Council

Acts 15:1-35

Good morning! We are in Acts chapter 15 today. We’re now into the second half of the book of Acts, at least from a chapter-count point of view, as Acts has 28 chapters.

 

Last week, Paul and Barnabas wrapped up their first missionary journey, and

 

they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. – Acts 14:26-28

 

That long time was probably more than a year.

 

The journey that they completed had taken them from Antioch to the island of Cyprus, where they traveled the length of the island sharing the gospel. They then sailed to the southern shore of modern-day Turkey and began an inland journey through Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They often started in the Jewish synagogue when they reached a new city, but very quickly their focus shifted towards the Gentiles, as many Jews were jealous and opposed the message. The word of the Lord spread not only to the people of the cities they visited but also through the region surrounding them.

 

The message went forth with power and was accompanied by signs and wonders— miracles. Paul survived being stoned in Lystra, which was another miracle. Their mission resulted in a large number of disciples, and Paul and Barnabas returned back to Antioch by the same route, strengthening and encouraging the disciples in each city they had visited in Asia Minor and adding Perga as another stop.

 

God had clearly started an amazing work even farther into reaching “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Not only that, the majority of the new disciples were Gentiles. Many of the first Gentiles who were reached were called “God-fearing.” They were not Jewish, but they were followers of God who respected and helped the Jews. Now there are Gentiles who are coming to faith in Christ out of a pagan background. It is a different dynamic, and with such changes, there are bound to be some challenges. And that’s where we will go with today’s passage. Let’s pray and get into Acts chapter 15.

 

Lord God, thank You that You have made a way for all peoples to come to You. Help us to see and understand what You have for us in our passage. We need Your understanding and insight. Guide us, we pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

After Paul and Barnabas had been back in Antioch for a long time,

 

Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. – Acts 15:1-2

 

Who are these people who came down? They likely belonged to the party of the Pharisees (verse 5). They believed that before a person could become a true Christian, they had to keep the Law of Moses. This was such a passion for them that they were willing to make the more than 400 mile weeks-long journey from Judea to Antioch.

 

They even thought God-fearing Gentiles were not okay and that any Gentiles with or without prior knowledge of God needed to be nearly Jewish, the more compliant with the Law of Moses the better.

 

One key test for following the Law of Moses was circumcision. They connected circumcision with salvation. Without it, “you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). With that claim, there could be no disagreement among believers. Either it is true, or it is false. It must be dealt with.

 

It may not seem like it, but this is an existential issue for the early church. It must be resolved, or risk the good news being corrupted or the church be subject to internal strife that would weaken and damage it.

 

It’s such a foundational assault, you begin to wonder whether these people were believers or not (Galatians 2:4, false believers). As we will see, there was a group with these beliefs inside the church. On the one hand, this is kind of scary. How could it happen? On the other hand, it feels real. There are always challenges that arise to get the church off track. Allowing God to lead and navigate us through the challenges is the key.

 

So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. – Acts 15:2-4

 

Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem to seek a clear resolution. Along the way, we get the clear understanding that the Judaizers were not in the majority, nor had they been sent to Antioch with their message by any other church or leader. All the believers they encountered along those 400+ miles from Antioch to Jerusalem by way of Phoenicia and Samaria were very glad. The word “very” is in the Greek. They weren’t just joyful. The believers were mega-joyful. They were overjoyed at how the Gentiles had come to faith in Christ.

 

As we will see, there is a sequence of three meetings. They pretty much run together so the separation doesn’t necessarily stand out. Meeting one includes the whole church of Jerusalem and the apostles and elders. You can call this meeting “Welcome and General Report.”

 

Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, "The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the Law of Moses." The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. God, who knows the heart, showed that He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as He did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for He purified their hearts by faith. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." – Acts 15:5-11

 

Verse 5 clearly says that these legalists were believers. Their requirement that the Gentiles must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses was wrong, but they are still believers. That’s good to keep in mind. Sometimes, we can be wrong in our understanding. It doesn’t disqualify us as children of God, but we do need to be open to correction. The believing Pharisees needed to turn from their wrong beliefs. In Acts 14, Paul had told the Gentiles in Lystra to “turn from worthless things to the living God” (Acts 14:15). In the case of the Gentiles, the worthless things were their various forms of idol worship. In the case of the believers who were Pharisees, they had to give up their dependence on their own righteousness. The Old Testament in Isaiah 64:6 already said that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Later, Paul would write in Galatians 2:16 that “no flesh shall be justified by works of the Law.”

