The Sons of Sceva #Fiction based on Acts 19 [Part 2]

Part Two: fan #fiction based in part on Acts 19: 13-17 (the Sons of Sceva)

Though shocking, a stark reality hit the Sons of Sceva: for once, their fakery brought out the evil spirit! (it worked?)

The room suddenly turned a purplish hue, and the swirling wind normally felt in the arid lands outside Ephesus blew their robes and threw sand in their eyes.

Regaining their vision, confused and fearful, they heard a voice; high-pitched but sonorant, with a demonic richness not quite ear-splitting yet resoundingly clear. It was the evil spirit speaking directly to them, breathing fire like a dragon.

As the air of life sucked out of the room, all seven brothers froze in attention looking at the man they were trying to heal. Restored and vigorous, but trance-like, the man’s lips didn’t move; although he was definitely the source of the sound. In their lives together on the road as a merry band of grifters, never had they focused so realistically, so fearfully, on a single voice such as that which roared from this demon.

Unfortunately, their father the Jewish high priest did not convince them of the prohibition in the Torah about using false gods for evil purposes, as they had done often around the major coastal city of Ephesus [see Part 1—posted 09/23/2012]. During these alarming few moments, to their dread, an evil spirit addressed them with a mysterious and omnipotent capacity that made these experienced hustlers rapt like little bare-bottomed toddlers.

“Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15)

There were no “eyes” fixed upon them but it seemed as if the evil spirit was looking right through the Sons of Sceva. After dancing around a serious spiritual war for which they were not prepared, now they found themselves in the middle of the battle. One of the ghostly warriors took notice of them in a very condescending way: “And, who the hell are you?” Don’t send a boy to do a man’s job, goes the saying; even more, don’t claim heavenly authority against evil forces as a scheme to take innocent, desperate people’s money. Bad choices make bad outcomes.

Many in Ephesus marveled at Paul’s ministry, even tried to replicate the miracles he (and Jesus) worked in their midst, but the power and sovereignty of God will not be mocked or counterfeited. Indeed, without the blessing of God’s grace on our work, we are impostors. Without God’s divine intervention in our lives, we are rudderless boats adrift on a hostile ocean.

Eyes like saucers, confounded and silent, the pitiful brothers made no reaction or even a whimper; yet they reaped the whirlwind of the evil justice they were due. Breaking through into the realm of spiritual warfare is difficult. Ignorance suggests they would not have started down this road knowing what they had joined.

In an instant the man inhabited by the evil spirit leaped upon them, seemingly with enough arms to wrangle all seven brothers. This “being” was an entity not quite human, with an ephemeral quality, translucent and sparkling as it whirled around like a tornado. The storm overcame the room, as it was powerful enough to carry the whole house away from its foundation. The fight lasted but a couple of minutes, although it inflicted significant damage on the Sons of Sceva.

The men fled out of the house without skill or strength, escaping with their lives alone, by grace alone. Cut, bruised and beaten, they ran blindly through the streets as fast as their legs would carry them. The ignoble defeat included the fact that they fled naked, the height of embarrassment in this culture. Far from being an incident of humor or derision, the whole city heard about what happened with the evil spirit and these "honorable" criminals, and Jews and Greeks alike were aghast. It says in Acts 19: 17 that because of this provocative incident in Ephesus, the name of Jesus Christ was celebrated, or “extolled.”

Common in biblical literature, especially in Luke's book of Acts, God tells His story in an unconventional way. Ironically, the typical exorcism reversed here; turned upside down in the surreal context of spiritual warfare. In what appears to be an interlude in the constant spiritual battle about which we know so little; the evil spirit purged the exorcists, and not the other way around.

©Mark H. Pillsbury

The last will be first, and the first will be last

RE: Parables in the Bible (Matthew 20):

It has been said a parable is “an extended simile or a metaphor that explains aspects of spiritual truth in everyday terms.” The word parable describes the act of placing two objects or ideas side by side for comparison. They allow us to see ourselves in contrast to other people.

