This is where it's a good idea to start looking at a map, to keep track of the towns Paul travels through, the seas he sails through, as well as the people he meets. At the beginning of chapter 19, Paul is traveling through Ephesus and meets some believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit. Not only that, they haven't even heard of the existence of the Holy Spirit. He prays for them, and immediately they begin to speak in languages and prophecy.
Coincidentailly, there are "about" twelve of them. hmmmmm.
In the meantime, things are not going so smoothly in the synagogues. There are people who are convinced about Paul's message, but many more who are not. One small, odd story concerns some exorcists who do not appear to believe in Jesus but who like to cast out evil spirits in his name. At one point, the spirits ask the exorcists, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am familiar with, but who are you?"
Personally, the very small detail about people being healed by touching even small pieces of cloth that have been touched by Paul is the strangest to me. This reminds me of the stories of medieval relics that have healing power. What do you think about this? In the midst of all of this trouble, the power of healing through Paul only gets stronger.
Paul decides to return to Jerusalem, which a lot of people think is a big mistake. Many people try to talk him out of it.
At the same time, Paul is getting into trouble not just with Jews but with Gentiles who feel that he has "dissed" their goddess, Artemis. He is a friend of no one's status quo. His truth disturbs everyone, in some way or another. His words and presence cause riots.
Aside: during a theological conversation that lasts all night, a young man named Eutychus falls asleep, and falls out the window. He is pronounced dead, but Paul raises him from death. (possibly where the saying "bored to death" is from?) (Just asking.)
Despite many many protests, Paul returns to Jerusalem. Many of his friends plead with him, pray for him, beg him, but he leaves. He arrives in Jerusalem to find it just as his friends have feared. James tries to protect him, but Paul is the center of controversy and gossip in Jerusalem, because of what people have heard about the Gentiles, and what they claim that Paul is preaching. Paul purifies himself to prove that he's still a good Jew, and James and other Jerusalem leaders repeat what they told the Gentile churches: all they nee to do is abstain from eating blood, eating food sacrificed to idols, and from sexual immorality.
It does no good. Paul is set up and arrested. He appeals as a citizen of the Empire for the right to speak.
And speak he does.
(to be continued)
It would be interesting to explore what people mean when they say they want to "be healed". In Paul's time, I imagine people meant they want to be cured from a lethal or crippling physical ailment. In today's time, if you ask people what they need to "be healed", many people would answer more along the line of, "restore my self esteem", "heal the relationships in my family", "find a job or a career", or "loose some weight".
ReplyDeleteWhen today we say we want need healing, what do we mean? Is it significantly different from what healing meant in Paul's time?
that's a GREAT question, Curtis! Having just buried two people who fought against cancer for some time, I do think there is still a desire for physical healing. But I also think that we have a desire for deeper kinds of healing and wholeness as well.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that we still need physical healing. But our society has compartmentalized and isolated physical illness so much that, unless we are affected personally, it is rare that we encounter physical illness or death in our daily life. A far cry from the world of Paul's time where contact with physical ailment and death were likely part of one's daily routine.
Deletealso, you question closely aligns with this question: what are the differences/similarities between healing and salvation?
ReplyDeleteI think healing and salvation is the same thing, and is exactly what Jesus came to give us: "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." My perception is that healing is actually more common teaching in the New Testament than salvation. I one were to count instances of "healing" and "salvation" in the new testament, my feeling is that "healing" would win out, although I haven't actually counted it myself.
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