Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you

The expression "Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you?" comes from the confrontation between an evil spirit and seven itinerant exorcists in Ephesus. In the book’s reading of the episode, the question sharply distinguishes the recognized authority of Jesus and Paul from the exorcists’ attempt to use Jesus’s name as a means of power without belonging to the community of the Realm.

Setting and Speakers

The saying appears in the account of Acts 19:13–16, where seven itinerant exorcists, identified as children of the high priest Sceva, attempt to drive out an evil spirit in the name of Jesus. Exorcists and other charismatic wonder-workers commonly traveled from place to place. The commentary notes that many people believed knowledge of a spirit’s name could provide access to its power, a belief that helps explain why invoking Jesus’s name might seem effective to the exorcists.

The identification of the men as Sceva’s children is itself treated cautiously: Jewish records preserve no high priest named Sceva. The episode’s focus, however, is not the verification of their family background but the contrast between their claim to authority and the authority associated with Jesus and Paul.

The Challenge and Its Outcome

The exorcists invoke Jesus’s name, but the spirit’s reply refuses to treat that invocation as proof of standing or power. Its words recognize Jesus and Paul, then demand to know who the exorcists are. The question turns their attempted formula into an exposure: they can pronounce the name, but they cannot make its authority their own.

The confrontation ends with the person inhabited by the spirit overpowering the seven exorcists, who flee. The commentary stresses the reversal: those who promise release from demonic power cannot deliver it, and the force they attempt to manipulate instead defeats them. Their failure is presented not as an act of divine destruction but as the consequence of their own false claim to represent the Realm.

Meaning and Preaching Use

In this interpretation of Acts, the name of Jesus belongs to the community of the Realm. The exorcists are not members of that community; their use of the name therefore makes them imposters rather than participants in its mission. The episode contrasts the promise of freedom with the inability to provide it, and asks what it means for a community to represent the Realm genuinely rather than merely claim its language or powers.

The saying can thus prompt reflection beyond the ancient scene. The commentary proposes that a sermon might help listeners identify contemporary ideas, behaviors, or groups that promise the Realm’s qualities but fail to embody them. It also directs scrutiny toward the congregation itself: the exorcists’ fate warns that false representation can generate its own destructive consequences.