Christ’s use of parables is often commended to preachers and teachers today as an alternate way to reveal a truth; however, Jesus used parables primarily to conceal or hide His message from casual, indifferent, or unbelieving hearers. “It is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given,” Christ declared (Matt. 13:11 KJV).

The Parable of the Generous Landowner and the Laborers in the Vineyard:

The parable is part of Jesus’ reply to Peter, which begins in Matthew chapter 19, verse 28. The message of the parable can be summarized in this statement: The operative principle in the kingdom of heaven is not merit but grace. 

The Apostle Paul’s words reiterate: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. …not as a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8–9); however, many assume that we earn God’s blessings by our works — apart from God’s grace.

The parable of the laborers in the vineyard teaches that not only our salvation, but also our entire Christian lives are to be lived on the basis of God’s grace. Also the parable teaches about two amazing qualities of grace: the abundant generosity of God’s grace, and His sovereignty in dispensing it. But its that tricky verse, what does it mean?

“The last will be first, and the first will be last”

What does that verse mean to you?

Examples:

Modern Advertising: tells us that it’s all about me and that attitude is everything.

Could it imply that some people connect right away with new information that may take others longer, depending on their relative experience? No, the slow are not to become first. The last are to become first.

Does it enforce the concept that God is the one before whom all accounts will be settled?

The workers who came later were not hired because they were lazy. They were ready to work but none would hire them. These workers were economically and socially disadvantaged. Is this parable a lesson on social/political status?

Mary said, “He has cast down the mighty from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.” (Luke 1). Many see the socio-economic ramifications of the parable. Those with low rank in the present, rise to the top in heaven.

The "day" in the parable can be seen as a typical “lifetime” of the person, if we read it chronologically. Each can be called to work for the Kingdom at any time. God is in charge of the timing of our Kingdom work.

Many believe the vineyard was an analogy for the people of Israel (see Isaiah 5 or Psalm 80). The vineyard was a symbol of Israel and its promised prosperity.  With this knowledge the message of the parable seems clearer.  The workers who come late still get to take part in the reward of the vineyard and its owner. Is Jesus communicating a radical message to the leaders and the people of Israel that says, “The Kingdom of God has been opened up to the Gentiles (called) too.”  Further, “the nation of Israel may have been first (chosen), but that doesn’t mean that others cannot receive the blessing.” Does Jesus suggest that the ones who show up later, the Gentiles, have just as prominent a place in the kingdom of God as the Jews? That would have been culturally outrageous to the Jews at the time! Jews thought dirty dogs were better than Gentiles.

Argued another way, the context implies the 12 disciples correspond to the workers hired at the beginning of the day, akin to the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. Those hired later correspond to other people who became Jesus’ disciples later in His ministry. The timing there is in question for the earliest and heartiest of the disciples.

What a great reversal was what Christ did on the cross:

Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross. (Paul quoted in Philippians). Jesus was the god-man who had to become last, so that we would be first. That is why it is called a great reversal.

Some questions for my readers:

1. Where do you see yourself in this parable of the laborers in the vineyard? What does it mean, “the last will be first, and the first will be last.” 

2. Isn’t it like an egotistical human to question who serves best? who serves most? who then gets the greatest reward?

3. What is your attitude toward the owner of the vineyard? Do you expect the Lord to do what’s right? Is this a story that makes you uncomfortable?

What two attitudes are shown here?:

Generosity—by the landowner in how he pays the laborers, and 

Jealousy—people who worked there all day and got paid the same; there is no room in the kingdom of heaven for those with either "a mercenary spirit" or "an envious spirit."

The system of law is easy to figure out: you get what you deserve!

The system of grace is foreign to us: God deals with us according to who He is, not according to who we are.

Isn’t this parable about servants. And how a servant/leader views the “day’s wage” we get for our service? Could it be all about who gets the credit?

• All our service is already due to God; it belongs to Him anyway.
• The ability to serve God is the gift of His grace.
• The call to serve God is the gift of His grace.
• Every opportunity to serve is a gift of His grace.
• Being in the right state of mind to do the Lord’s work is a gift of grace.
• Success in serving God is the gift of His grace.

©Mark H. Pillsbury