text: Fr. James' Lectionary: Jesus' Baptism: Acts 19 with poem by William Shakespeare, from Comedy of Errors
  Jesus' Baptism: Acts 19 with poem by William Shakespeare, from Comedy of Errors
  Psalm 23, Genesis 21, Isaiah 21, Acts 19
  Daily Text: Acts 19
  Two issues seem to be paramount in Acts 19 for the young church: the question of John's vs. Jesus' baptism and the possibility that converts to the faith might adversely affect the economy of the local culture.
  If Paul actually re-baptized these twelve believers in Ephesus it is the only example of rebaptism in the New Testament. It will be my assertion that he did not re-baptize them in water, but that Jesus' baptism, from early in the church's history had a different connotation and that was that baptism with the Holy Spirit was Jesus' baptism. This is the common understanding in all three of the synoptic Gospels (Mt. 3:11, 12; Mark 1:7, 8; Luke 3:16-17). Since these Gospels reflect a common source, that same source would have been available to Luke when he later wrote the Acts of the Apostles. Therefore what Paul did for these twelve was the laying on of hands. He baptized them by the laying of hands and with this act came the realized power of the Holy Spirit in their lives, a power they had not previously known. For Jesus what was important was making all of the formerly sacramental and symbolic acts of godliness real. And 'realness' comes through the power of the Spirit of God. That was demonstrated in this very chapter by the seven sons of Sceva! I'm reminded of Robert Browning's poem, Religion.
  Religion's all or nothing; it's no mere smile
  O' contentment, sigh of aspiration, sir—
  No quality o' the finelier-tempered clay
  O' very stuff, life of life, and self of self.
  552:103
  In the contemporary world the early Pentecostals had it right. And they did not have it right because of their superior theological understanding, but because they, like the twelve in Ephesus, experienced the power of God in the outpouring of the Spirit.
  Demetrius, the silversmith, probably over reacted, but he understood fully that a population converted to Jesus Christ would affect his income radically. Likewise, if Christians today really became serious about shunning the idolatry of materialism that is practiced in so-called honor of the birth of Christ on December 25th each year, our merchants would be screaming just as loudly. It has happened to some extent with the efforts made by a few leading Fundamentalists in this country, but they have not been joined seriously by a significant number of Christians so the cries of the merchants are rather muted. What if we all took the $100's or $1000,s of dollars we spend each year at Christmas and gave that money to the poor through groups like Habitat for Humanity or The Heifer Project, what then? We too might see an uproar like that seen in Ephesus.