 

Rather than taking this demand into an open discussion, the leaders meet separately first. That is meeting two, what could be called “Apostles and Elders.” This was not a short meeting, but rather involved much discussion. Finally, Peter speaks to them all about the first Gentiles who came to faith (Acts 10). Peter brought them the gospel, but God showed His acceptance by giving them the Holy Spirit. Carl has highlighted this significant aspect of the Holy Spirit’s arrival in the book of Acts as an important way that God communicates who are believers. We see that in Peter’s words here.

 

Peter says that the Law was a yoke that neither the current Jews nor any of the former generations could bear. Acts 13:39 tells us plainly, 

 

“[B]y Him [Jesus] everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.” – Acts 13:39 (NKJV)

 

Peter explains that we are all dependent on the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, whether from a Jewish or Gentile background.

 

Peter’s use of the word “yoke” in relation to the Law brings Matthew 11:28-29 to mind, where Jesus said,

 

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:28-29

 

The yoke we have in Christ is not a burden but rather a gentle leading that keeps us on the right path.

 

This brings us to the third meeting. The whole assembly seems to have remained together while the apostles and elders met. They were not quiet during the wait, but

 

The whole assembly became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up. "Brothers," he said, "listen to me. Simon has described to us how God first intervened to choose a people for His name from the Gentiles. The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written:

 

"'After this I will return and rebuild David's fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear My name, says the Lord, who does these things'—things known from long ago. – Acts 15:12-18

 

There is a willingness in the assembly to listen. This fits with the earlier observation about being open to correction. They were silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul. Their testimony matched Peter’s: God has accepted the Gentiles who believe in Him. We should do the same.

 

This James is Jesus’ brother. If you remember, the apostle James had been martyred (Acts 12:2). James brings in Scripture in support of what Paul, Barnabas, Peter and others have observed. When he says “Simon,” he is talking about Peter (Simon Peter). Bible commentators focus strongly on the words “people” and “Gentiles” here. The word “people” is the Greek word that the Jews used to describe themselves as the people of God. The word translated “Gentiles” has embedded in it the idea of the nations. The Jews were not part of that. They were a people special to God. Now James is saying that from among the Gentiles, God has called, has chosen, a people for Himself. Then, the passage that James quotes is Amos 9:11-12. Again, we have support for God’s people from among the Gentiles in the Old Testament. David’s tent has fallen because the Jewish people rejected the Messiah. God has begun to rebuild it with a remnant from the Jews and now too the Gentiles. Gentiles who bear His Name—they aren’t to be Jews. They will remain Gentiles. Pretty clear, right?

James continued:

 

"It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood. For the Law of Moses has been preached in every city from the earliest times and is read in the synagogues on every Sabbath." – Acts 15:19-21

 

The leadership of the church is interesting. Peter is clearly there, but it is James who is leading this council. This James is not one of the original apostles. And yet, here we are just 15 chapters and the same number of years from the resurrection, and we have a prominent new leader. It’s not Paul, either. God is working among all His people, raising up leaders and taking care of them. Isn’t that cool?

 

Why did they settle on these four things to avoid? There are several reasons, and the ones we look at now may not be comprehensive.

 

You can look at these four and say that they predate the Law of Moses. Sexual immorality is inherently prohibited at the creation of marriage in Genesis 2 prior to the Fall: “A man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). God’s covenant with Noah covers both meat from strangled animals and blood. In Genesis 9, following the flood, God allows people to eat the meat of animals, but then in verse 4, He says, “You must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it” (Genesis 9:4). That is what happens with a strangled animal. The blood is still in it. And blood is, well, blood. A command to abstain from food sacrificed to idols prior to the Law of Moses is a bit more tenuous. Idol worship is prohibited by Jacob in Genesis 35:2 when he commands his household and all those with him to get rid of their idols (which they do!). Other passages from the Law and later make it clear that eating food sacrificed to idols is a participation in the worship of idols or the appearance of it (Exodus 35:15, Numbers 25:2, and Psalm 106:28).

