Evil
Intent matters.
God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, 'I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.' Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit said to them in reply, 'Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?' Then the man with the evil spirit leapt on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised. Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. A number of those who practiced magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins. So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed. - Acts 19:11-20
Today's reading sounds a bit strange.
Luke is telling us that Paul is special and can do the works Jesus did, but others who try in Jesus' name cannot. But I don't believe this story is an attempt to tell us not to be like Paul, not to try to use Jesus' name to help others. It is all about intent.
The seven sons of the priest thought they could capitalize on what they heard Paul say. Their intent was to use the healing power of Jesus to make money for themselves, and that was their downfall.
It is interesting what the evil spirit in the story says. Jesus and Paul I know, but who are you?
What does that tell us about ourselves?
Jesus told us that we can rely on prayer to help others, so we can ask for anything in his name. But if we try to act on his behalf, we must be solid in our faith and be prepared to be challenged by the evil we confront.
Evil does exist in the world. We see evidence of it all the time, including in recent events. But evil cannot be defeated by weakness of faith. We can only defeat evil with strength in the Spirit.
The stronger our faith, the more likely we will succeed in combatting the forces that work against God and man.
The way the story is written, you almost cheer for the evil spirit over the exorcists, and that is intentional. Luke wants us to see that evil respects God and it is only through God that we can hold evil back.
I don't think we believe that so much today. We fear evil and not God. So, who is left to fight the demons? Who will command the respect to put them in their place, if no one has faith?
More to come...