Acts 14:1-12 Click here for Bible Verses
Hi GAMErs!
Today’s passage is Acts 14:1-12. Let’s go!
Acts 14:1-7 (NIV)
1 At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
2 But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
3 So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do miraculous signs and wonders.
4 The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.
5 There was a plot afoot among the Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.
6 But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country,
7 where they continued to preach the good news.
On verses 1-7: Paul and Barnabas travel to Iconium, the capital of ancient Lycaonia, about 90 miles southeast of Antioch. There, they preach in the synagogue and the people are responding, both positively and negatively. On one hand, a great number of Jews and Gentiles are coming to faith in Jesus. On the other hand, some oppose Paul and Barnabas by trying to lure new converts away. Not wanting their gospel message to be misunderstood, Paul and Barnabas spend considerable time in Iconium, defending the gospel, while God would enable them to do miraculous signs and wonders to confirm the validity of their message. Eventually some Gentiles and Jews begin plotting Paul and Barnabas’ death. Once Paul and Barnabas hear about the death plots against their lives, they flee to Lystra, Derbe and the surrounding country and continue to preach about Jesus.
What can we learn from this? In every place where the church went and preached the gospel, there was both positive response and opposition; some embraced them and others criticized and slandered them; there were those who followed them and those who wanted to kill them. Likewise, when you are committed to preaching the gospel in any place, you must be ready for both responses: those who receive you favourably and those who oppose you.
Acts 14:8-10 (NIV)
8 In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.
9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed
10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
On verses 8-10: Paul and Barnabas move to Lystra, which was about 18 miles south of Iconium. According to some scholars, Lystra was a small and more primitive city, not as advanced as places like Antioch. There was probably no synagogue there for Paul and Barnabas to preach in, so it is quite possible that Paul and Barnabas would go to the open markets to preach to the people of Lystra there. As Paul is speaking, Paul notices a crippled man and sees that this man had faith to be healed. Paul tells the crippled man to stand and, in response, the crippled man literally steps by faith into his healing.
What can we learn from this?
First, may this passage remind us that, like the crippled man in Lystra, we all have a disability of some sort. For some of us our disability is physical. For others of us our disability is mental. For others of us still it’s emotional. For all of us it’s spiritual in that we are sinners who are unable to reach God or heaven on our own. All of us have a disability, but Jesus loves us anyway. Each of us is precious to Him and every one of us needs Him.
Second, when it comes to healing the sick and disabled, how much faith the sick person has to be healed makes a difference. If a sick person does not believe that prayers will help them find healing, that sick person’s own unbelief might result in an absence of healing. That is why Jesus would ask the blind men who asked him to heal them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?…According to your faith will it be done to you.” (Matthew 9:28-29)
Acts 14:11-12 (NIV)
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”
12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.
On verses 11-12: The people of Lystra worshiped gods like Zeus and Hermes and believed that such gods had visited them before. Now they were hearing a message from Paul and Barnabas that Jesus the Son of God had come to them in human form. Yet the people of Lystra begin referring to Paul and Barnabas as their gods Hermes and Zeus respectively instead.
What can we learn from this? Even today, we can have this tendency to deify people and to demonize people. We must be careful not to focus so much on the people in front of us that we miss God’s message, which is about His Son Jesus.
Thank You Jesus that just like the man you healed in Lystra, I was disabled, unable to reach for You or for heaven. But You came and made a way for me and by faith I receive all that You have for me: Your forgiveness, Your healing, and Your restoration. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