 

Of course, the church would continue to consist of Jewish and Gentile believers. It was necessary for the sake of unity that the Gentiles did not behave in ways that would destroy the faith of the Jewish believers. Or, perhaps more relevant, that the Gentile believers did not behave in ways that would undermine the witness of the church among the Jewish community throughout the earth. Consider verse 21, where it explains the Law of Moses was read and taught in all the cities where the Jews lived. Paul wrote extensively about food sacrificed to idols in I Corinthians chapters 8 and 10. In short, he discouraged the practice to protect the faith of weaker believers and to avoid any risk of being a participant in idol worship before concluding with the general rule,

 

[I]f someone says to you, ‘This has been offered in sacrifice,’ then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. – I Corinthians 10:28

 

Finally, we can say that these were also areas of weakness for Gentiles, particularly mixing up idol worship of a variety of gods and sexual immorality. So, following these four recommendations would be good for the Gentiles as individuals as well as the corporate relationships in the body between Gentile and Jewish believers. So, perhaps all this can be summed up by saying that the Gentile believers did not need to adhere to the Law of Moses, but they did need to adhere to the law of love.

 

Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. With them they sent the following letter:

 

The apostles and elders, your brothers,

 

To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

 

Greetings.

 

We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul--men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.

 

Farewell. – Acts 15:22-29

 

It's easy to miss it, but chapter 15 began with “certain people” who had traveled to Antioch and were teaching that you had to adhere to the Law of Moses to be saved. Those then were supported by believers of the party of the Pharisees in Jerusalem in verse 5 with the same requirement. Now, the apostles, elders, and the whole church were in agreement and decided to send out this message. The ones who had supported this legalistic requirement for the Gentiles had let go of their error. Would this be the last time that legalism came up in the church? Well, no. But, we can be encouraged that the believers did come to a right agreement.

 

Judas and Silas are almost certainly Jewish believers, so, as leaders from the church in Jerusalem and Judea, they are good companions to travel with Paul and Barnabas to bring this message to the Gentiles in Antioch, where the dispute first arose.

 

What a beautifully simple and short letter. It is important to note that the letter is directed to certain churches and not all Gentile churches. I already mentioned Paul writing to the church in Corinth about abstaining from food sacrificed to idols. So in the end, there needs to be a preference towards care and concern for those of weaker faith over liberty. This does not mean that whoever says they have the least faith gets to have whatever they want. Truth must prevail. These situations require wisdom, and that comes from God. The letter gives credit to the Holy Spirit for guiding them in what requirements to send.

 

So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord. – Acts 15:30-35

 

Thankfully, this potentially damaging and divisive situation was handled correctly. The believers of Antioch rejoice and are glad that they are saved by grace and not by works, just as any believer is.

 

Judas and Silas minister to the church there in Antioch. Prophets in the early church were often encouragers and, in that role, served to strengthen the church. They are then sent off with the blessing of peace. That concluded a situation that could have been so much more difficult. Instead, it ends with a spirit of unity and peace.

 

Paul and Barnabas continue the work, and more believers are raised up to teach and preach the Word among both the Jewish and Gentile believers and, no doubt, to those who have not yet believed.

 

In studying this passage and the Jewish believers’ strong belief that the Gentiles needed to follow the Law of Moses, I came across this verse in Exodus 12. It says, “The same law applies both to the native-born and to the foreigner residing among you” (Exodus 12:49). It is still true. The same law does apply to Jew and Gentile. It is the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:2).

 

For what the Law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:3-4

 

That indeed is good news for all who would listen. We are purified by faith (Acts 15:9), not by keeping the Law. And as Peter realized in Acts 10, “God has shown to me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28).

 

God is awesome. All praise to Him for making a way for all to come to Him to be saved. Thanks be to God that it doesn’t depend on what we do. We rest in Jesus Christ.

 

Let’s pray.

 

Lord Jesus, thank You that we are saved by grace and not by works. We pray that the good news will continue to go forward and that Your grace and truth will be clear. Help us to love one another and to see how to honor and strengthen one another when our faith is weak. Glorify Your Name in all the earth. Amen.

Only Human

Acts 13:49-14:28

Good morning! Today we continue our study of the book of Acts, looking at the end of chapter 13 and chapter 14. Over the past two weeks, we have looked at how Paul and Barnabas were staying at the church of Antioch, teaching and equipping and encouraging the believers there. As they were worshiping together, they sensed the Holy Spirit calling Paul and Barnabas to end their time there and go to even more unreached areas to spread the gospel. The church fasted, prayed, and laid hands on them, and then they sent them off.

