Acts 19:32-41 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander to the front, and they shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: “Fellow Ephesians, doesn’t all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down and not do anything rash. You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of what happened today. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it.” After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.
As Paul was winding down his ministry in Ephesus, a riot broke out in the city caused by the silversmith Demetrius. Paul had spent three years in in Ephesus talking about the existence of only one God who should be worshipped. During this time, many turned towards the Lord Jesus and away from the mythological god, Artemis. Worshipping the goddess Artemis whose image supposedly fell from heaven in this great Greek city of the ancient world brought notoriety to Ephesus. They had constructed a magnificent temple to Artemis to honor her and worship her. Today that temple is considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Because of the temple and because of the mythology revolving around Artemis, the goddess of nature, environment, chastity and child rearing, many people made pilgrimages to Ephesus. Demetrius and other silversmiths capitalized on this popularity of Artemis by making and selling idols of the image of Artemis. As more and more people gathered because of the Christians in Ephesus and the surrounding area of Asia, the lucrative business of selling images of Artemis became impacted dramatically by this new religion out of Judea. These Christians worshipped an amorphous God of the Spirit who demanded of them not to carve any image of him. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.“ You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. (Exodus 20:2-6) This cardinal commandment runs dramatically counter to worshipping Artemis. Artemis supposedly helped in conception of children and in child rearing, protecting them from harm, for she was a warrior God who constantly had her bow drawn to hunt and also to watch over children. But these Christians rejected that notion of her protecting their children for they served only the Creator God through the name of Jesus Christ. The Jehovah God’s promise to those who serve him through the Redeemer Jesus Christ is that He would show his love to a thousand generations of their descendants. Paul rejects the idea of even knowing Jesus Christ in the flesh. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) Jesus’ ministry on earth was marvelous, stupendous. But now He is present with the Father as King of Kings. Jesus’ ministry was a servant’s ministry, revealing the love of God to the world. He was THE SHEPHERD of the human race, but NOW HE IS LORD OF LORDS who will judge the world. Paul loved the servant Jesus, the lover of his soul, but who can picture the King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s? Who can carve the Creator of all things? No one, not even close, for we know our future home cannot be imagined, neither can we imagine the unseen creation or the God who sits on the throne of all things made and not made. Our minds do not have the capacity, the words or concepts to picture the unimaginable. We are not to worship any distorted view of God, attempts to put him in a pictorial form. Paul tells us quite directly; Christians are not to consider people as they are presently in the flesh. Instead consider them as new creatures, designed for the glory of God for eternity. Demetrius and all craftsmen of idols, work on static images of their gods, created out of their own imaginations. But the Christians worship a God far beyond lifeless images; a God who is constantly creating, making new out of the old.
In the above focus we see Ephesus in turmoil. The population of Ephesus had been riled up by the silversmiths. They were rioting, a mob of angry people had formed to protest the religion of the believers in Jesus as Lord of all. Christianity was altering the customs and traditions of the people that had existed in the Greek communities for generations, even centuries. Worshipping Artemis was a way of life. No other reality was understandable to them. However, Christianity rocked their view of life. For those who were making money off worshipping Artemis, Christianity was lethal, a threat to their livelihood, for them the status quo was good enough. The Christians were preaching an new view of life. For the silversmiths, such a view deserves death. The evangelists for Christ were destroying their way of living. As with most mobs, many did not even know why the people gathered there were so upset, but they joined the commotion. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. Mobs are always dangerous; a few words here or there can explode into violence. A mob was formed by the Jewish priests, having the people yell to crucify Jesus, giving Pilate little choice but to order Jesus’ execution. A mob caused Paul to be arrested by the Romans, putting him in jail, living out his life from that time on in chains. While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. (Acts 21:30-32) Stephen’s death came about in the midst of a mob, taking his life by stoning. Paul and Silas were thrown in jail in Philippi because of the actions of a mob. The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. (Acts 16:22-24) In Ephesus, this mob was so irrational that they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Paul, even after all his experiences with mobs, was willing to go into that theater to reason with these people who were out of control. But he was persuaded by others to not go into that arena to reason with the irrational, out-of-control Ephesians, for a mob sparked by angry words is very dangerous. So Paul left Ephesus and went to Macedonia and Achaia to encourage the new-founded churches in those areas on his way to Jerusalem. We see in these communities the sword against Christians was always used to destroy Christianity. Many martyrs were part of the nascent church. People had to love Christ more than their family, friends, culture or tradition. Violence is a trademark of the unredeemed. In Noah’s time it was said that the people were violent, unruly, all going their own way. Now we see in these Greek communities, the majority of the people did not want anything to do with God’s plan of redemption through the life of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Yet, from city to city in Macedonia, Achaia and Asia, the Good News was preached, always with a threat to those who ministered the THE WAY to God.
When violence reigns against the message of Christ, what should believers do? Are we to marshal our strength together and take the world by storm as some religions do today? Do we force people to believe in God in the way we do? Is this the word of God for us? Are we to take Canaan or the Kingdom of God by aggression? As Jesus explains very clearly, “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1) There is no other way to enter the Kingdom of God than faith in the gate: Jesus Christ. All other attempts to bring people into the sheepfold are criminal: thieves and robbers. The Kingdom of God does not come through violence and aggression in words or deeds. We do not pay back evil against us with evil. Instead we live at peace with those who are living in darkness. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:17-19) The God of justice will pay back all evil that comes against you. No one will get by with perpetrating evil against another of God’s creation. This is true even in the family, no member of the family will get away with abusing another in the family. The scale of justice is an integral part of God’s righteousness. He will even the scale someday. What does Jesus say about our enemies; those who aggressively come against us, willing to even kill us for their own reasons as we see in the above focus. The silversmiths wished to do away with those who were not worshippers of Artemis; they wished to stop the ministry of Christ Jesus as Lord of all. But what does Jesus say, other than escape to another city or area. He says, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:27-31) How many of us want to hear those words? How many of us want to hear and obey the words Jesus said on the Mount? Do we want to hear him say, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37-38) Jesus ends his sermon with two warnings: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) And secondly, Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. (Matthew 7:24-26) My friends we are the good trees who produce good fruit, so the world can taste what God is like, so that they might understand that God is full of mercy and grace. This is the message Paul preached to the Ephesians for three years. They heard of God’s kindness towards them and fell in love with God. Now as the Ephesians were rioting against the believers, some of them were in midst of these rioters, but God’s message of love is stronger than hate. Because of that these believers were willing to risk everything for God. Fellow breakfast companions, let us listen to God’s words so beautifully said in the Sermon of the Mount. Let us not just hear, but follow. Let us not walk around blindly in darkness; instead, let us bring the light of God to everyone we meet today and every day. Praise God!
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