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Acts 19:18–20
“Many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.”
Ephesus was a well-known center for the practice of sorcery, divination, and other magical arts. No ordinary message could break through the superstition and false worship there, but the gospel is no ordinary message. It is, indeed, the power of God for salvation to all who believe (Rom. 1:16–17). Thus, it is not surprising that the gospel spread far and with great power when Paul ministered in the city of Ephesus (Acts 19:1–17).
Among the greatest signs of the power of the gospel in Ephesus was how it transformed those who turned from their pagan practices to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Today’s passage indicates that the Christians in the city made a decisive break from their practice of magic. Luke tells us first that “many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices” (v. 18). The sense here is that these believers were publicly revealing the rituals and the words of the incantations that they used when they were engaged in magic. According to the popular belief of that day, what made magic and magicians effective was that only a few knew the rituals and phrases that could harness supernatural power and that such things would lose their strength if they were to be divulged. By revealing their earlier practices, these new Christians in Ephesus officially renounced their former way of life and showed their willingness to surrender whatever power they had claimed before they trusted in Jesus.
Many of these same individuals also “brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all” (v. 19). God strictly prohibits sorcery (Gal. 5:19–21), so the Ephesian Christians knew that they had to get rid of their books of witchcraft. Their commitment to renouncing the forbidden magical arts can be seen in that the value of the works that they burned totaled “fifty thousand pieces of silver” (Acts 19:19). Although we do not know exactly what “piece” refers to, the sum would be equivalent to either the daily wages of a single worker for 137 years with no days off or enough bread to feed one hundred families for five hundred days. Either way, the total was immense. These Christians willingly parted with these books despite the great financial loss incurred because they had found the Pearl of Great Price, the kingdom of God and its Sovereign, Jesus (Matt. 13:45–46). The disciples of Jesus are willing to renounce all that they have to follow Him (Luke 14:33).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Not every disciple of Jesus will have to actually surrender all that he owns to follow Him, but Jesus does call us to be willing to give up everything if that is what it will take to obey His call. Christians must hold on to their possessions loosely, knowing that they do not belong to us ultimately and that we may need to surrender much to remain faithful to Jesus.
For further study
- Mark 10:17–31
- Hebrews 11:26
The bible in a year
- Psalms 120–123
- 1 Corinthians 6
- Psalms 124–129
- 1 Corinthians 7