The Desirable Place

Acts 20:37–38

And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.

Ephesus. Hitchcock: «desirable.» Of all the cities Paul touches, this is the one he loves most deeply. He stays three years (Acts 20:31) — longer than anywhere else. He teaches daily in the school of a man named Tyrannus — Tyrannos (G5181), which Hitchcock defines as «a prince; one that reigns.» Paul preaches the gospel in the school of “the one who reigns.” The prince’s lecture hall becomes the kingdom’s classroom, and from it, «all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks» (Acts 19:10). He sees extraordinary things: «God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul» (Acts 19:11). Among the less extraordinary was an attempted imitation: the seven sons of a man named Sceva — Hitchcock: «disposed; prepared» — tried to invoke Jesus’ name over a demon. The “prepared” one was utterly unprepared. The demon answered: «Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?» (Acts 19:15), and the possessed man overpowered them. The name without the power behind it is an empty vessel. And when he finally leaves, the parting is so wrenching that grown men weep and fall on his neck.

The desirable place desires him back. The love is mutual.

But before the weeping, there is a burning. Ephesus was a centre of occult practice, and when the gospel takes hold, the practitioners respond not with argument but with fire: «Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them before all men: and they counted the price of them, and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed» (Acts 19:19–20). Fifty thousand pieces of silver, consumed. The desirable place discovers that some things must be destroyed before the truly desirable can take their place. And Luke’s summary is devastating in its compression: so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. The word grew. The books burned. The desirable was purified.

Then the riot. Demetrius the silversmith — whose name, Hitchcock notes, means «belonging to corn, or to Ceres» — a man dedicated by name to one pagan goddess, defends the honour of another. And that other goddess — Diana, Artemis in the Greek — bears a name Hitchcock defines as «luminous; perfect.» Her temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. The city that worshipped “luminous perfection” is about to receive Paul’s letter about the true light in heavenly places. Demetrius’ trade in miniature temples of this false perfection is threatened by Paul’s preaching, and he stirs up the whole city: «Great is Diana of the Ephesians!» (Acts 19:28, 34). The theatre fills with a mob. Two of Paul’s companions are dragged in. For two hours, the crowd chants the name of their goddess. It is one of the most vivid scenes in Acts — the collision between the desirable and the desired, between the idol that satisfies the flesh and the God who satisfies the soul.

And then the letter. Paul writes to the Ephesians from prison, and the theology he sends them is the highest he ever reaches:

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

«Heavenly places.» The phrase appears five times in Ephesians and nowhere else in Paul’s letters. The desirable place receives the letter about the heavenly places. The city that burned its occult books receives the epistle about principalities and powers: «Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places» (Ephesians 6:11–12). The city that rioted over Diana receives the letter about the real battle — not against silversmiths, but against the rulers of darkness.

And it is to the Ephesians — the desirable ones — that Paul writes the single most comprehensive statement of grace in all his epistles: «For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast» (Ephesians 2:8–9). The demanded one, who once demanded works, writes to the desirable place about a gift that cannot be demanded. It can only be received.

Before the farewell, one more name. At Troas, on the return journey, Paul preaches until midnight. A young man named Eutychus — Eutychos (G2161), meaning «fortunate» — falls asleep in a window, drops three stories, and is taken up dead (Acts 20:9). Paul goes down, embraces him, and says: «Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him» (Acts 20:10). The fortunate one falls and is raised. His name did not lie — it just took a miracle to prove it true. In the desirable place, even death is reversed by an embrace.

The farewell, when it comes, is at Miletus — not Ephesus itself, but nearby. Paul has sent for the Ephesian elders. He knows he will not see them again. And his words to them will launch the final movement of this book — the sacrifice.

«And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship» (Acts 20:37–38).

The desirable place lets go of the one it desires. And the small one walks toward the rock, the vision of peace, and the sea.