Acts 14:9 - Printer Friendly

ESV: He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,

NIV: He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed

NASB: This man was listening to Paul as he spoke. Paul looked at him intently and saw that he had faith to be made well,

CSB: He listened as Paul spoke. After looking directly at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

NLT: and listening as Paul preached. Looking straight at him, Paul realized he had faith to be healed.

KJV: The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

NKJV: This man heard Paul speaking. Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed,

In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas are spreading the good news: that Jesus of Nazareth offers salvation and reconciliation with God. In the listening crowd is a man who has been crippled from birth. Paul sees that the man has faith in Jesus, sufficient to be healed by God. In a sense, the man is not healed when Paul commands him to stand (Acts 14:10), rather Paul's command merely tells the man to demonstrate what God had just done in that moment.

The New Testament relationship between personal faith and miraculous power can be confusing. Jesus healed two blind men after affirming they had faith that He was the Son of David (Matthew 9:27–30), but in Nazareth, He chose to do few miracles because of their lack of faith (Mark 6:5–6). When faced with a father willing to let Jesus help with his lack of faith, Jesus healed the man's son (Mark 9:22–27).

Earlier, in Iconium, while Paul and Barnabas preached, God "bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands" (Acts 14:3). It appears that the ability to perform miracles is not just a sign that the speaker's words are true, but a sign that the new believers have placed their faith correctly (Luke 5:20). Today, with the Word of God affirmed over the last 2000 years, it is no small thing to realize the miracle of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit Who comes when we place our faith in Jesus.

Acts 14:8–20 finds Paul and Barnabas in Lystra in the province of Galatia in modern-day Asia Minor. This city's reaction is the extreme opposite of what happened in Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, where they were threatened with stoning (Acts 13:50; 14:5). In Lystra, they are initially worshiped as gods. The two Christian missionaries are horrified by this reaction and do their best to stop it. Before long, however, antagonistic Jews from their previous stops arrive and convince the locals to stone Paul. God's warning that Paul would suffer greatly for Him begins to come true (Acts 9:16), but Paul considers being left for dead a small price to pay for his salvation through Jesus (Romans 8:18).

Acts 14 describes the last half of Paul's first missionary journey. He and Barnabas leave Pisidian Antioch, near central modern-day Asia Minor, and travel southeast to Iconium where they establish a new church. In Lystra, Paul heals a man born crippled. The amazed people insist Barnabas is the Greek deity Zeus, and Paul is Hermes. They attempt to offer sacrifices to them, much to the horror of the two evangelists. When antagonists from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive, Paul is stoned but survives. The pair travel to Derbe, then retrace their steps, encouraging the new churches before sailing back to Syrian Antioch.

Paul's first missionary journey, recorded in Acts 13—14, gives a glimpse of issues that the church will face throughout its entire existence. When presented with Jesus's story, some will accept Him while others will not. Opposition is sometimes violent. Some integrate into church life easily, but for centuries the church has struggled with how to integrate those from vastly different cultures. This raises the crucial question of which aspects of faith and worship are biblical, making them universal, and which are cultural, and therefore optional? In Acts 15, the church leadership will start a discussion on that subject which continues even today.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.