Paul in Asia Minor: Iconium, Lystra, Derbe
Acts 14:1–28
Paul and Barnabas extend their missionary journey farther in Asia Minor, where they continue to meet with success with many Gentiles and some Jews and hostility from those Gentiles and Jews who disbelieve their message, with some of the latter pursuing them from one city to another. Back in Acts 8, persecution of Jesus’ disciples in Jerusalem had prompted some, like Philip, to move beyond Jerusalem into Samaria and other areas. Here Jewish persecution in the †Diaspora likewise impels the Christian mission onward to new cities. The irony about this pattern is that in the first instance, Paul was the persecutor; now he and his fellow missionary Barnabas are the ones persecuted.
An important new development in this journey is their encounter with rustic audiences, whom Greeks and Romans tended to refer to as “barbarian” (see Col 3:11). This encounter underlines the difficulties of the Church’s outreach in less-developed cultures, such as in Lystra, where the people try to worship Paul and Barnabas. The pagan misunderstandings that the apostles encounter are early lessons in the need for cultural awareness in presenting the gospel message.
Paul and Barnabas’s return and report to the church that commissioned them provides a model for relationships between missionaries and the churches that send them forth. Paul was no solitary maverick; he worked as a member of a missionary team and returned and reported regularly to his home church in Antioch of Syria.
Paul and Barnabas at Iconium (14:1–7)
1In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue together and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks came to believe, 2although the disbelieving Jews stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers. 3So they stayed for a considerable period, speaking out boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the word about his grace by granting signs and wonders to occur through their hands. 4The people of the city were divided: some were with the Jews; others, with the apostles. 5When there was an attempt by both the Gentiles and the Jews, together with their leaders, to attack and stone them, 6they realized it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside, 7where they continued to proclaim the good news.
NT: Acts 4:30; 13:46; 14:14; 20:24
Lectionary: Acts 14:21–27: Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C)
[14:1]
Paul and Barnabas continue their established missionary pattern at Iconium, a city in Asia Minor between Antioch of Pisidia, which they just left, and Lystra. Paul later writes that he endured great persecutions in all three of these cities (2 Tim 3:11). In Iconium they enter the Jewish synagogue together.[1] Their presentation is so persuasive that a great number of both Jews and Greeks come to believe in Christ. Here “Greeks” seems to be synonymous with “Gentiles” (as in Rom 1:16; Gal 3:28).
[14:2]
As previously at Antioch in Pisidia, Jews who were not persuaded stirred up and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers. In evangelistic speeches, like Paul’s at Antioch in Pisidia, Jews customarily are the ones addressed as “brothers.” Here Luke calls Christians “the brothers” (including both men and women). The kinship bond of the Jewish people, based on ethnic ties, has now been extended to include all those who enter the family of God through faith in Jesus (see Luke 8:21).
[14:3]
This time Paul and Barnabas remain and face off against their opposition rather than moving on to the next town. They stay for a considerable period, speaking out boldly for the Lord. “Boldly” is Luke’s favored expression for the courageous, confident preaching of the gospel. They refuse to be intimidated by negative counterpropaganda but argue vigorously for Jesus as Lord.
The Lord in turn confirmed, or bore witness to, the word about his grace. The gospel is the word about God’s “grace,” as in Acts 20:24, because it concerns the free gift of salvation that God gives to those who believe in Jesus (see Rom 3:24; 5:15). The risen Jesus corroborates the truth of the gospel by granting signs and wonders to occur through their hands (see Mark 16:20; Heb 2:4). Such signs demonstrate that Jesus is indeed alive, that he has compassion on those who suffer, and that he is truly victorious over sin and its consequences.
Earlier the disciples prayed that God would do signs and wonders “through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:30), but here Jesus himself takes the initiative, granting on his own divine authority that the disciples work such miracles.
[14:4]
As is often the result of Christian witness in Acts, people of the city of Iconium are divided between those who side with Jews who opposed them and others (both Jews and Gentiles) who accept the message of the apostles. This is the first time Luke refers to Paul and Barnabas—or anyone other than the Twelve—as apostles, “those who are sent” (see also v. 14). Luke usually equates “apostles” with the original Twelve (Luke 6:13). But like the Twelve, Paul and Barnabas have been sent by the risen Lord.