 

They went by ship to the island of Cyprus, and there, God’s message was proclaimed in the synagogues, a sorcerer was confronted and struck with blindness, and the proconsul came to faith. Then they sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, and from there they went inland to the Antioch in Pisidia. Once again, they went to the synagogue, and were invited to speak. Paul’s speech to them is recorded in Acts 13. Paul gives them a history of the Jewish people, and then he explains that the Jewish leaders did not recognize Jesus for who He was, but in persecuting Him they fulfilled the words of the Old Testament prophets. He explains that Jesus was condemned and died on a cross, but then God raised Him from the dead and He was seen for many days instructing His followers who are now proclaiming Him as witnesses to what He has done. Paul explains the gospel, that those who believe in Jesus find forgiveness from sin, and he warns them not to become scoffers. 

 

After the service, many people come up to them and ask them to come back on the next Sabbath to teach them more about Jesus. Paul and Barnabas indeed return, but this time they find that almost the entire city has gathered. This includes Gentiles, who make up most of the people in the city. This makes a number of the Jews jealous, presumably including the leaders, and they begin to contradict Paul and “heap abuse upon him.”  Paul and Barnabas respond by saying that since they reject the words leading to eternal life, they now turn to the Gentiles of that city. This makes the Gentiles very glad but further infuriates the Jews. As Paul and Barnabas reach out to the Gentiles, large numbers of them came to believe.  This brings us to today’s passage.

 

The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. – Acts 13:49-52

 

And so we see that the Jewish leaders didn’t just stand by and allow Paul and Barnabas to continue. They go to the “God-fearers” in their city, people who believed some measure of what the Bible teaches about God but were unwilling to begin the long and difficult process of actual conversion to Judaism. The passage is clear that both women and men were contacted; in each case, these were among the city’s most influential people. Why did the Jews go to them? Because they had power, in the case of the men, or their husbands did, in the case of the women. And so they knew who to talk to, and although we don’t know the details of what was said, we know the results – they were successful. Paul and Barnabas were expelled not only from the city, but the surrounding area as well. 

 

Now the “shaking the dust off your feet” was a powerful symbol in ancient times. Jesus spoke of it in the gospels. When He sent off the twelve to spread the news of His coming in Matthew 10, for example, He said that if people will not welcome them or listen to them, they are to leave that place and shake the dust off their feet. What does it mean? It means that you will no longer have anything to do with them; you won’t even bring their dust with you going forward. It means that they have done their part, bringing the good news, but that the rejection of this news is solely the responsibility of those who are doing the rejecting. The symbolism goes deeper in that it implies that God sees this action, the shaking the dust off their feet. Based on the idea that Jesus taught what you bless will be blessed and what you curse will be cursed, God not only sees these people, but He also will judge them for their refusal to believe.

 

Now what started all this? As we have already discussed, and as we saw last week, the answer is jealousy. Now our culture tends to minimize jealousy, or even makes light of it, with a common movie plot device being a woman doing something to make the man she wants to be with jealous so that he takes action to pursue her. But the Bible has very serious things to say about jealousy.

 

In Galatians 5, a list of the acts of the flesh are given and followed by a list of the fruit of the Spirit. The acts of the flesh include both jealousy and envy, as well as hatred and discord and fits of rage, all of which were present among those opposed to the gospel at Antioch in Pisidia. In I Corinthians 13, the so-called “love chapter,” we are told that love does not envy. This means that envy, which is jealousy, is the opposite of love. In I Timothy 6, when talking about false teachers, Paul notes that envy, strife, and malicious talk all stem from such people. This chapter identifies conceit, which is pride, as the root of all these behaviors. Romans 1 lists it among other terrible behaviors as a mark of unbelievers who reject the clear evidence of God. And James 3 tells us the following:

 

But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. – James 3:14-16

 

And so jealousy is evil, satanic. In the case of the Jewish leaders, it is blinding them from seeing and responding to the gospel. It is costing them salvation! We should be careful to watch for jealousy in our own hearts and repent of it when we find it. We should ask God to fill our hearts with the opposite of jealousy—a longing for the success of others, even if, in comparison, our status or position within our own minds or in public is diminished.  

