What does Acts 14:20 mean?
God designed many characteristics into Paul which would serve him well in his mission to share the offer of salvation through Jesus to the world. He is well-educated in both Jewish Scriptures and Greek philosophy. He speaks several languages. He is a good public speaker and apologist. And he has Roman citizenship.Plus, he's incredibly stubborn, at least so far as the world would define stubbornness.
Paul and Barnabas are in Lystra. They seek to convince the somewhat unsophisticated villagers to replace the cruel, violent gods of their culture with the true, benevolent Creator of the universe. Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, who have heard the apostles' message, arrive. Some may be convinced Paul is trying to lead Jews to worship a false god—this "Jesus of Nazareth"—instead of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The last time Jews worshiped other gods, they were exiled in Babylon for seventy years and never fully recovered as an autonomous nation. In short order, the Jewish visitors convince the locals to stone Paul and drag him outside the city so the wild animals can finish him off (Acts 14:15–19).
God promised Paul he would suffer in his ministry (Acts 9:16). In the future, Paul will be beaten, whipped, shipwrecked, and imprisoned (2 Corinthians 11:24–28). Eventually, he will be martyred. This day, however, God has more work for Paul to do. There's no explicit statement that Paul literally dies and comes to life. More likely, God protects him from dying. Once Paul recovers, he doesn't go into hiding; he goes back into the town. It's hard to say what the Jews think of this, but they don't have the opportunity to respond. The next morning, Paul and Barnabas continue to Derbe, sixty miles east.
In Derbe, Paul and Barnabas will receive a different welcome. Instead of being worshiped as gods and then subjected to attempted murder, they will find enough people who accept their message to establish a church. From Derbe, they could easily cross the Tarsus mountains and return to Syrian Antioch through Paul's hometown of Tarsus. Instead, they backtrack, building up the churches in Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch before heading back to the coast and teaching about Jesus in Perga (Acts 14:21–25).
Paul will return to Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium on his second (Acts 16:1–6) and third (Acts 18:23) missionary journeys. Although Luke doesn't record everything about Paul's ministry, there's no indication he is troubled there again. He does, however, meet Timothy, a young man who becomes like a son to him (Acts 16:1).
