Ministry in Ephesus - The Kingdom of God and the Magicians

The second episode in Luke's Ephesian account draws upon Ephesus' status as a center of occultism and magical arts. This association was so pronounced and well-known that occult texts were often referred to as "Ephesian letters." In addition to its numerous Gentile magicians, Ephesus also boasted a group of Jewish exorcists, among them seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva. These men and their activities are the centerpiece of this passage, but not as an end in themselves. Luke constructed his account around them, but in order to demonstrate the triumphal confrontation between the kingdom of God and the principle of magic that defines and drives the world in its estrangement from Him.