 

The disciples could have been discouraged about what had happened in Pisidian Antioch. They could have decided this journey was a mistake and turned around to go back to “their” Antioch. Or they could have become bitter about the betrayals they experienced there. They could have held grudges against those in the synagogue who turned against them. But they had shaken the dust off their feet, as it says, “as a warning to them.” The “ceremony” was not for their own benefit; it was for the benefit of those who opposed to the gospel. They cared about those who persecuted them, those who rejected the message of forgiveness found through Jesus Christ.  But it was time to follow the leading of God and move on to Iconium, trusting God to help the new body of believers in Pisidian Antioch to grow in faith and in numbers even though Paul and Barnabas could not stay there. And they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.

 

At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel. – Acts 14:1-7

 

At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas continue their pattern of going to the Jews first. They did this out of love and concern for their own people, and because they had a background in the Scriptures that would enable them to understand who Christ was and put their faith in Him quickly. We are told that many Jews as well as Greeks believed. 

 

But once again, we see the pattern of opposition rising up after an initial success. One could almost say that opposition is a sign that you are doing something right. But they didn’t immediately kick Paul and Barnabas out – perhaps the size of the city made this impossible, as it just took a much longer time for people to even be aware of what was going on. But it appears that as the gospel spread, pretty much everyone became aware of Paul and Barnabas and at least something about what their message was about, so much so that it says that the people of the city were divided – the Greek word used here is the vivid “schizo,” which means cleaved or split, as in how an axe splits wood. This was just not a difference in opinion; emotions were running high.

 

And those opposed to the gospel now made plans to have them stoned to death. But thanks to God, their plan was discovered by the believers, and so Paul and Barnabas went immediately from Iconium the area of the cities of Lystra and Derbe. And once again, they began to share the gospel in their new location.

  

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. – Acts 14:8-10

 

Note that in Lystra it appears that Paul and Barnabas did not first go to a synagogue. Why? Most likely, because there was no synagogue here. Instead they went to the busiest location, almost certainly the marketplace, the agora. It makes sense that this would so be where the lame man sat, in part so that there was something for him to watch, but also likely in part so that he could make money from begging there. 

 

And so Paul is there, presenting the gospel in a way that Gentiles could understand. We don’t know the details of this presentation, but it is unlikely that Paul was focusing on Old Testament Scripture, as this would not be known to them. We do have an example of one of Paul’s messages to Gentiles later in Acts, but I won’t get ahead of myself and present that here. In any case, the lame man was listening intently to Paul’s message, and Paul noticed this. Presumably it was the Holy Spirit that helped Paul to see that this man had blossoming faith not only in the area of salvation, but also in believing the impossible, that God could heal him, making it possible for him to do something, walk, that he had never been able to do his entire life. 

 

And what did Paul do? Did he stop and pray for this man? No. Did he perform some special incantation or ritual? No. Shockingly, he simply told the man to stand up! And the man, we are told, jumped up! I mean, I don’t think even I can jump up from the floor. And then he walked. 

 

Now, what would you think might happen next? Or if you were making up this story for the purpose of showing how great your god was, what would you have happen next? I can tell you what I would do. I would have the whole town come running to Paul and Barnabas, professing faith in their God, and basically have an explosion of faith like what we saw happen in Jerusalem in Acts 2. I would have the whole town get saved, share their possessions, love one another, gather daily for prayer and fellowship, etc. But what actually happened? Let’s read on. 

 

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. – Acts 14:11-13

 

Um, this is not what I envisioned. Now, we have found several inscriptions from the third century AD verifying that Zeus and Hermes were worshiped in Lystra. And in fact, we know about a local legend believed there. The legend was that Zeus and Hermes had once visited the area disguised as ordinary men. They were looking for somewhere to stay, but home after home turned them away. Finally, one poor elderly couple made them welcome. In response, the gods tuned their home into a temple with a roof of gold and columns of marble. But then the gods destroyed the homes of all the people who had turned them away. 

 

So when Paul healed the man who had been lame from birth, and given that Paul was one of two men, the people of Lystra remembered the legend and concluded that it was actually true. They also concluded that Paul and Barnabas must have been Zeus and Hermes coming in disguise once again. But which was which? To answer this, we need to go a bit deeper into the Greek legends of their gods. 

