Acts 19:8 - Meaning and Application

Paul was very active at Ephesus, working to do good. He began, as he usually did, in the Jewish synagogue, offering the gospel to them first so he might gather in the lost sheep of Israel, who were scattered like sheep on the mountains. He preached in their synagogue (Acts 19:8), just as Christ often had done, and he joined them in their worship to reduce their prejudice against him and win them if there was still hope.

He also showed his support for public worship on the Sabbath. Where Christian churches had not yet been formed, he attended the Jewish assemblies, since the Jews had not yet been fully set aside. Paul went to the synagogue because the people were gathered there, and because they might be in a better frame of mind to listen.

What he preached was “the things concerning the kingdom of God.” That means the great truths about God’s rule over people, his favor toward them, and people’s duty to submit to him and find happiness in him. Paul showed them their duty to God as their Creator, the breaking of that duty through sin, which ruined their standing before God, and the restoring of that relationship through the Redeemer, that is, Christ, by whom God’s kingdom is set up again.

More specifically, he preached the things concerning the Messiah’s kingdom, which the Jews were expecting and about which they had many wrong ideas. He opened the Scriptures that spoke of this kingdom, gave them a true understanding of it, and corrected their mistakes. He did not simply announce facts, he explained their meaning.

Paul’s method was also important. He argued with them, giving reasons and Scripture-based proof for what he taught, and answering objections so that people could be convinced in mind and conscience. He also reasoned with them in a dialogue style, asking questions, receiving their answers, and letting them question him in return.

He preached with warmth and urgency as well. He persuaded them, using not only logic but also strong appeals to move their hearts, showing them that these truths concerned their own souls. Paul was a preacher who moved people, and he understood the art of persuasion. He also spoke boldly, without doubt about his message, without distrust of the One who sent him, and without fear of the people he addressed.

He stayed there for three months, which gave them enough time to think carefully about his message. In that time, those chosen by grace were brought in, and the rest were left without excuse. He preached the gospel there with much conflict, yet he did not fail or grow weary.

His preaching had mixed results. Some were persuaded to believe in Christ. But many stayed unbelieving and became more fixed in their prejudice against Christianity. Earlier, when Paul had only spoken briefly to them, they had wanted him to stay longer (Acts 18:20). Now that he settled among them and spoke more directly to their consciences, they quickly grew tired of him.

They had a deep hatred for the gospel themselves. Their hearts were hardened, and they refused to believe, even though the truth stood before them clearly. They would not believe because they were hardened. They also tried to turn others away from the gospel. They did not enter God’s kingdom themselves, and they tried to stop others from entering by speaking evil of the way before the crowd. Though they could not prove any real evil in it, they said every kind of evil about it. In this, they became like Satan’s work, false accusers and hostile opponents.

When Paul had gone as far as he could in the synagogue and saw their opposition grow more stubborn, he left. He could no longer continue there safely, or, more exactly, comfortably and fruitfully. Their worship was still something he could have joined, and they had not silenced him or forbidden him to preach. But their insults against the truths he taught about the kingdom of God drove him away. They hated reform and refused instruction, so he departed from them. This was a true separation, not a sinful split, because there was a clear reason and a clear call for it.

When Paul left the Jews, he took the disciples with him and separated them from that stubborn crowd, to keep them safe from harmful influence, as Peter had warned his new converts to separate themselves from that crooked generation (Acts 2:40). To protect believers from the poisonous speech of those blasphemers, he set apart those who had believed so they could become the beginning of a Christian church. Now that they were enough in number, they could be gathered as a body, and others could join them as they believed. When Paul left, no further separation was needed. Wherever he went, they would follow him.

After leaving the synagogue, Paul began holding meetings of his own and reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus. He left the Jewish synagogue so he could continue his work with more freedom. He still argued for Christ and Christianity and was ready to answer anyone who opposed him. This move gave him two clear advantages.

First, he had more chances to teach. In the synagogue he could preach only on the Sabbath, but now he reasoned with them every day. He set up a daily teaching time, making good use of the opportunity. People who could not come one day might come another, and those who kept coming day after day were welcome at those gates of wisdom.

