Paul and Barnabas have been ministering to the people at Pisidian Antioch. Some of the Jews and a great number of the Gentiles have believed the gospel message, but others are opposed to the work Paul and Barnabas are doing in the region.
Before the men leave Pisidian Antioch, Luke tells us, "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." (Acts 13:49-50) Sometimes we tend to think the women of Biblical times didn't have much power, but God-fearing women have always had a great deal of power and always will. The only problem with the power of the women in verse 49 is that they are using it in the wrong way. They believe they are doing the will of God by rejecting the message of Paul and Barnabas. These women, along with the leading men, feel that it's blasphemy to listen to a gospel about a crucified Messiah. This doesn't jive with their idea of who the Messiah should be, so they virtuously pat themselves on the back for successfully running Paul and Barnabas out of town, believing they have put a stop to what they consider the worst kind of heresy.
"So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium." (Acts 13:51) It was the practice of the ancient Jews to shake the dust from their feet after traveling through a Gentile community. They avoided such areas whenever possible, but sometimes the only way to get from here to there was to pass through a region mainly inhabited by pagan Gentiles. The idol-worshiping Gentiles were regarded as so unclean that no God-fearing man or woman wanted even a few grains of sand from those towns clinging to their sandals. But the Lord Jesus, when sending out the Twelve with the gospel message, said to them, "If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them." (Luke 9:5) In other words, "If the people refuse to hear the truth about Me, treat them as if they are godless heathens." Ancient Jews considered Gentiles unclean because of their religious practices and their dietary habits. And they were unclean. They were living in sin. But in the New Testament we learn that whoever rejects the gospel of God's Son is rejecting God Himself, and that person is as unclean as an idol-worshiping Gentile. Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet as they depart from the self-righteous persecutors of Pisidian Antioch in the same way they would shake the dust from their feet when leaving an idolatrous Gentile city.
When Paul and Barnabas and their companions head to Iconium we don't find them fussing angrily about how they've just been treated. They aren't bitter. They aren't weeping. Instead Luke tells us, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." (Acts 13:52) Opposition is the proof that they are accomplishing something for Christ. If their preaching wasn't effective, those who don't believe in their message wouldn't persecute them. If the gospel message wasn't reaching hearts, Satan wouldn't stir up resistance against the message. The same can be said for all of us. If the devil isn't bothering us, maybe we aren't bothering him.
"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." (Acts 14:1) It is fitting that the gospel message should go to the synagogues first. The Jews are the countrymen of the Lord Jesus. The Jews are the ones to whom God made great and precious promises through their father Abraham. But the Lord also made the promise to Abraham that through his offspring all nations of the world would be blessed (Genesis 22:18) and God accomplishes that blessing through Christ who is of the offspring of Abraham. It was always God's plan to bring the Gentiles into His family.
Persecution arises at Iconium. "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." (Acts 14:2-3) These men try to reason with the people who oppose the gospel. The Lord provides proof of the truth of their message by giving them the power to perform miracles.
"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 14:4-7) The Lord warns the men that their lives are in danger, so they have no choice but to flee the city. All of the Twelve except the Apostle John will give their lives for the faith and so will a large number of the other disciples, but right now is not the time for Paul and Barnabas. There will be a day when the Lord will tell each of them to stand firm and face whatever is coming their way, but until that day comes He intends to keep them alive. None of this stops them from preaching the gospel wherever they go. They don't crawl into the caves of the hill country and shake in fear; they simply go to another region and continue teaching boldly in the name of Jesus. Not everyone who heard their message accepted the gospel. Not everyone who hears it today will accept it. But we are called to share the gospel anyway. We are responsible for sharing it; the hearer is responsible for what he or she does after hearing it.
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