Community Bible Study -- Acts
Text of Presentation, Lesson 12, Acts 14:1-28
Click Here to see Lesson 12 Photos . . . Click Here to return to Acts Home Page
|
|
Community Bible Study -- Acts Text of Presentation, Lesson 12, Acts 14:1-28 Click Here to see Lesson 12 Photos . . . Click Here to return to Acts Home Page |
Paul’s First Mission Trip (Part 2)
In the last session, Paul’s missionary journeys began: history’s greatest Christian evangelism effort. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas to Barnabas’ home of Cyprus. In synagogues across the island, they preached to Jews and god-fearing Gentiles that salvation came through believing in Jesus as Messiah, rather than through the Jewish oral law (Acts 13:39). Things were great at first, climaxed in Paphos by the conversion of the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus – arguably the highest-ranking and wealthiest Gentile convert. Flushed with this success, Paul and Barnabas traveled to Sergius Paulus’ hometown, Pisidian Antioch, on the mainland in modern Turkey. At first they were warmly received by both Jews and Gentiles; but the Jewish leaders became “jealous” of their popularity, “talked abusively against what Paul was saying” (Acts 13:45), and had them “expelled . . . from the region” (Acts 13:50b). Paul and Barnabas “shook the dust from their feet in protest” as they left (Acts 13:51).
There wasn’t time last session to discuss the significance of that statement about “shaking the dust from their feet.” It’s not just a colorful protest; it reflected a ritual practice of the Jewish Pharisees. We have discussed that Gentiles were considered “unclean,” and observant Jews avoided contact with them – except on routine governmental and commercial matters . . . nothing social. Furthermore, when leaving a Gentile area, observant Jews shook the dust from their feet as the ultimate sign of their contempt for “unclean” Gentiles.
Jesus told his disciples to utilize this same symbolic protest when they were sent out on the first “dry run” of field missions work. Jesus’ instructions are recorded in Matt 10:
If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake the dust off your feet when you leave . . . . I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town (Matt 10: 14-15).
The act is the same as for the Pharisees, but the meaning is different. Jesus sent His disciples only to Jewish areas (Matt 10:5-6). Jesus implies the Jews who reject Him as Messiah are really the ones who are unclean – and that unbelieving Jews will be dealt with more harshly at the time of God’s judgement than the residents of two Gentile cities which became synonymous with evil and sexual immorality.
The Jewish leaders of Pisidian Antioch are Pharisees. Hence when Paul and Barnabas “shook the dust from their feet in protest against them,” (Acts 13:51), they are turning the practice of the Pharisees back on them, as Jesus instructed. They are condemning the Jewish Pharisees who “stirred up persecution against” them (Acts 13:50b-51), as unclean and unsaved . . . subject to horrible punishment on Judgement Day.
Yet Christians mustn’t be smug about this, because in Matt 7 and Matt 29 Jesus also condemns so-called Christians who talk like believers, but don’t act like believers. Jesus calls such people “evildoers,” who will be sent away from heaven (Matt 7:23) to “eternal punishment” (Matt 25:46). Legalism doesn’t save either Jews or Christians!
After leaving Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas travel some 100 miles to Iconium (modern Konya, home of the “whirling dervish” sect of Islam). The people of Iconium are a receptive audience; Paul and Barnabas “spoke so effectively (in the synagogue) that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed” (Acts 14:1). Furthermore, “the Lord . . . enabl(ed) (Paul and Barnabas) to do miraculous signs and wonders” (Acts 14:3), and their popularity as miracle-workers enables them to stay a long time in Iconium. Yet like in Pisidian Antioch, the “Jews who refused to believe” work to undercut their efforts, and ultimately enlist the help of the leading men of the city in a plot to stone the missionaries to death. But they learn of the plot, and flee the city before it can be carried out.
Since the Jewish leaders plot to stone Paul and Barnabas, there must be a charge of blasphemy . . . but on what basis? Luke doesn’t record it, but perhaps Paul told the story about encountering Jesus as a voice from heaven on the road to Damascus. Stephen was stoned for blasphemy in Jerusalem when he said he saw Jesus in heaven as: “the (Messiah) . . . at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56), and the Pharisees of Iconium may have reacted the same way. Whatever the rationale, the Jewish leaders are angry enough that Paul and Barnabas are wise to leave – as we will see later
The missionaries go 20 miles down the road to Lystra. The bible does not say they go into a synagogue, so it’s probable there are fewer than 10 adult male Jews in Lystra – too few to form a synagogue, where Jews and God-fearing Gentiles meet to discuss scripture. This introduces significant new challenges: how can Paul and Barnabas describe salvation through Jesus if the people are unfamiliar with God’s promise of a Messiah? . . . and where do they do it? Acts doesn’t say . . . it only says “they continued to preach the good news” (Acts 14:7). Lystra is the home of Timothy, who becomes an important disciple, but Luke doesn’t mention him on this visit.
Nevertheless, God solves Paul’s dilemma by empowering him to do his most powerful recorded miracle. A cripple, lame from birth, is listening to Paul. Paul looks at him, sees he has faith to be healed, and says: “Stand up on your feet!” When Paul says this, “the man jumped up and began to walk” (Acts 14:10).
This gets the people’s attention . . . but it exposes the challenge of preaching Jesus to people unfamiliar with Jewish scripture. Paul’s miracle is like one by Peter in Jerusalem – recorded in Acts 3 – but although Peter’s miracle brought about 2000 Jews to believe in Jesus (Acts 4:4), Paul’s miracle makes the people think he and Barnabas are Greek gods come to earth!