 

Zeus was king of the gods, residing on Mount Olympus, and Hermes was one of his sons. His mother was a nymph named Maia who hid from the other gods in a secret cave. This cave was where Hermes was born. On his first night since being born, Hermes was able to sneak out of his cave. He killed a turtle and used its shell to make the first lyre. He also stole the prized cattle of his half-brother Apollo. Apollo was able to track the thief to Maia’s cave. Finding only Maia and the baby god there, he told Maia that Hermes had to be the thief. Maia said that was ridiculous, as he was only a newborn infant and of course he could not yet do any of the things he had been accused of. Apollo took the baby to Mount Olympus to be judged by Zeus. To everyone’s shock, Hermes stood up and eloquently repeated his mother’s words that he was far too young to do any of the things that he had been accused of. Apollo was furious, but Zeus was delighted in his new son. Zeus offered Hermes a seat of honor at Mount Olympus, and Hermes agreed, far preferring this to a boring cave. Seeing Hermes’ mischievous streak, Zeus knew that Hermes would have to be kept busy to stay out of trouble, so he made him his messenger and herald. That is, Hermes became the spokesperson for Zeus. In the presence of mortals, it would be Hermes who spoke, not Zeus, when they were together. And so now you can see why the people of Lystra immediately “knew” that Paul had to be the mischievous Hermes, and the silent Barnabas had to be Zeus. Again, this is not what I would have envisioned!

 

I also want to point out that this kind of misinterpretation, not to the details, but to the essence, still can occur today in some parts of the world. The idea that Jesus is God’s Son, fully God but also fully man, is a difficult concept for everyone to grasp. But to people who believe in multiple gods, it is easy to misunderstand the gospel message to conclude that it is just one more occurrence of a god coming to earth in human form so as to hide their godhood and perhaps test people, just like we heard in the legend of Zeus and Hermes looking for somewhere to stay. When sharing the gospel with people with absolutely no Bible background, it is important to understand that misinterpretation, especially in the early stages, is likely. Practically speaking, one should expect that the gospel message will not be properly understood at first, especially when sharing it with people who have false presumptions about what God (or gods) are like. Paul tries to do this next: 

 

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, He let all nations go their own way. Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. – Acts 14:14-18 

 

Barnabas and Paul begin by tearing their clothes. This is a well-known cultural convention that even the people of Lystra understand. It communicates powerfully that what is happening right now is not only wrong, but catastrophically so. I also note the strong contrast between what is happening here and how in Acts 12 Herod welcomed worship from the crowd. Paul explains that they are human beings just like them, and then pulls no punches in describing their beliefs as “worthless things.” This may seem harsh, but it is entirely accurate. You may hear people who say that there are good things in all religions, but that all religions are also wrong about some things. This is doubly false. Any religion that sets itself up in opposition to the true historical events of the Bible and the doctrines of Christianity has no good thing in it, because it leads people away from Christ instead of towards Him. The people of Lystra have been seriously harmed by these myths and legends. It is making it harder for them to believe the gospel! And you can see this, in how Paul and Barnabas have are not only having difficulty sharing the gospel with this people, they are also even struggling to prevent them from sacrificing to them, worshiping them as gods!

 

I really like Paul’s approach here. Despite the horrifying change in events, Paul still calls them friends. He calls God the living God, in part to contrast Him with the imaginary gods they worship. He is alive – He is real. And He is not just some superhero-like character with a mix of good and bad character qualities – He is the Creator of everything and everyone. And He is the giver of every good thing. He testifies to His existence, His goodness, His power, and His kindness by the fact that they have experienced His blessings whether they knew Him or not.  

 

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe. – Acts 14:19-20 

 

Let me first point out that the real bad guys in this account are not the Gentiles, although they are responsible for their own actions. But prior to the coming of the Jews from Antioch and Iconium, the Gentiles of Lystra were certainly confused, but they were not hostile. We don’t know what the Jews said to foment the crowd into such a state that they would stone Paul, but it seems likely to me that they manipulated the people of Lystra into seeing Paul as someone who thought their beliefs were rubbish. They might have even used Paul’s own words about “worthless things” against him. I say this because I cannot see how the crowd would care either way about whether Paul was saying controversial things within the context of Judaism. Perhaps they portrayed him as some kind of evil sorcerer, as some explanation was needed for how the lame man was healed.

