Verses 1-28
Chapter 14
14:1-7 It happened in
Iconium that they went in the same way into the synagogue of the Jews
and spoke to such effect that a great crowd of the Jews and of the
Greeks believed. But the Jews who did not believe inflamed the minds of
the Gentiles against the brethren. So then, they spent some considerable
time boldly speaking in the name of the Lord, who bore witness to the
word of his grace by causing signs and wonders to happen through their
hands. The population of the city was torn in two. Some sided with the
Jews and some with the apostles. When the Gentiles and the Jews with
their leaders combined in a movement to assault and stone them, they
discovered what was afoot and fled for safety to the cities of Lycaonia,
Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding district. And there they
continued to preach the good news.
Paul and Barnabas went on to Iconium, about 90 miles from
Antioch. It was a city so ancient that it claimed to be older than
Damascus. In the dim past it had had a king called Nannacus and the
phrase "since the days of Nannacus" was proverbial for "from the
beginning of time." As usual they began in the synagogue and as usual
they had good success; but the jealous Jews stirred up the mob and once
again Paul and Barnabas had to move on.
It has to be noted that Paul and Barnabas were more and more
taking their lives in their hands. What was proposed in Iconium was
nothing other than a lynching. The further Paul and Barnabas went the
further they moved from civilization. In the more civilized cities their
lives at least were safe because Rome kept order; but out in the wilds
Paul and Barnabas were ever under the threat of mob violence from the
excitable Phrygian crowds stirred up by the Jews. These two were brave
men; and it always takes courage to be a Christian.
14:8-18 There was a
man who sat in Lystra who had no power in his feet. He had been a
cripple from his birth and he had never walked. He was in the habit of
listening to Paul speaking. Paul fixed his gaze on him. He saw that he
had faith that he could be cured and he said to him in a loud voice,
"Stand up straight on your feet." He leaped up and kept walking about.
When the crowds saw what Paul had done they exclaimed in the Lycaonian
dialect, "The gods have taken the form of men and have come down to us."
They called Barnabas, Zeus; and Paul, Hermes, because he was the leader
in speaking. The priest of Zeus whose shrine is in front of the city
brought oxen and wreaths to the gates and he and the crowd wished to
offer sacrifice to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard
this, they rent their clothes and rushed in among the people shouting,
"Men, what is this you are doing? We too are men of like passions with
you. We are bringing you the good news which tells you to turn from
these empty things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea
and all that is in them. In past generations he allowed all nations to
go their own way. And yet he never left himself without a witness, for
he was kind to men, and he gave you rain from heaven and the fruitful
seasons and he filled your hearts with food and gladness." As they said
these things they could hardly stop the crowds sacrificing to them.
At Lystra Paul and Barnabas were involved in a strange
incident. The explanation of their being taken for gods lies in the
legendary history of Lycaonia. The people round Lystra told a story that
once Zeus and Hermes had come to this earth in disguise. None in all
the land would give them hospitality until at last two old peasants,
Philemon and his wife Baucis, took them in. As a result the whole
population was wiped out by the gods except Philemon and Baucis, who
were made the guardians of a splendid temple and were turned into two
great trees when they died. So when Paul healed the crippled man the
people of Lystra were determined not to make the same mistake again.
Barnabas must have been a man of noble presence so they took him for
Zeus the king of the gods. Hermes was the messenger of the gods and,
since Paul was the speaker, they called him Hermes.
This passage is specially interesting because it gives us Paul's
approach to those who were completely heathen and without any Jewish
background to which he could appeal. With such people he started from
nature to get to the God who was behind it all. He started from the here
and now to get to the there and then. We do well to remember that the
world is the garment of the living God. It is told that once, as they
sailed in the Mediterranean, Napoleon's suite were discussing God. In
the talk they eliminated him altogether. Napoleon had been silent but
now he lifted his hand and pointed to the sea and the sky, "Gentlemen,"
he said, "who made all this?"
14:19-20 There came
certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium. They won over the crowds and they
stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, for they thought he was
dead. While the disciples stood in a circle round him he got up and he
went into the city; and on the next day with Barnabas he went away to
Derbe.
In the midst of all the excitement at Lystra certain Jews
arrived. They may have been there for one of two reasons. They may have
been deliberately following Paul and Barnabas in a set attempt to undo
the work that they were doing. Or they may have been corn merchants. The
region round Lystra was a great corn growing area and they may have
come to buy corn for the cities of Iconium and Antioch. If so, they
would be shocked and angry to find Paul still preaching and would very
naturally stir up the people against him.
Lystra was a Roman colony; but it was an outpost. Nevertheless,
when the people saw what they had done they were afraid. That is why
they dragged what they thought was Paul's dead body out of the city.
They were afraid of the strong hand of Roman justice and they were
trying to get rid of Paul's body in order to escape the consequences of
their riot.
The outstanding feature of this story is the sheer courage of
Paul. When he came to his senses, his first act was to go right back
into the city where he had been stoned. It was John Wesley's advice,
"Always look a mob in the face." There could be no braver thing than
Paul's going straight back amongst those who had tried to murder him. A
deed like that would have more effect than a hundred sermons. Men were
bound to ask themselves where a man got the courage to act in such a
way.
14:21-28 When they had
preached the good news to that city and had made a considerable number
of disciples they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. As
they went they strengthened the souls of the disciples and urged them to
abide in the faith, saying, "It is through many an affliction that we
must enter into the kingdom of God." In each church they chose elders,
and, when they had prayed with fasting, they offered them to the Lord in
whom they had believed. When they had gone through Pisidia they came to
Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga they went down to
Attaleia. From there they sailed away to Antioch, from which they had
been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had
completed. On their arrival there, when they had called a meeting of the
church, they told them the story of all that God had done with them and
that he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. They spent a long
time with the disciples.
In this passage there are three notable lights on the mind of Paul.
(i) There is his utter honesty to the people who had chosen to
become Christians. He frankly told them that it was through many an
affliction they would have to enter into the kingdom of God. He offered
them no easy way. He acted on the principle that Jesus had come "not to
make life easy but to make men great."
(ii) On the return journey Paul set apart elders in all the
little groups of newly-made Christians. He showed that it was his
conviction that Christianity must be lived in a fellowship. As one of
the great fathers put it, "No man can have God for his father unless he
has the Church for his mother." As John Wesley put it, "No man ever went
to heaven alone; he must either find friends or make them." From the
very beginning it was Paul's aim not only to make individual Christians
but to build these individuals into a Christian fellowship.
(iii) Paul and Barnabas never thought that it was their strength
which had achieved anything. They spoke of what God had done with them.
They regarded themselves only as fellow-labourers with God. After the
great victory of Agincourt, Henry the king forbade any songs to be made
and ordered that all the glory should be given to God. We begin to have
the right idea of Christian service when we work, not for our own
honour, but from the conviction that we are tools in the hand of God.
-Barclay's Daily Study Bible (NT)