Apparently Paul and Barnabas stumbled into a local legend that the pagan Gods Zeus and Hermes once visited Lystra but were not recognized, and punished the people for this. Paul’s miracle makes the people think these gods have returned, and they don’t want to make the same mistake their ancestors did! The priest of Zeus – urged by the crowd – prepares to offer sacrifices to them. At first Paul and Barnabas don’t realize what’s happening (because they don’t understand the local language) . . . but they become really upset when they figure it out! “Stop!” they say. “We are just humans like you . . . we have come to teach you to quit worshiping ‘worthless’ Greek gods, and turn to the one true creator-God” (cf Acts 14:15). But the people don’t want to hear this . . . Paul and Barnabas have difficulty preventing them from offering sacrifices.
From this episode, we infer how Paul may have tried to preach to Gentiles unfamiliar with Jewish scripture. He told them about an all-powerful creator-God – greater than the Greek gods worshiped by the people of Lystra – who has cared for them, even though they did not worship him. Paul may have told them God came to earth as a man, Jesus the Messiah, to teach people about Himself. But this is too great a paradigm shift for the Gentiles of Lystra to comprehend, and when Paul does his miracle, they think Paul is also a god come to earth – and associate him with the local legend of Zeus and Hermes.
Hence Paul’s first effort to preach the gospel to Gentiles lacking knowledge of Jewish scripture does not turn out as he and Barnabas hoped; they need to write this off as a learning experience, and rethink their approach!
But the learning experience is almost deadly. Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive in Lystra, determined to carry out their plot to stone Paul and Barnabas. The people of Lystra are confused – and probably angered – by Paul’s refusal to allow him and Barnabas to be proclaimed gods; so they stand aside as these outsiders stone Paul, drag him outside the city, and leave him for dead. But Paul picks himself up, and the next day he and Barnabas leave for Derbe, 50 miles away.
Derbe seems a town like Lystra with few Jews, since no synagogue is mentioned. Here Paul “won a large number of disciples” (Acts 14:21a), without being proclaimed a Greek god or making anyone mad enough to try to kill him. Acts doesn’t say what he did differently, but his revised techniques become apparent later when he visits Macedonian cities with no synagogue like Philippi.
Paul and Barnabas conclude a peaceful ministry in Derbe, then return the way they came . . . sneaking into Lystra and Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, “strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith” (Acts 14:22). After Paul’s extreme persecution, the new disciples probably need encouragement. It’s amazing there are still believers in these cities . . . but that just shows the power of the gospel. In fact, the gospel of Jesus – together with Paul’s effective preaching – probably caused both reactions: vehement rejection by people unable to believe . . . yet in those receptive to the gospel, a belief in Jesus so strong it withstands persecution. Moreover, from a “leadership theory” point of view, the example of Paul – who picks himself up and keeps on preaching even after being stoned – is itself “strengthening . . . and encouraging” followers. Paul and Barnabas also set up a leadership structure in each church: ordaining elders and committing them to God with prayer and fasting. This was important.
Paul and Barnabas return to the coast. They preach in Perga – though Luke records no details – then board a ship in Attalia and sail home to Antioch (Acts 14:24-26).
How do they assess their 1st missionary journey as they sail home? They have been way up . . . and way down. Their preaching on Cyprus at the beginning of their trip was a stunning success: bringing a wealthy and powerful Roman official in Paphos to believe in Jesus. It’s good they had such initial success, because although they successfully planted churches on the Turkish mainland, there was strong opposition. In Pisidian Antioch they were not allowed to speak in the synagogue and were expelled from the city; Paul was almost killed in Lystra! What adjustments should they make? Paul’s preaching of salvation for Jews and Gentiles through Jesus – apart from the Jewish oral law (Acts 13:39) – seems the Jews’ main objection; should they instead preach conversion to Judaism as a requirement for salvation? Next week Paul makes clear he would never agree to that – even though that’s the approach of many in the Jerusalem church! But should they modify their rhetoric so they don’t get accused of blasphemy and stoned again? This is probably a good idea – if they can do so without weakening the message! Indeed, Paul never again says something that causes Jews to try to stone him. Moreover, Paul never again says something that causes the Gentiles to proclaim him a Greek god – as they did in Lystra! They learned!
I’m offering this as a constructive critique, to illustrate that even “giants” of the faith like Paul and Barnabas – so close to the advent of the Holy Spirit – didn’t get everything right the first time. They went through a trial-and-error process; they made mistakes and adjusted. We, too, are doomed to a trial-and-error process as we try to do God’s will. All we can do is – like Paul – pick ourselves up, make adjustments, and keep on truckin’; that’s how we grow in the faith. The 1st missionary journey provides a unique window to watch Paul and Barnabas grow in the faith . . . and it gives practical lessons how to live for Jesus and to spread the word about Him.
Paul made converts . . . but he also made enemies – and he was almost killed! Jesus predicted the gospel will separate friends and families (Matt 10:34-37). Jesus also said Christians will be hated because of Him (Matt 10:22) and that we must be willing to die for the gospel (Matt 16:25). But most of us prefer not to even make enemies because of Jesus – much less die for Him! Are we too timid in our cushy 21st century America?
Paul and Barnabas undergo extensive de-briefing when they return to Antioch: they “reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles” (Acts 14:27). Yet as Paul and Barnabas praise God for their successes and discuss how to minimize future failures, sinister opposition is forming within the church, which will present Paul’s greatest challenge!
This challenge is a result of the unresolved issues after the debate in Acts 11, in which Peter defended himself before the elders of the church of Jerusalem for associating with Gentiles in Caesarea and baptizing them. The issue is whether Gentiles baptized in the name of Jesus are required to be circumcised and follow the Jewish oral law – essentially to become Jews – or whether they gain salvation through faith in Jesus alone. To resolve this question, the first major church council is convened. It’s called the Council of Jerusalem, and we’ll discuss it next week as we study Acts 15.