The Apostle Paul endures two very upsetting situations today. First he is hailed as a god and he barely manages to keep people from sacrificing to him. Then he is nearly stoned to death.
After hearing of the plot against them in Iconium, we learned yesterday that Paul and Barnabas and their companions began traveling through the surrounding areas. As we begin today we find Paul healing a man at Lystra. "In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked." (Acts 14:8) When Luke says this man "sat" he probably means he sat begging in a busy area of the city. This man is in the same type of condition as the lame man of Acts 3 whom Peter healed. Neither of these lame men ever walked a step until they were healed in the name of Jesus.
"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 14:9-10) As Paul preaches the gospel he can tell by the look on this man's face that he believes it. He believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he believes Jesus is able to heal him. We don't see a great deal of such healing today, in my opinion not so much because we lack the faith but because miracles like this were the signs of the apostles. God empowered the early teachers of the gospel with power to heal so that the hearers of the gospel would understand that the message about Jesus Christ is of God and not of men. In Paul's day no one could go to a Christian bookstore and purchase a copy of the New Testament so they could learn about Jesus. There were no books yet containing the four gospel accounts. The only way people in Paul's day could hear the gospel was if someone preached the message to them. In order to prove that the message was something completely different than anything anyone had heard before, God provided miracles to accompany the preaching of the apostles.
The miracle produces an unexpected effect on the crowd. "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) There was a legend that Zeus and Hermes once came to earth in disguise and were shown no hospitality except by one man and his wife. Because they were treated so shabbily, Zeus and Hermes brought destruction upon everyone in the region except for the couple who were kind to them. The people of Lystra don't want the same thing happening to them, so they hurriedly try to do everything possible to honor these men whom they mistakenly believe are gods.
Paul and Barnabas are horrified that anyone would even consider worshiping them or making sacrifice to them. The region is so pagan that the preaching of the gospel has gone over most of the people's heads, so heavily entrenched are they in their old religion. Instead of casting aside their false gods and accepting the Lord Jesus Christ, they believe Paul and Barnabas are two of the old Greek gods. They are paying more attention to what these men are able to do (performing signs and wonders) than to what they say (proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord).
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed 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.'" (Acts 14:14-15) The tearing of the clothes was a common reaction to the hearing of blasphemy or to the hearing of especially grievous news. The high priest, though he was forbidden to tear his clothes, tore his robes because he considered it blasphemy when Jesus referred to Himself by the Messianic title "Son of Man" in Matthew 26:63-65. Paul and Barnabas, upon hearing that the people of Lystra are about to worship them, tear their robes in intense grief at the very idea of such blasphemy. Like any true follower of the Lord, they point all worship to Him, informing the people that there is one God who created all things and that He alone is worthy of worship.
Paul continues his urgent speech to the people, "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 heart with joy.'" (Acts 14:16-17) Paul says something like, "In times past you who are of Gentile heritage wanted to create and serve your own gods, so God allowed you to have it your way. You abandoned Him but He didn't abandon you. During all these years while you served other gods He has sent rain on the seeds in the ground so you wouldn't go hungry. He has preserved your family lines and has not wiped you from the earth as judgment for your idolatry. He has even given you the ability to enjoy life and to love one another and to gain satisfaction from the work you do. Every good thing you have ever had came from God, even though you didn't acknowledge Him. And now, as the ultimate act of grace and mercy, God calls you to be a part of His family through Jesus Christ. Barnabas and I are not gods. You mustn't bow down to us, for we are only ministers of the good news of the gospel. We are here to tell you there is only one God. Worship Him."
Luke tells us, "Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them." (Acts 14:18) Paul is probably the greatest preacher who ever lived, with the exception of Jesus Christ, and yet he barely manages to prevent the people at Lystra from sacrificing to him and Barnabas. As persuasive a speaker as Paul is, the false religion of the people of this region has such a hold on them that he almost fails to keep them from worshiping him as a god.
As if this situation wasn't bad enough already, some of the men from Antioch and Iconium who previously plotted against the apostles show up in Lystra right about now. They have traveled a distance of about a hundred miles in order to continue their persecution. When they see what is taking place at Lystra, no doubt they believe that Paul and Barnabas have encouraged the crowd to treat them as gods. Imagine how it must have looked to the Jewish religious leaders when they encountered such a scene. The high priest of a pagan religion is standing there with bulls and garlands of flowers ready to make sacrifice to two human beings. The crowd is roaring the praises of Paul and Barnabas, referring to them by the names of Greek gods. This sight confirms everything the enemies of the gospel already believed about Paul and Barnabas and about the entire Christian church. I can just picture them looking at each other and saying, "We were right all along! Look what these blasphemers are doing now. It wasn't enough for them to assert that the lawbreaker and blasphemer known as Jesus of Nazareth is the Son of God. Now their ultimate goal is revealed to us. They want to be worshiped themselves."
Luke describes the arrival of these enemies like this, "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) Fourteen years later Paul will describe a vision he had while he was left for dead outside the city of Lystra. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10) He will say that he isn't sure whether he actually was dead for a while or whether he was just knocked unconscious. If Paul doesn't know whether he was dead or not, I certainly don't know, but his enemies thought he was. The disciples probably thought he was too. I think as they gathered around him they wept and prayed and maybe asked the Lord to bring him back to life. Whether he was actually dead or not, the Lord grants him such a swift and complete revival that Paul is immediately able to go back into the city to keep on preaching.
The natural thing for him to have done was to have gotten as far away from Lystra as he could, but instead he walks right back into the city looking as if he was never pelted with large stones and left for dead in the dust. This must have made a great impression on the citizens of that city. They must have asked themselves, "What power is this that raises a dead man back to life? Does this mean his message is true? Should we give him a second chance? Should we allow him to tell us more about this man called Jesus?" We don't know how many people at Lystra came to the faith after this, but in Acts 16 we will learn of a young man at Lystra who has been a believer for several years. His name is Timothy and he will become one of the best friends of the Apostle Paul. He will become a great minister and missionary. I like to think that Timothy is one of the inhabitants of Lystra who converted to Christianity after the Apostle Paul courageously walked back through the city gates and began again to teach the gospel to a group of people who have just tried to stone him to death.
No wonder Paul will later say, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31) Satan tried time and again to wipe the Apostle Paul from the face of the earth, yet until the proper time came for him to give his life for the faith, the Lord kept him alive. What if Paul had not had the courage to walk back through those gates at Lystra? What if Paul had not had the courage to keep on preaching every time he was released from prison? What if Paul had not had the courage to keep sharing the gospel after each beating he received? He will tell the church at Corinth that he has been beaten with thirty-nine lashes on five different occasions, beaten with rods on three occasions, stoned once, shipwrecked three times, and imprisoned so many times he doesn't even bother to count the number. (2 Corinthians 11:16-33) But he never gives up. It's too vital for the lost world to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. He can't give up. And why should he? If God is for him, who can be against him? What a great example Paul sets for us. Our God is for us. Why should we tremble in fear? Why should we run for cover? As King Solomon so beautifully puts it, it is the wicked who should flee in fear, but "the righteous are as bold as a lion". (Proverbs 28:1)
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