magicians who gave up their magic is incredible:

And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver (v. 19).

These believers who practiced magic show their new devotion to following God’s ways by destroying their magic books, which had great value. It appears that in doing so they were also giving up their livelihood. They did this publicly, bringing their books together, stacking them in a pile, and began burning them in the sight of everyone.

These men and women who practiced magic wanted the other Ephesians to see that they were giving up their former way of life. They wanted to discard the way they used to live and make a clean break from the forces of darkness. They were turning to the light.

Not only is it a public showing of how they will no longer practice magic, the burning of their books is also a wise way to cut themselves off from any temptation to return to their former sinful work. Rather than simply give the books away or forget them in an attic, the magicians permanently get rid of these books. There is no turning back. Everything ahead of them is Jesus.

Luke adds the detail of how costly of a sacrifice this was for the magicians: they counted up the price of the books and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. There is not an exact way to determine how much fifty thousand pieces of silver from first-century Ephesus would equal in today’s money; Luke does not specify what kind of piece of silver they were using. Possibly coins known as denarii. The fifty thousand pieces of silver-worth of books may range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of modern money.

The point is that the books were worth a lot of money all together, which means the new Christians/former magicians were burning a lot of valuable possessions. These believers were willing to lose the world to gain their souls (Matthew 16:26). They could have sold the books and kept the money. But they were doing something much bolder. They were making a clean break from evil.

Luke summarizes the great spiritual change that was happening in the province of Asia during Paul’s ministry there:

So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing (v. 20).

The word of the Lord is God’s message, the good news (gospel) about the Son of God who died for the sins of the world and resurrected to eternal life. All who believe in Him will be with God forever (John 10:28). Those who believe in Him now have the opportunity to live life on this earth in faithful obedience to God, with Jesus as our example to follow, to suffer rejection from the world and its ways, to gain glory and reward in Jesus’s coming kingdom (Philippians 2:5-10, Matthew 6:19-21, 25:21, Revelation 3:21).

The word of the Lord was growing mightily, meaning it was spreading and having impact. More and more people were hearing it. And we know they understood the full impact of it because they were completely turning from their old ways of life. They were being discipled to not only believe in the resurrected Jesus but also to live out His resurrection power in their daily lives.

The number of Ephesians and Asians who were given the opportunity to believe in Jesus was increasing, growing mightily. Not only were many people hearing the word, but the word was prevailing. It was attaining its intended outcome, that people would not only hear it but believe in it. And in believing, they would begin to be effectual doers, not hearers only (James 1:25).

A core goal that can be observed throughout Paul’s writings is his focus on exhorting his disciples to live out their faith. For example, in his letter to the faithful believers in Rome he asserts that we are saved from the penalty of sin and declared righteous before God solely by faith, even as was Abraham (Romans 3:1-3). But Paul also quotes Habakkuk 2:4 and asserts that we actually gain the experience of righteousness, being saved from the power of sin to wreck our lives, through walking by faith (Romans 1:17).

Paul was committed to lead people to believe in Jesus then to walk in faith, believing that the ways of Jesus are the way to gain true fulfillment. Paul also taught throughout his letters that we will all give account to God for the stewardship of our choices (Romans 14:12, 1 Corinthians 3:13-14, 2 Corinthians 5:10). It is inferred that the people burning their monetarily valuable magic books are living out the teachings they have learned from Paul. Since this life change happened during the two years Paul was in Ephesus, we can see that wholesale transformation can occur in a fairly short period of time.

One striking way the gospel has changed the lives of the Ephesians is in their repentance of sorcery and the burning of their spell-books. This probably would have shocked the pagans in that city. To give up all attempts at controlling the gods, controlling fate, controlling other people—and to declare oneself a servant to one God would have been completely counter to the predominant pagan culture. The word was prevailing indeed. We will see in the next section that this transformation will not be well received by some.