[14:5–7]
The people’s antagonism leads to an attempt to attack and stone Paul and Barnabas. When they become aware of this attempt, the missionaries flee to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding countryside. They are now in what Greeks considered “barbarian” territory, where they continue to proclaim the good news. Persecution does not stop the preaching of the gospel, but simply propels it onward to a new audience.
Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (14:8–20)
8At Lystra there was a crippled man, lame from birth, who had never walked. 9He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him, saw that he had the faith to be healed, 10and called out in a loud voice, “Stand up straight on your feet.” He jumped up and began to walk about. 11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they cried out in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in human form.” 12They called Barnabas “Zeus” and Paul “Hermes,” because he was the chief speaker. 13And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, for he together with the people intended to offer sacrifice.
14The apostles Barnabas and Paul tore their garments when they heard this and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, 15“Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God, ‘who made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them.’ 16In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways; 17yet, in bestowing his goodness, he did not leave himself without witness, for he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filled you with nourishment and gladness for your hearts.” 18Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
19However, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrived and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. 20But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city. On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.
OT: Ps 104:14–15; Isa 44:9–20
NT: Luke 23:34; Acts 2:37–39; 3:1–13; 17:30–31; 2 Cor 11:25
Catechism: healing of sick, 1506–13; proclaiming Christ to all nations, 74, 751; turning from idols, 2097, 2112–14; natural revelation, 32, 1147
[14:8–9]
At Lystra in Lycaonia, Paul heals a crippled man. Readers may note similarities between this healing and Peter’s healing of the lame man in Acts 3:1–13. Both healed men were crippled from birth and had never walked. Both Peter and Paul looked intently at the lame man. Both apostles offered a healing that the man did not expect (as Jesus had done in John 5). In addition, Paul sees that he has the faith to be healed. As he preaches, Paul observes the work of the Spirit in his listener and recognizes that he is welcoming the truth of the good news and is thus disposed to receive healing. As Jesus had seen the Canaanite woman’s faith and healed her daughter (Matt 15:28), so Paul heals this Lycaonian man after seeing his faith.
[14:10]
Both Peter and Paul commanded the lame man to get up. Though Peter made his command “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean,” Paul simply orders the man: “Stand up straight on your feet.” Paul calls out in a loud voice, perhaps with a tone of authority to increase the man’s faith. Like the Jew in Acts 3:8, this Gentile man is instantaneously healed, jumps up, and begins to walk.
[14:11–12]
Both sets of onlookers who witnessed the healings misunderstood them and had to be corrected. Peter chided the Jerusalem Jews, “Why are you amazed at this, and why do you look so intently at us as if we had made him walk by our own power or piety?” (Acts 3:12). It was God who healed the man through faith in Jesus’ name.
The pagan crowds of Lystra are even more misguided about the healing done by Paul. They cry out in Lycaonian, their native tongue, “The gods have come down to us in human form.” Because Paul is the chief speaker, they call him Hermes, the messenger god, and Barnabas they dub Zeus, the chief god. This odd reaction may be based on a legend recounted by the poet Ovid, in which Zeus and Hermes visited this region in disguise, seeking hospitality but finding it only in one devout elderly couple, whom they later richly rewarded.
Fig. 12. Relief of a garlanded bull, from the temple of Augustus in Antioch of Pisidia (see Acts 14:13).
[14:13]
Whatever the reason for the crowd’s conclusion, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, wastes no time. Immediately he prepares to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, bringing oxen and garlands to the gates. Whether these were gates to the city or to the temple of Zeus is not clear, but Luke may be recalling another similarity to Peter’s healing of the lame man at a gate of the temple.
[14:14]
Barnabas and Paul vehemently reject not only the Lycaonians’ assumption that they are gods, but along with it their entire pagan belief system. Peter had to correct Jewish misunderstandings after the healing of the lame man (3:12), but Barnabas and Paul have a bigger problem on their hands. Because of the language barrier, they may not immediately realize what is going on. Once they become aware of the egregious error, they tear their garments, a sign of extreme distress in response to evil tidings (Gen 37:34; 2 Sam 13:31), blasphemy (Mark 14:63–64), or other serious sin. The apostles’ reaction to this blasphemy is quite agitated: they rush out into the crowd, shouting to get the people’s attention and interrupt their actions.