Second, his audience was wider. The synagogue admitted only Jews and proselytes, so Gentiles were kept out. But in the school of Tyrannus, both Jews and Greeks listened to his teaching (Acts 19:10). So, as Paul later described Ephesus, a wide and effective door was opened to him, even though many opposed him (1 Corinthians 16:8-9).

Some think the school of Tyrannus was a Jewish divinity school, something Jewish communities often had in their larger cities besides the synagogue. They called it Bethmidrash, meaning a house of study or review, and people would go there on the Sabbath after the synagogue service. If that is what this was, it shows that Paul left the synagogue gradually and stayed as close to it as he could, as he had done before (Acts 18:7).

Others think it was a Gentile philosophy school, owned by a man named Tyrannus, or perhaps a lecture hall, since the word can mean a place of teaching or even a quiet retreat. It may have been some public room that Paul and the believers were allowed to use, either freely or for pay. There he kept on working for two years, teaching and debating each day.

These two years began after the three months he spent in the synagogue (Acts 19:8). After that period ended, he still preached for some time in the surrounding countryside. So he could fairly count the whole time as three years, as he later does (Acts 20:31).

The gospel spread far and wide through this work (Acts 19:10). Not only the people in Ephesus heard the word, but all who lived in the whole province of Asia, with Ephesus as its main city. Asia here means Asia Minor, the smaller Asia. Since people came to Ephesus from many places for law, trade, religion, and education, Paul had many chances to send the message of the gospel out across the region.

They all heard the word of the Lord Jesus. The gospel is Christ’s word, because it speaks about Christ. At least they heard of it, and many from different groups and places in both city and country accepted it. Through them, the message reached others, so in that way all heard the word of the Lord Jesus, or could have heard it. Paul likely also made trips into the countryside himself, or sent helpers who traveled with him, and so the word of the Lord was heard throughout that area.

Now those in darkness saw a great light.

God also confirmed Paul’s teaching by miracles, which stirred people to ask questions, won their affection, and led them to believe (Acts 19:11, Acts 19:12). It is striking that Luke does not record any miracle by Paul after he cast out the evil spirit from the slave girl in Philippi. Why did he not work miracles in Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens? Or if he did, why are they not mentioned? Perhaps the spread of the gospel itself, without miracles in the natural world, was already a miracle of grace, and the power that went with it was enough proof of its divine source.

We know Paul did many miracles at Corinth, even though Luke does not list them, because Paul later said that the signs of his apostleship were shown there in wonders and mighty deeds (2 Corinthians 12:12). But here at Ephesus we get a broad account of the signs that proved his divine mission.

First, these were special miracles, miracles beyond the usual course of nature. Things happened that could not be blamed on chance or on ordinary causes. They were not only out of the normal order, as all miracles are, but they were unusual even among miracles, greater than those done by other apostles. The opponents of the gospel were so set against it that ordinary miracles would not satisfy them, so God worked signs that went beyond the common pattern.

Second, it was not Paul himself who did them. As Paul said elsewhere, “What is Paul? And what is Apollos?” It was God who worked through Paul. Paul was only the instrument, while God was the one who acted.

Third, Paul did not only heal people who were brought to him, or those to whom he was brought. People also carried away his handkerchiefs or aprons and laid them on the sick, and they were healed. Some think these were the aprons Paul wore while working at his trade, and that applying them to the sick brought immediate healing. Others think people brought the sick person’s cloths, belts, caps, or head coverings, laid them for a while near Paul, and then took them to the sick. The first view is more likely.

Here Christ’s words to his disciples were fulfilled, “Greater works than these you will do.” We read of one person who was healed by touching Christ’s garment while it was on him, and he felt power go out from him. Here, people were healed by Paul’s garments after they had been taken from him. Christ had given his apostles power over unclean spirits and every kind of sickness (Matthew 10:1). So here those who received help through Paul were healed in both ways: their diseases left them, and evil spirits came out of them. Both pointed to the great purpose of the gospel and its blessed effect, the healing of spiritual sickness and the freeing of souls from Satan’s power and rule.