Acts 14:20 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe.

NIV: 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.

NASB: But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

CSB: After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

NLT: But as the believers gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

KJV: Howbeit, as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

NKJV: However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

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).

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.