A Fight We Don’t have to Fight: Jesus vs. Artemis
“And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, ”Men of Ephesus, who is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky? Seeing then that these things cannot be denied, you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. If therefore Demetrius and the craftsmen with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open, and there are proconsuls. Let them bring charges against one another. For you have brought these men here who are neither sacrilegious nor blasphemers of our goddess. But if you seek anything further, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. For we really are in danger of being charged with rioting today, since there is no cause that we can give to justify this commotion.“ And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.”
Acts 19:35–41 ESV Read More
The textbook example of a ‘Crowd Mentality’ is happening at the stadium in Ephesus. For hours they have marched and chanted and many didn’t even know why they were there. Paul wishes to go speak to them but the other Ephesian brothers keep him hidden. Finally a government official speaks and calms everyone down. He basically says, “Nobody is opposing you. Everything you are chanting is obvious and we all know it already. Go home!”
The temple at Ephesus that they are carrying on about was four times the size of the Parthenon. 425 feet by 225 feet of marble with 127 columns that were 40 feet tall. To put that in perspective, the entire building that One Life East is in is 360 by 240! One ancient traveller said
I have gazed on the walls of impregnable Babylon along which chariots may race, and on the Zeus by the banks of the Alpheus, I have seen the hanging gardens, and the Colossus of the Helios, the great man-made mountains of the lofty pyramids, and the gigantic tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the sacred house of Artemis that towers to the clouds, the others were placed in the shade, for the sun himself has never looked upon its equal outside Olympus. – Antipater of Sidon (and he was talking about the smaller one before the one that was around when Paul was there!)
The city official basically tells them that if somebody is doing something wrong, take them to court, but quit with all of the riot nonsense. This is one of the many times in Bible history where the people of God were in a tough spot and somebody else came and solved the problem. It would have done no good for Paul to argue with them about Artemis.
800 years later, there is a historical record that Christianity had so spread throughout the region, that a traveler came to this area and asked locals where they could see the great temple of Artemis. The people in the village didn’t even remember that there was a temple of Artemis there.
Maybe Demetrius was prophesying when he said “”There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited; and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty.” Because now the majority of people touring Ephesus are Christians, and few of them are buying souvenirs of Artemis.
Jesus is big enough to win His own fights. Sometimes He just needs us in the city, to speak when we can. Paul preached to all of Asia before that riot happened and for some time Jesus has been worshiped throughout the province of Asia and in the world.
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