Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 14 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

History repeats itself – Acts 14:1-7

When Paul and Barnabas left Pisidian Antioch, they declared that they would in the future turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46). Yet, we find that in the next city, Iconium, 200 km away, Paul and Barnabas again began their preaching in the synagogue.

Paul's proclamation of conversion to the Gentiles was important, however. At that time, the "balance" in the church began to tilt in favor of those who had converted from paganism. The Jews had been the first to hear the gospel, but for the majority of them it had not been acceptable. Therefore, very soon after the Gentile mission began, the majority of Christians were former Gentiles, and Jewish Christians quickly became a minority.

Why did Paul and Barnabas go to the synagogue in Iconium? The missionary work done by the Jews (compare Matt. 23:15) was a good foundation for the proclamation of the gospel. Therefore, it was natural that the proclamation of the gospel would begin where the Old Testament and its events were already known.

But the missionary work carried out by the Jews was not only beneficial but also harmful. The Jews saw the spreaders of the new faith as serious competitors, and therefore the same thing happened again and again: the people were stirred up against the proclaimers of the gospel.

Iconium—now Konya—was located at the crossroads of roads running from east to west and from south to north, and was therefore an important trading city. Accordingly, there were also Jews there, some of whom were apparently wealthy and on good terms with the city’s leaders. A conspiracy soon arose, apparently seeking to incite a riot during which Paul and Barnabas would be killed. There would be no need to search for the culprits, since the murder would have taken place in the chaotic conditions of the riot.

However, Paul and Barnabas learned of the plan and fled to Lystra, less than 50 km (30 miles) away.

Treated like dirt

In 1 Corinthians 4:13, Paul says that Christians were rejected by all. Although many Roman emperors did not organize empire-wide persecutions of Christians, the early Christians could never be sure of their status.

Christians could be easily accused of various things, and no one wanted to stand up for the suspicious followers of the new religion. Many times the blood of Christians was shed. Many Roman citizens thought that Emperor Nero himself started the fire of Rome, but it would be convenient to blame it on Christians. This way, those strange Christians, who Nero blamed for the fire, would be punished at the same time.

This has been the case throughout the history of the Church. There have always been countries where the Christian faith has been a sufficient reason for persecution. Even the United Nations does not intervene much in religious discrimination and persecution, although it does intervene in other human rights violations. There are many countries that are members of the UN that do not even officially have freedom of religion, even though the UN's founding documents want to grant it to all people.

Even today, the message of Christ requires its listeners to take sides. That is why it also divides people into two groups (compare verse 4). If you take religious matters "too seriously", you may easily find yourself "out of the group" at school, at work, etc.

Two miracles in Lystra - Acts 14:8-20

In Lystra, Paul healed a man who had been crippled since birth. Because of this miracle, the people of the city thought that Paul and Barnabas were gods in human form.

Since the people spoke the Lycaonian language, Paul and Barnabas did not understand what was happening until the sacrifice of a bull, led by the priest of Zeus, was about to begin. With difficulty, Paul and Barnabas managed to prevent the people from sacrificing to them.

But soon the people's attitude towards the apostles changed. The Jews who came from the neighboring towns won the people over to their side. The Jews from neighboring cities won the people over, and so the stoning that had already been planned in Iconium was carried out: Paul was stoned.

Stoning was a specific Jewish method of execution. The apostle was presumed dead and taken outside the city - probably to the rubbish dump, which was the "cemetery" of the executed. But a new miracle happened: Paul got up, returned to the city, and the next day left for a 60-70 km journey to Derbe.

Paul mentions in 2 Corinthians that he was stoned once. A longer list of the apostle's persecutions and hardships can be found in 2 Corinthians 11:23-33.

Miracles in Antiquity

There are many important things connected with the story. Modern Bible scholars often emphasize that there were many kinds of wandering miracle workers in ancient times. According to them, Christians borrowed quite a few of the miracles told in the New Testament from these stories about "god-men". But if you ask these scholars to name five or three or even one of these wandering miracle workers, the answer is silence. Also the fact that Paul's miracle caused the described reaction suggests that miracles were not common at that time.

The attitude of Paul and Barnabas towards their “deification” is significant. They certainly did not want to be associated with pagan gods. This makes the often-proposed theory that Christians borrowed several key ideas—including the virgin birth and the resurrection—from pagan religions highly unlikely. If pagan religions were an abomination to the early Christians, why would they have borrowed the central ideas of their faith from them?

Another fact makes these theories unlikely. Why did the Christian faith win and spread throughout the world? If it was just quotes from other religions, why didn't those other religions win? The Christian faith won because it was different from other religions of the time and because the gospel contained the power of God.

Paul's sermon

Paul's sermon told in verses 15-17 reminds both the end of the 1st chapter of Romans and Paul's speech at the Areiopagus in Athens (Acts 17:22-32). The sermon exposes the fundamental error of the pagans: they have begun to worship the creature instead of the Creator:

..."because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."
(Romans 1:25)

God had also given the Gentiles His good gifts (verse 17), but the Gentiles had gone their own ways. Now, however, it was time to turn to the Giver of those good gifts.

Back to Antioch – Acts 14:21-28

In one more city Paul and Barnabas established a church before their return journey began. Derbe was a border city, and the Roman Empire ended there. The work was successful in Derbe (verse 21), but Paul and Barnabas could not remain in the city for very long. It was already time for them to leave for their return journey.

But why did Paul and Barnabas return by the same route they had come? Crossing the Taurus Mountains would have taken them to Paul’s home province of Cilicia, from where it would have been a short journey to Syrian Antioch. Furthermore, returning to Iconium and Lystra was not entirely without danger. Although the stoning and other persecutions had been illegal, there was no guarantee that they would not break out again.

However, Paul and Barnabas had an important task: the further care of the established congregations. Paul also cared for the churches through his letters, but a personal visit was of course a better option.

During their short visits, the apostles chose leaders, elders, for the churches. The Greek word for elder – presbyteros – has become the word for priest in many languages ​​(präst, Priester, etc.).

Of course, the governance of the churches was not the same as it is today, but it is important to note that from the beginning, churches have had elected, called-to-office leaders. The functioning of the church has always required and will always require leaders. Therefore, the idea of ​​the early church being “directly led by the Holy Spirit” is a church-historical impossibility.

After arriving in Attalia, Paul and Barnabas no longer went to Cyprus, through which they had passed on their way, but sailed directly to Antioch - or, to be precise, to the port city of Antioch, Seleucia.

The arrival party in Antioch

After arriving at their sending church in Syrian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas organized a "return party" in which they all rejoiced at God's great works.

Paul had prophesied to the churches: “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” The prophecy would soon come true also in the case of the Gentile mission. After some time (v. 28, 15:1) a group of Jewish Christians arrived in Antioch from Jerusalem. They were not happy that Gentiles had been accepted into the congregations without circumcision. But the study of these events is the subject of the next section.