[14:15]
Paul and Barnabas upbraid the people for their foolish behavior: “Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings” (see Peter’s similar correction in Acts 10:25–26). The miraculous healing they just witnessed has a totally different explanation: it confirms the good news that you should turn from these idols to the living God. The missionaries challenge their listeners to abandon their pagan beliefs and accept the truth that there is one creator God. They appeal to the testimony of creation, God’s revelation of himself in nature, which prepares for the supernatural revelation of the gospel (see Rom 1:19–23).
[14:16]
A common theme in Luke-Acts is that God’s saving plan allows for a time of divine tolerance of religious errors. For example, Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). Paul makes a similar reference to an earlier time of divine forbearance of ignorance, this time for non-Jews: “In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways.” This implies that in the present generation, now that the good news of Christ is being announced, God is changing how he relates to the Gentile world. Paul will say more about this in his next speech to Gentiles, at Athens (Acts 17:30–31).
There is some obvious humor in Luke’s portrayal of the Lycaonians’ bizarre behavior. From a biblical perspective, it appears ridiculous that pagans think Barnabas and Paul are gods in human form, and name one Zeus and the other Hermes because he did most of the talking. The picture of the priest of Zeus bringing garlands and preparing to sacrifice to human beings is equally ludicrous. But the humor has both a biblical precedent and a serious theological purpose.
Elijah taunts the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18:27). The book of Isaiah repeatedly mocks the folly of idolatrous beliefs and practices in contrast to faith in the living God. A classic example of anti-idol mockery that has a serious theological message is Isa 44:9–20. The idol maker goes into the forest and finds a piece of wood. The absurdity of his behavior becomes apparent in what he does with it:
Half of it he burns in the fire,
and on its embers he roasts meat;
he eats the roast and is full.
He warms himself and says, “Ah!
I am warm! I see the flames!”
The rest he makes into a god,
an image to worship and adore.
He prays to it and says,
“Help me! You are my god!”
They do not know, do not understand;
their eyes are too clouded to see,
their minds, to perceive. (44:16–18)
Finally the prophet drives home his lesson:
He does not think clearly;
he lacks the wit and knowledge to say,
“Half the wood I burned in the fire,
on its embers I baked bread,
I roasted meat and ate.
Shall I turn the rest into an abomination?
Shall I worship a block of wood?”
He is chasing ashes!
A deluded mind has led him astray;
He cannot save himself,
does not say,
“This thing in my right hand—is it not a fraud?” (44:19–20)
For all its humor, the mockery of idolatry in Acts serves a similar purpose as in Isaiah: to draw people away from the worship of false gods to knowledge of the one true God, the creator of all.
[14:17]
Paul explains that the living God has left evidence of himself in the created world, using what is today called an argument from natural theology (as in Rom 1:19–20). In bestowing his goodness, God gave witness to his existence and providence. He provided lavishly for the creatures he made by giving rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, as well as nourishment and gladness for your hearts (an echo of Ps 104:14–15). Paul is appealing to evidence not only for God’s existence but also for God’s abundant goodness. He thus implicitly invites his listeners not only to believe in God but also to give God the thanksgiving they owe him (see Rom 1:21).
[14:18]
With this plea the apostles scarcely restrain the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. Some first-century philosophers were known to exploit pagan credulity for their own profit. In contrast, Paul and Barnabas refuse gifts and veneration from these unbelievers.
[14:19]
In contrast to Paul and Barnabas’s honesty and humility, another group takes advantage of the credulity of the Lycaonians: some Jews arrive from Antioch and Iconium, the cities from which the apostles have just fled. These hostile outsiders manipulate the same gullible crowds whom Paul and Barnabas have refused to exploit. Perhaps they take advantage of the crowd’s natural resentment at having their belief system so vehemently denied, or perhaps they accuse Paul and Barnabas of trickery. This might help explain the irony that the same crowds who had just tried to offer sacrifice to Paul now stoned him, dragged him out of the city, and left him for dead.
[14:20]
Luke does not tell us whether the disciples prayed for Paul’s resuscitation after they gathered around him, or whether he was actually dead. Paul simply got up and returned to the city. That Paul survived being stoned is confirmed by his own testimony in 2 Cor 11:25: “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked.” Quite matter-of-factly, Luke remarks that the following day Paul left with Barnabas for Derbe. Misunderstanding, slander, rejection, the trauma of stoning, and even the threat of death—these do not stop the apostles’ mission. They simply move on to the next city. One might expect people to change their conduct in the face of such extreme negative reinforcement. Luke leaves readers free to draw their own conclusions about the faith, courage, and determination of these Christian missionaries and their source in the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Spirit.
