"Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, "In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out." Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (One day) the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. "

-Acts 19:13-16

I have to admit, as I read this passage of scripture this morning I almost laughed. I have this picture in my head of these guys who are completely awed by what’s going on with Paul and Christ (though I get the feeling they have little belief in Christ, if any). I see these characters running around "picking" on demons for lack of a better term – kind of like a group of kids harassing another kid or something – poke poke. And then they poke one who doesn’t shudder…and his lips curl into a snarled smile as he says words that sound mocking and must have been terrifying: "Jesus I know, and I know Paul…..but who are you?" Then the two run away humiliated and hurt. It seems like a cartoon almost. Like I said….I ALMOST laughed.

The reason I didn’t laugh was not that I don’t see some humour here, it was because I saw something else in here, something that I didn’t think mattered at one time and I am not so sure now.

See, for me the words "Who am I?" have been haunting and ever since grade 10, after a bout of very strong depression I have tried to avoid answering this question by being content with knowing who I am not. And I will admit that knowing who I am not has helped me in part to know who I am, if you’re lost, don’t worry because it doesn’t matter that much. (If you’re still curious as to what I meant, leave a comment and I’ll reply) Back in grade 10 I hit a rough patch in which I became depressed to the point of having a plan to commit suicide. What could ever cause me to want to kill myself? Gasp! I don’t know, all I know is that I was VERY depressed and that a number of different things – including my identity : Who am I? – contributed to that depression. So yes, "Who am I?" has been a question that I did not want to encounter again, but in light of this verse I wonder if maybe I should give the question a little more weight?

For a while now I’ve been going back and forth between the idea that the name of Jesus commands power and I truly do believe that, but looking at what the demon said…I wonder, does it carry power if there is no belief? I know the scriptures say that anyone who calls on Jesus to save them will be saved and I have often believed that that had a double meaning, one being salvation and eternal life and the other being that you will be saved (ie: miraculous survivor from a car accident). And then there was the time when Jesus disciples bragged saying: "Teacher," said John, "we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us." (Mark 9:38) to which Jesus replied: "Do not stop him," Jesus said. "No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me," (Mark 9:39). So in this case a man was actually able to cast out demons with the name of Jesus though he wasn’t a disciple and perhaps this meant that he was not even a complete believer either. So then how come these men failed? Was it due to one line that betrayed their belief? "…whom Paul preaches."…did this betray that they did not believe in the name of Jesus but were instead testing?

After reading this passage of scripture I think that knowing who we are is of benefit and may even be crucial to our faith though I’m not completely sure. And who am I? Who are you? Well this is who I am:

I am (insert name here). A man who is fearfully and wonderfully made. (Ps. 139:14). I am a man who has been known by God since before I was born (Ps. 139:15,16). I am a man who is guilty of sin (Romans 3:23) and yet loved by God (Ephesians 5:2). I have been made new (2 Corinthians 5:17) and I am a friend of God (John 15:15). I am a Christian.