Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. (Acts 19:8-12 NIV)
Today, we want to talk about miracles. We are also going to look at some confusion people have about miracles. The Book of Acts is a Book of miracles.
There are miracles that run all through the book. In Acts 19, we see some of the most incredible miracles in the NT. These miracles were part of the ministry of Paul.
We are studying the third missionary journey of Paul. Paul is in Ephesus. As a result of his ministry there, “all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord” (Acts 19:10 NIV)but it wasn’t just Paul’s preaching or teaching that shook the region.
Paul did extraordinary miracles in Ephesus. He was a little different than the average missionary today. He was a miracle working missionary. He was a charismatic missionary.
Paul’s ministry was similar to Jesus’ ministry. Jesus had a threefold ministry. It was a ministry of preaching, teaching and healing.
Paul does all three in Acts 19. He preaches in a synagogue. He teaches in a school. He also heals people. Today, we are going to look at those three ministries.
Paul’s Preaching
Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. (Acts 19:8 NIV)
Let’s talk about Paul’s preaching. He always started in the synagogue. He did that wherever he went. “As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue” (Acts 17:2 NIV). Why did he do that?
Paul was Jewish. Jesus was Jewish. He came to the Jews. He was the Jewish Messiah, who was promised to the Jews. Paul always preached to Jews first (Romans 1:16).
It didn’t last long. They were not open to his message. Usually, he was run off after a week or two but in this case, he was able to stay for three months.
What was his preaching like? His preaching was BOLD. He did not try to entertain with his preaching or tell funny stories. He presented truth and did not hold back. He was fearless
His preaching was also LOGICAL. The ESV reads, “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.” (Acts 19:8 ESV)
Paul did not just use emotions. He used reason and logic. He answered objections and tried to persuade his audience, and he did it once a week for three months.
His preaching was also BIBLICAL. It came right out of the OT. He was trying to argue and persuade this synagogue, and he used scripture to do it. It was not just preaching but was a rabbinic-style dialogue.
What did he talk about? What was his topic? Did he do a series on the Book of Revelation? It wasn’t written yet. Paul preached on the kingdom of God.
That was something that Jesus talked about in the Gospels. Did you know that Jesus talked more about the kingdom of God than He did the church?
Why did Paul talk about this topic? Why did he talk about the kingdom of God? When was the last time you ever heard anyone in church talk about the kingdom of God or a preacher preach on that topic? We do not talk about that too much today.
Why did Paul talk about it? That is a thoroughly Jewish concept. We don’t see this today but to a first-century synagogue audience, nothing could be more Jewish than the kingdom of God.
This was not a new idea. Paul wasn’t preaching a new religion. This was part of their national hope. It was part of the of Jewish messianic hope. They believed in two ages: this age and the age to come.
They looked forward to a future coming messianic age. This was a kingdom promised in the OT. The OT prophets predicted that there would be a future messianic kingdom on earth that would be from David’s line.
Daniel predicted a kingdom that would crush all of the other earthly kingdoms, cover all of the earth, and last forever. It was a kingdom that would be inaugurated by the Messiah and would bring peace.
It is expressed in the Kaddish, which is one of Judaism’s most famous prayers. It is an old prayer. It was written in Aramaic. It dates back to the Second Temple period and was recited in the synagogues.
The prayer begins with the words, “May His great name be exalted and sanctified in the world which He created according to His will! May He establish His Kingdom in your lifetime and during your days.”
Paul says that the Messianic Age has started. The King is here. The Messiah came but the Jews rejected him and had Him killed. That would have been a problem for some. The Jews at that time and today don’t understand the concept of a Crucified Messiah.
They were expecting a Ruling Messiah. Jesus will rule and reign on the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but Paul also showed them the many OT passages about a suffering messiah in their own Bible.
There are two sets of prophecies. They had only been reading half of their Bible. The Jews listened to Paul but they could not take too much. After a while, they rejected and slandered Paul.
But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. (Acts 19:9 NIV)
Notice, they reviled “the Way.” One of the earliest names for Christians was “The Way.” It is a title found six times in Acts (Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
Paul was persecuted here but the persecution was not as bad as in other cities. In other cities, they did not just slander him but kick him out of town or try to have him arrested. Here, he was just slandered and reviled.
Paul’s Teaching
He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. (Acts 19:9 NIV)
After preaching in a synagogue for three months, he taught in a teaching in a school or lecture hall (σχολῇ). He did it every day. In the synagogue, he spoke once a week.
He spoke in the lecture hall every day for two years. Could you imagine hearing the Apostle Paul lecture every day for two years? It might be a little upgrade from listening to the pastor of the local First Baptist Church once a week.
In the synagogue, Paul had some success, but he also had opposition. When he taught in the school, there was no opposition and he reached not only Jews but Gentiles.
10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. (Acts 10:10 NIV)
The school was owned by a man named Tyrannus. Tyrannus means “dictator.” Who would name their child tyrant? If you look at how some kids act today, it is not a bad name. Some are spoiled brats.