The End of the First Mission (14:21–28)
21After they had proclaimed the good news to that city and made a considerable number of disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch. 22They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” 23They appointed presbyters for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, commended them to the Lord in whom they had put their faith. 24Then they traveled through Pisidia and reached Pamphylia. 25After proclaiming the word at Perga they went down to Attalia. 26From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work they had now accomplished. 27And when they arrived, they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 28Then they spent no little time with the disciples.
OT: Pss 22:26; 40:10–11
NT: Luke 24:46; Acts 13:3
Catechism: ordained ministry, 1546–51
Lectionary: Fifth Sunday of Easter (Year C); Rite of Ordination
[14:21–22]
Luke provides further glimpses into the missionary method of Paul and Barnabas. First they proclaimed the good news in Derbe, leading to positive results: they made . . . disciples (as Jesus had commanded in Matt 28:19). Then they retraced their steps, returning to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, to check on and strengthen the churches they had founded. Readers may wonder how Paul can return to the same cities from which he was just expelled (13:50–51) or fled in fear for his life (14:5–6), or in which he was stoned (14:19). One reason is that he and Barnabas were persecuted for publicly preaching to unbelievers, but now they are ministering privately to believers. They strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith. Without follow-up, new converts can easily return to previous beliefs and patterns of conduct. They need reinforcement for their new faith, extensive instruction, and encouragement to remain constant in the difficulties they can expect to face.
The missionaries’ trials occasion a new emphasis in their teaching: “It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Paul and Barnabas repeat the sober warnings that Jesus had given his followers: following him is a narrow and difficult way (Matt 7:14; 11:12). This inevitability of suffering and hardship characterizes God’s plan of salvation as reported in Luke-Acts. The risen Jesus teaches, “Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Luke 24:26). At the time of Paul’s conversion, the Lord tells Ananias, “I will show him what he will have to suffer for my name” (Acts 9:16).
[14:23]
Providing permanent local leadership to guide the new churches after the founders moved on was essential to Paul’s missionary task. Thus he and Barnabas appointed presbyters for them in each church. The word †presbyter means “elder,” which implies that new church leaders were chosen from among the more mature and reliable converts, as later recommended in 1 Tim 3:1–9 and Titus 1:5–9. At the beginning these leaders were likely found among Jewish believers, whose knowledge of Scripture and adherence to biblical morality would have been a major advantage.
Paul and Barnabas seek the Spirit’s guidance in commissioning the new leaders through prayer and fasting, following the example of Jesus, who fasted before he began his ministry and prayed before choosing his apostles (see Luke 4:2; 6:12). The church at Antioch in Syria had commissioned their own evangelizing mission in the same way (Acts 13:3, see sidebar, p. 204). They commend these new leaders to the Lord, since the successful ministry of church leaders ultimately depends on the risen Jesus.
[14:24–25]
Paul and Barnabas continue their Asian missionary journey through Pisidia to Pamphylia. The last city where they proclaim the word is Perga. From there they proceed to Attalia, the Mediterranean port from which they sail back to the church that sent them.
[14:26]
Their return to Antioch in Syria shows the close relationship between missionaries and the churches that commission them. It was the Antioch church that had commended, literally, “handed over,” Barnabas and Paul to the grace of God in their missionary journey. The church at Jerusalem had provided impetus for the initial outreach to Jews and Samaritans; now, at the initiative of the Spirit (13:1–2), the church at Antioch took the lead in the mission to Gentiles.
[14:27–28]
Now that Paul and Barnabas have completed their appointed work, they exercise accountability for it. On arriving, they report to the church what God had done with them, glorifying God and building up the community by relating God’s mighty works (see Pss 22:26; 40:10–11; 1 Pet 2:9). Their focus is on what God has achieved through them rather than on their own successes. They particularly report how God opened the door of faith to the Gentiles, a significant new development in the spread of God’s word. Both Acts and Paul’s Letters credit the evangelization of the Gentiles to God’s initiative and grace (Gal 1:15–16; 2:7–9; Eph 3:7–10).
Following their return, Paul and Barnabas spend no little time with the disciples at their Antioch base. Even the greatest missionaries are refreshed by resting and spending time with fellow believers, receiving as well as giving, so they can be recharged for their next mission.