Acts 19:13-20 13Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” 14Then seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. 15 But answering, the evil spirit said to them, “Jesus, I know, and Paul, I recognize, but who are you?” 16 And the man in whom was the evil spirit, leaping upon them and subduing them, he overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and having been wounded. 17And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.
Luke provides two illustrations of people trying to imitate Paul’s miracle ministry. Magic, exorcism, and books of enchantments were common in the ancient world. Ancient papyri with magical formulae have been discovered. Many of these use words and phrases from the Old Testament. Ephesus, as a cosmopolitan city full of idolatry, was a ripe place for charlatans to manipulate people. Verse 13 refers to Jewish exorcists who traveled around, working their trade of trickery. They had watched Paul, a fellow Jew, work miracles and thought they could do it also. They just needed the right formula. The unique phrase they heard was the name of Jesus. These charlatans did not know Jesus but only knew about the power of his name.
The sons of the local high priest named Sceva got caught up in the trap of magic and manipulation. The position of Sceva as a high priest is uncertain. He may have been from a priestly family or the leader of the local synagogue. They heard and watched what Paul was doing when he used the name of Jesus to do miracles and preach. Verse 13 shows Paul on the right side and how he remained faithful to the gospel and did not manipulate people. The sons of Sceva, however, tried to invoke Jesus to cast out an evil spirit, but did not believe in Jesus. The demon possessed the man knew this. Even the demon testified to the power of Jesus’ name and Paul as Jesus’ true representative.
Verse 16 is a bit humorous, though sad, with the hard lesson these men had to learn. One man overpowered and beat up seven men. Luke’s detail about them being naked and fleeing the scene adds the additional detail of shame. Their bodies and pride were wounded and humiliated. A funny story like this would quickly spread in any town, as it made the local news network in Ephesus. The story of Paul and his preaching about Jesus was connected to the story of the embarrassment and failure of the seven sons of Sceva. Two results happened. One is that people realized that what Paul spoke about was true, and the power he showed was real and not fake like the many sophists and magicians who traveled around the Empire. Connected to this was that the name of Jesus became known and revered. God used the situation to further the gospel. They learned about the name of Jesus. They just needed to put their faith in him.