The Olympics, prostitutes, a mob and a Supreme God.
- Christine DiGiacomo
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Good Day.
Last night I was watching the Olympics, specifically the snowboarding competition . . . man, oh man, it is nothing short of amazing what the well-trained human body can do! Isn't it crazy to consider that the Olympic games began before Christ was born?
Even in Ephesus, where the Word of God was taking hold, there were also athletic contests in the spring of the year about A.D. 55. Contestants from east and west made their way into town for 'Artemesia', a month of athletic contests, which also included raucous partying and prostitutes. (what?!)
Artemisia derived of course from Artemis, an ancient goddess worshipped in Ephesus, which boasted a temple in her name--one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, massive in size, dwarfing Athens' Parthenon. 'The epicenter of Artemis worship was a grotesque image of a woman--the lower part wrapped like a mummy, and the image covered with round objects that were said to be the ova of bees. The idol was also covered with breasts, symbolizing fertility.' 1 [pictured below]
Step into the story as Luke explains the tension on various levels there in Ephesus.
An astute silver craftsman and businessman, Demetrius, notices that the more the gospel takes hold, the fewer silver shrines are purchased.2 Uh oh. This is a problem as the economy of Ephesus is dependent upon the industry of making idols. Demetrius gathers his fellow craftsmen together and posits that not only are their pocketbooks being affected, but the goddess Artemis will soon lose her influence if it continues. 3
Easily influenced, the crowd starts chanting, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"4 More people join them, and they begin to make the walk down the Arcadian Way, which connects the harbor with a huge amphitheater. Hey, have you ever been in a throng like this? It has its own energy, and grows in people and intensity as it moves along. . . and oft the mob gets downright unruly.
What mania overtakes the crowd? Sometimes people are swept along by the crowd, and aren't even sure why they are there! And then, why do people do senseless things when they are in a mob? Ask Paul's assistants; they are grabbed by the angry mob and dragged to the amphitheater. . . presumably to answer for the teaching of 'the Way.'5
Paul is inclined to address the crowd, but is warned to stay away--otherwise, he will likely be killed. Eventually, the crowd is quieted by a local official, who tells them they can take the Christians to court, but it would be foolish to continue to riot because the Roman government will only take more of their freedom. His thought prevails, and this time, the Roman law protects the Christians.
As for mob mentality, I believe that people can get caught up in the mood of the crowd, and be so driven by fevered emotions, they cease thinking rationally. Remember when Pilate offered to release Barabbas, a known murderer and felon, or Jesus Christ of Nazareth? The crowd chose Barabbas because they had been whipped up to the frenzied cry of , "crucify Him, crucify Him" and no longer considered the innocence of the Lamb of God. What is the evil psychosis that sometimes latches onto and
lurks within the mob? It seems that things can go terribly awry, and fast.
So, what? What does this event have to do with us, if anything? Quite a lot actually.
Notice these takeaways from this ancient Ephesian event:
1) Greed is an evil master and manipulator (Demetrius, the businessman)
-an opportunity to ask myself 'is there some area in my life where greed is
the priority?
2) People want to worship something or someone; we are hard wired for it.
-because that is so, seeking after the One true God is paramount!
-because that is so, striking up conversations that point to God is vital
3) Though he was the Leader without doubt, Paul was humble enough to back
down and listen to those who loved him and cared most about him and his
mission.
>this hits home with me. You see, the name PastorWoman was given to me--
I am a 'shepherd' (pastor) to those who the Lord brings or calls me to. There
is not one iota of feminism attached to the name. Came about on the street in
Long Beach where I ministered to the homeless, gang members and other
disenfranchised folks; it was actually a couple Bloods who started calling me
the pastor woman. And this was at the same time I was the corporate pastor of an
international company (of 17 years); again, only God's favor conceived of such
a notion.
Then in 2021, almost exactly 5 years ago, I moved to Wake Forest, North
Carolina, home of the Southeastern Baptist Seminary;6 the denomination has a
stronghold here, and to be clear, there is no such thing as a pastor who is a
woman, no matter if her calling is not to lead a congregation. What to do?!
Do I close out PastorWoman in order to fit in my new Southern Baptist world?
Do I change the name of my ministry after all these years? I prayed about it a long
while. I asked a few trusted advisors. And I stayed the course.
Those who teach the Word of God must be humble, approachable, teachable.
Paul was all three. If not, in this riot in Ephesus, Paul would have stormed on to
the scene, perhaps ran right out into the middle of the amphitheater trying to
reason with the angry mob. He would have tried to win them to Jesus Christ;
and in all likelihood would have been martyred right then.
4) We must know WHO we are and WHOSE we are
-think of how these Ephesians were whipped into a frenzy, such that they
became an unruly mob, being worked up and moved along--when many did not even
know how they found themselves part of a mob!
5) We must know what we believe.
-if we do not know Who we are, Whose we are, and What we Believe, we
are easily manipulated, and if nothing else, find ourselves drifting along rather
purposeless in this beautiful life we have been given. This must not be so!
The olden days were just as corrupt as our modern day culture. Phew!
God is alive, Jesus Christ saves and redeems us, and the whole world is ours to love and influence for him. Thanks, Dr. Luke, for telling this wild story--athletic competition, sex, goddesses and the one true God! Amen.
Christine
Acts, no.55
1 - W.A. Criswell
2 - In recent years, archaeologists have unearthed these little statues in Ephesus
3 - great article from Biblical Archaeology on this very event: https://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-places/biblical-riot-at-ephesus/#:~:text=In%20Acts%2019%2C%20Luke%20describes,broke%20out%20concerning%20the%20Way.
4 - Acts 19.28
5 - Acts 19.29
6 - formerly Wake Forest University, which moved to Winston Salem in 1956
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