 

In any case, what happened next was awful. Paul was stoned – and stoning was usually a death sentence, as rocks to the head would cause critical brain damage. They then dragged, not carried, his seemingly lifeless body unceremoniously out of the city, dumping him like garbage.

 

Now there are some questions about the timing of this. We are told that the disciples gathered around him. What disciples are these? Are they disciples that came from Antioch and Iconium to warn him what was coming? Were they disciples who had come from Antioch and Iconium at the same time as Paul? Or did the events described in these two verses occur a significant amount of time later than the preceding verses, and the disciples were Christ-followers in Lystra? I do not think we can answer this question.

 

But the far more important observation is that Paul is, miraculously, not dead! And did he flee? No! He – amazingly – went back into the city, presumably to receive medical treatment. But he did not stay – it was clear that the Jews from Iconium and Antioch had a severe corrupting influence on the people of Lystra, and it was certainly unsafe to stay there. And so he and Barnabas went to Derbe.   

 

Now although Paul was able to survive the stoning and go to Derbe, there is no reason to think he wasn’t affected significantly and permanently by the event. You get the impression in his letters that he had multiple physical problems, including perhaps eyesight problems and maybe disfigurement and scarring. It would be easy to despair over such things, but Paul simply pressed on for the sake of the gospel. He called his body a “tent” – as in a temporary dwelling – and an interesting choice of wording for one who worked as a tentmaker – and he said that to live is Christ and to die is gain, so he was willing to be a martyr for Christ, if that was the Lord’s will. He maintained a positive outlook because he knew that eternal life awaited him, an eternal life with Christ Himself. 

 

They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elders for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. – Acts 14:21-25 

 

And so at this point, we see Paul and Barnabas retracing their steps, returning to the places they had already spent time at. Encouragingly, this included Lystra, the place where it seemed like so much had gone so wrong. At each location, the gospel had taken hold, and despite the absence of Paul and Barnabas, they had met together to encourage one another with the truths of the gospel and they lived life together, presumably in the style of what we saw early in the book of Acts in Jerusalem.

 

From the perspective of Christian ministry, it is telling to see the importance Paul and Barnabas placed on revisiting each group of believers. These actions were not without danger. If the goal was just to get back to their starting point of Antioch, there were faster ways to go. They could have even revisited Paul’s home of Tarsus. At each location, there were Jews strongly opposed to them, and although they might have tried to keep a low profile, it is hard to believe that they weren’t found out. But God protected them, and in each location they encouraged the believers and also identified in each location those who were most mature in the faith and appointed them as elders.

 

Now, the books of Timothy and Titus give details into what Paul and Barnabas were looking for as they identified these people. We don’t have time to go into that today, but we can say they were looking for people not only with faith, but also with character qualities we would associate with “maturity.” And all indications are that they were appointing multiple elders in each location. The idea, like what is so widespread in Christianity today, that each church has one pastor and that’s it is foreign to the structure of the early church. The position did not seem to have any limit on the number of “slots,” and it was generally an unpaid, what we today might call part-time position. That is, the responsibility of ministry was shared, and people “kept their day jobs.” Now Paul was not opposed to people – especially those more in full-time missionary kinds of roles – receiving support to do this work. But for the more common role of “elder,” financial support was not normally part of the position. 

 

We are only given one sentence of what Paul and Barnabas told them, and it is an interesting selection: “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Nowadays, not a lot of people who say they have a “life verse” would make that selection. The Greek words are common words, but they also would apply to the idea of a doorway – you must go through a doorway before you can enter the home. But I like this analogy because you don’t spend a lot of time in a doorway – just a moment or two, and then you can spend the vast majority of your time enjoying the home. In the same way, each of us must go through many hardships, and although it does say “many,” all together they are like a doorway – in the eternal perspective, it is just a fleeting moment, and then, in the kingdom, we will be forever home.   

 

From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples. – Acts 14:26-28 

 

And so they safely returned to Antioch. And there, after reporting on the amazing spread of the gospel that was happening, even the establishment of churches in each city, they – for a time – remained in Antioch, living life, building up the church that was there. And so the church universal continued to grow in more cities than ever before: not just in Judea and Samaria, but now even beginning to spread “to the ends of the earth."