Actually, the truth is that a lot of kids were named Tyrannus in the ancient world. It was a fairly common name the Roman Empire. The word didn’t always mean “evil dictator.
| There is an important textual variant here. There are two different Greek texts on Acts. There is the shorter text (called the Alexandrian Text) and the longer text (called the Western Text). The shorter text is the one we have in our Bibles. Acts 19:10 reads something like “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.” The longer text or Western Text reads, “This continued for two years and three months, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Paul stayed from the fifth hour until the tenth, teaching daily in the school of Tyrannus. Thus, every soul dwelling in Asia, both Jew and Greek, heard the word of the Lord.” Modern scholars believe that Luke probably did not write the longer text. I found only one bible translation with it in it (James Moffatt). All of the other ones follow the shorter text. The longer reading is probably not original but scholars believe that it is almost certainly accurate. They agree that it is “reliable tradition.”[1] We know what Paul’s daily schedule was in Ephesus, because of this textual variant. The fifth hour in that part of the world began at 6 AM. The fifth hour was 11 AM. Everyone worked at 6 and things closed down at 11 and did not open until 4 because it was too hot. Tyrannus probably used his lecture hall during the cooler morning hours for his own students. He probably lectured on philosophy or rhetoric. The hall would become vacant and cheap or free to rent during the afternoon hours. Paul made tents early in the morning. He worked at his trade in the morning and taught the Bible and Theology in the afternoon heat. He worked on tents for five hours and did ministry for five hours. Paul was a bi-vocational pastor. He was a tentmaker while he was planting churches. He did manual labor. We see this in II Thessalonians. 6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. 9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” (II Thessalonians 3:6-10 NIV) |
Paul’s Miracles
Now, we come to the topic of miracles. This is where it gets really interesting. Miracles followed Paul wherever he went. They were always taking place. He did not do them. Luke does NOT say, “Paul did extraordinary miracles.”
Acts 19:11 says, “GOD did extraordinary miracles through Paul” (NIV). God was the source of the miracles. Paul was just the instrument. He was just the conduit. Paul had no power apart from God.
These are not just “apostolic miracles” that he could do because he was an apostle. These were miracles that God did through him. The power came from God, not from an apostle
| There is a lot of confusion about miracles today. Some are confused by who does them. Some think that the only one who can do miracles are apostles. Since we do not have any real apostles on earth today, like the Twelve, there are no more miracles. They believe that they were limited to the apostles and to the apostolic age. The only problem is that miracles are not limited to the apostles in the Book of Acts. Some who were not apostles did miracles. Some of them were not famous. A man named Ananias was sent by God so he would receive his sight. He put his hands on Paul and immediately scales fell from his eyes and he could see (Acts 9:18). He was not an apostle. He was just an ordinary Christian. The first martyr Stephen performed miracles. Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8 NIV). He was not just a deacon. He was a miracle worker. Philip was not just a great evangelist. He was also a miracle-worker, and he was not an apostle. He healed people. He cast out demons. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city. (Acts 8:6-8 NIV) There is confusion about what a miracle is. There is some confusion about this. There are lots of strange things that happen. That does not mean that they are all miracles. A miracle is not just something that we cannot explain. There are a lot of things we cannot explain that we can eventually explain naturally when we have all of the information. A miracle is not just an event that is statistically improbable, like winning the lottery twice. A coincidence is not necessarily a miracle. A miracle is not just a biological wonder. It is not a completely natural event that seems amazing, like the birth of a baby. That is amazing but it is not the definition of a miracle. A miracle is a supernatural event that cannot be explained by natural laws and processes. It is a supernatural act of God in human affairs. Miracles are things that do not happen every day. Miracles stand out from everyday events and fill people with wonder and amazement. |
In Acts 19, we do not just see ordinary miracles (which are amazing enough) but extraordinary miracles.
11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. (Acts 19:11-12 NIV)
These were extraordinary miracles of healing and extraordinary miracles of exorcism. What made them extraordinary?
Normal miracles require proximity. They required direct contact through voice commands or laying hands on someone).
These miracles did not involve direct contact but indirect contact. These were miracles from a distance through indirect contact.
This involved miracles through clothing worn by the Apostle Paul. Personal items that had touched Paul’s skin were used to heal people. This seems strange – healing though Paul’s dirty clothes. It mentions an apron and sweatband. These were both work clothes.
The apron was not a cooking apron but a work apron (leather or heavy cloth aprons tied around the waist to protect clothing from dirt, dyes, and tools during leatherworking and tentmaking)[2].
The sweatband or face cloth was a small linen cloth tied around the head or neck specifically to catch perspiration.
This Greek word (σουδάρια) was the same word used for the cloth wrapped around Lazarus (John 11:44) and Jesus (John 20:7) in the tomb. Paul kept wondering where all of his sweatbands were going.
Paul worked from 6-11 AM as a tentmaker. We do not even know if Paul had time to go home and change Paul didn’t go home to change. He may have gone straight from his workbench to the lecture hall. Paul was the sweat-stained preacher.
Paul’s dirty work clothes were used to drive out demons and diseases. There is no indication that he got rich off this like some modern preachers who bless a prayer cloth and charge for it.
What is the lesson from this for us today? God is all-powerful. He can do absolutely amazing things and still does today. He worked through an apostle in this chapter, but He can use anybody.
He used Paul to do extraordinary miracle but he used a complete nobody (Ananias) to lay hands on Paul and heal him of his blindness.
He can do things that cannot even imagine and He can use absolutely anything to do it. He can use ordinary work clothes – handkerchiefs and aprons.
He can even use a dirty apron or a sweat rag. This was not some sacred priestly garment that had been blessed which brought healing but the ordinary work clothes of Paul. Next time, we will look at the topic of miracles and magic.
[1] Craig Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary: Volume Three (2014), 2829.
[2] It is a Greek word not used anywhere else in the NT (σιμικίνθια).