"After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly" — Acts 19:41
In this passage, there was a demonstration in the city of Ephesus. At that time in the city of Ephesus there was a temple of Artemis which was famous throughout the world and became the pride of the city. Because of Paul's preaching of the gospel, a silver idol maker, Demetrius, was disturbed and his business was threatened with bankruptcy. He was trying to provoke the people in the city of Ephesus. In his speech, Demetrius tried to persuade the builders that all this was because of Paul trying to destroy the idol of Artemis. For Paul said that "everything made by human hands is not a god" (Acts 19:26).
There is an interesting saying in
verse 32: "Meanwhile, the people gathered in the building were shouting;
one said this and the other said that, because the crowd was in chaos and most
of them did not know what they were gathering for. " If we look at our
lives today, the events in Ephesus are very trending events. People sometimes
become like the Ephesians who were influenced by Demetrius' talk without seeking
the truth. People often join in without knowing why, and the worst part is that
some people become provocateurs for their own benefit. There are people who
hate the Church and then corner the Church and invite others to join in against
the church.
Alexander the Jew tried to calm
the angry mob, but his efforts failed (34). Finally the City Clerk intervened
to calm the crowd (35). He persuaded the people of Ephesus to calm down and
stop committing acts of anarchy. He managed to calm the crowd.
The story in Ephesus teaches us
that sometimes the presence of Christians becomes a problem in society because
some people want to criticize and destroy the followers of Christ. This
situation needs to be responded wisely. We learned a lot from the clerks in
that city. At the same time we remain in control of ourselves and are not
provoked by circumstances. May we continue to maintain faith in Christ while
asking His wisdom to be wiser in dealing with everything. Let's also ask His
Holy Spirit so that we can sort out what is good and what is right according to
God's will.
Reflection on Act 19: 23-41 by
Fr. Fransiskus Diaz, SVD
(Listen to the Podcast here)
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