Acts 19.11-2 is a passage that disturbs a lot of Christians. It discusses a practice that was very common in the first century but that is rarely heard of outside of horror movies today. Demonic possession. The very topic of demons and demonology is usually met with raised eyebrows, especially from those outside the family of Jesus. It is met with the same incredulity as fairytales. Yet the bible makes it clear that such entities exist and that at least some of them can possess, or at the very least oppress, humans.

Since this is Think-Biblically.com and not Psychology Today we take the Bible’s teaching about these creatures seriously, and make no apology for doing so. Some may point out that the Old Testament rarely refers to demons, and demonic activity in the modern world appears non-existent. This only points to a possible change in strategy and not to a reasonable dismissal of their actuality. We’ll spend more time this week on the topic of spiritual beings this week, but for now we’ll return to Luke’s account of the seven sons of Sceva.

Verses 11 and 12 tell us that God was doing an extraordinary work through Paul. Nothing like this had been seen since the time of Elisha, when Elisha’s very bones brought a man back to life. Elisha’s bones are the only inanimate object ever credited with such power, in all other circumstances it was the Holy Spirit working through the prophets, the Messiah or the apostles that raised the dead or healed them of illness. Yet here we see that handkerchiefs or parts of one’s apparel carried the power of the Spirit of God if it had touched Paul, allowing them to heal the sick and extricate demons.

These details are important background for the events that surrounded seven brothers who traveled abroad as exorcists. These men had previously been able to successfully separate demons from their hosts and were sons of a high priest. While there remains no record of a high priest by the name of Sceva, it may be that such records simply have not been found or that he was a priest of another order, a priest of the line of Zadok, whom the Levites ousted during the reign of Jehoash. Either way, they were experienced in spiritual battle.

We do not know if this is the first time they invoked the name of Jesus during an exorcism; it was standard procedure to invoke a name of power however and they believed that Jesus’ name was powerful enough to dominate the demon. It is unknown if these men were followers of Jesus or merely using his name, but most scholars believe the later to be the case though there is no evidence from the text either way, Could a demon overpower a child of God? While the Bible never answers this question succinctly, Paul certainly urges believers to take up armor before doing anything so dangerous (Ephesians 6). One fact is certain: they were not prepared for the power this demon possessed.

They began their exorcism with a common enough statement of legal terms. They intended to state that the demon had no rights, no dominion over its victim. The words literally translate, “I charge you under oath, In the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches, to forgo your claim on this person.” Similar language is used in modern exorcisms.

The demon disagreed, saying “Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are you?” In other words, he maintained his claim of dominion not only over his victim, but of the seven sons as well by brutally beating them and savagely tearing their clothes from their flesh. The sons escaped with only their lives. What stands out most, however, is the breadth of the demons knowledge. Of course he would be familiar with the Messiah, but why was he acquainted with Paul? Because of verses 11 and 12. Even the demons knew that God was doing a special work through the apostle.