BRUCE C WEARNE, in his study of Acts, looks at how the crowd in Lystra turned against Paul and Barnabas…
But there was more. Jews from Antioch and Iconium came down [to Lystra] and, being able to persuade the people, they had Paul stoned, dragging him out of the city. They assumed he was [already or as good as] dead, but when the disciples stood around him in a circle he [eventually] revived and went back into the city. Next day he went on to Derbe with Barnabas. They also preached the Gospel to that city and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, all the while strengthening the outlook of the disciples, encouraging them about persistence in the faith, reminding them that it is indeed through many hardships that we live our lives as we enter the kingdom of God. They appointed elders for them in every church, and with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. – Acts 14: 19-23/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
STONES THROWN: Paul was stoned and dragged from Lystra. But he revivied and returned to the city before leaving with Barnabas to Derbe. PICTURE: J Henning Buchholz/www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Luke tells us that the Jewish enemies of Paul and Barnabas stirred up the crowd and Paul was stoned, his body dragged outside city limits. But he had not died. And they continued on in the work.
The Lystrans were pagan idol worshippers. Paul called upon them to worship the One true God, the God of Israel who raised Jesus from the grave. But then, Luke tells us, Paul was stoned. Did the Lystrans lose respect for Paul and Barnabas after they refused to be Hermes and Zeus? Is that why they had him stoned?
No. Luke says something else. The Lystrans did not turn on Paul and Barnabas because of their religious views. Something else happened. Something shocking. The Jewish enemies of Paul and Barnabas came to town, stirring the pagan crowd to murder. And notice that at this point we don’t hear about what happened to Barnabas in this riot.
On Cyprus the synagogues had been compromised by a magical craft. In Pisidian Antioch the Jews had stirred up the high-status women and the eminent men among the Gentiles and, as a result, the entire community, not just the synagogue, was split. It seems some were fanatically opposed to the Christian proclamation. “These Jews” were so far gone from the Law of God that they willingly conspired with idol worshippers in murderous schemes. We have been told they were fired by jealousy. They tried to suspend God’s Law, but God’s Spirit thwarted them.
This must have been a very sad time for Jewish believers. Think what it meant for them that fellow Jews would place their ethnic identity before everything else. Those accepting Jesus as Messiah could not do that. He demanded undivided devotion as God’s ruler of all the peoples of the earth. Led by God’s Spirit, they rejected the idea that Jewish customs should have priority for all believers. Jesus insisted that His disciples count the cost. All of life, everything, including one’s ethnicity, is in the service of God’s Kingdom. Only the Messiah can have precedence. That is what He said. “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Some suggest Paul’s understanding of how this related to Rome became clearer and clearer as the years passed. They suggest that his letter to the Romans is a challenge to the cult of Caesar which was on the rise throughout the Empire. The worship of God was the true alternative. Jesus indicated that He alone is the way to the true worship of God Almighty, the Lord of Israel, the Heavenly Father. To compromise on that is idolatrous. Jesus used a figure from Roman execution to describe the choice before His disciples. But then, Rome was only an earthly Empire. Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, the Lord God’s Chosen, the one to rule all nations.
OPEN BOOK- HINTS FROM THE SPIRIT OF HOLINESS: PERSISTING
BRUCE C WEARNE, in his study of Acts, looks at how the crowd in Lystra turned against Paul and Barnabas…
But there was more. Jews from Antioch and Iconium came down [to Lystra] and, being able to persuade the people, they had Paul stoned, dragging him out of the city. They assumed he was [already or as good as] dead, but when the disciples stood around him in a circle he [eventually] revived and went back into the city. Next day he went on to Derbe with Barnabas. They also preached the Gospel to that city and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, all the while strengthening the outlook of the disciples, encouraging them about persistence in the faith, reminding them that it is indeed through many hardships that we live our lives as we enter the kingdom of God. They appointed elders for them in every church, and with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had come to believe. – Acts 14: 19-23/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
STONES THROWN: Paul was stoned and dragged from Lystra. But he revivied and returned to the city before leaving with Barnabas to Derbe. PICTURE: J Henning Buchholz/www.freeimages.com
IN A NUTSHELL
Luke tells us that the Jewish enemies of Paul and Barnabas stirred up the crowd and Paul was stoned, his body dragged outside city limits. But he had not died. And they continued on in the work.
The Lystrans were pagan idol worshippers. Paul called upon them to worship the One true God, the God of Israel who raised Jesus from the grave. But then, Luke tells us, Paul was stoned. Did the Lystrans lose respect for Paul and Barnabas after they refused to be Hermes and Zeus? Is that why they had him stoned?
No. Luke says something else. The Lystrans did not turn on Paul and Barnabas because of their religious views. Something else happened. Something shocking. The Jewish enemies of Paul and Barnabas came to town, stirring the pagan crowd to murder. And notice that at this point we don’t hear about what happened to Barnabas in this riot.
On Cyprus the synagogues had been compromised by a magical craft. In Pisidian Antioch the Jews had stirred up the high-status women and the eminent men among the Gentiles and, as a result, the entire community, not just the synagogue, was split. It seems some were fanatically opposed to the Christian proclamation. “These Jews” were so far gone from the Law of God that they willingly conspired with idol worshippers in murderous schemes. We have been told they were fired by jealousy. They tried to suspend God’s Law, but God’s Spirit thwarted them.
This must have been a very sad time for Jewish believers. Think what it meant for them that fellow Jews would place their ethnic identity before everything else. Those accepting Jesus as Messiah could not do that. He demanded undivided devotion as God’s ruler of all the peoples of the earth. Led by God’s Spirit, they rejected the idea that Jewish customs should have priority for all believers. Jesus insisted that His disciples count the cost. All of life, everything, including one’s ethnicity, is in the service of God’s Kingdom. Only the Messiah can have precedence. That is what He said. “If anyone would come after me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Some suggest Paul’s understanding of how this related to Rome became clearer and clearer as the years passed. They suggest that his letter to the Romans is a challenge to the cult of Caesar which was on the rise throughout the Empire. The worship of God was the true alternative. Jesus indicated that He alone is the way to the true worship of God Almighty, the Lord of Israel, the Heavenly Father. To compromise on that is idolatrous. Jesus used a figure from Roman execution to describe the choice before His disciples. But then, Rome was only an earthly Empire. Jesus is Israel’s Messiah, the Lord God’s Chosen, the one to rule all nations.
Donate
Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.
Musings
Biological pattern
TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!
We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).
To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…