Extraordinary miracles.

Acts 20:11-20, And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.”

Paul’s primary focus was on the word, on preaching the living word, and not on miracles yet suddenly the power of God breaks through in extraordinary miracles. There were others who wanted to take advantage of this for their own purposes who thought they had found the magical name to be able to do these things themselves, but it didn’t work as they expected. It is instead the power of God at work, bringing glory to the name of Jesus. His name is not some magical token or rabbit’s foot. When we bring honor to His name in sharing the gospel, who knows how God may be pleased to move?

Give us boldness to declare the name of Jesus in thought, word and deed; be pleased to move in extraordinary miracles our own time, O Lord!

ESV Lectionary