Something brief, something true—Acts 19:15

But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” Acts 19:15

In Acts 19:15, an evil spirit questions the seven sons of Sceva (a Jewish high priest) who are attempting to exorcise a demon from a man by simply saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” These men wanted the exorcism to be successful and perhaps they thought using Paul’s formula would get the job done, but they were missing something very important. They had no association with Jesus (or Paul). They were attempting to associate with Paul’s God without actually knowing Paul’s God.

“…but who are you?”

If we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus—a relationship that is nurtured—we cannot associate with His power and authority. It’s Jesus who holds power over the evil spirits, and these sons of Sceva had no spiritual power over the demon, and the demon knew this. By associating with Jesus or even leading others to Him, I need to know just Who it is I am associating with and the only way to do that is by me spending time getting to know this Jesus, through His Word, prayer, and worship (which flows from the former two). Otherwise, who am I?

Further suggested reading: Acts 19:11-16; Matthew 7:21-23

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I was encouraged to write Something brief, something true by Jacob over at Aliens and Pilgrims. This was a fun writing exercise to get me to say what I want to say more concisely and share a word of encouragement and truth with others.