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At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the gospel.

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.

When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, He let all nations go their own way. Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 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. (Acts 14:1-20)

There is a quote that you may have read or watched in the X-Men comic series, or heard from the works of a number of authors and musicians from various genres. In X-Men, Jubilee asked Storm, “Why do people hate us?” She was referring to the hatred and treatment of mutants (those who have superhuman abilities) at the hands of ordinary human beings. Without missing a beat, Storm responded, “People fear what they don’t understand.” Little did Storm and Jubilee know, that quote was taken from the book of Jude 1:10:

Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them. (Jude 1:10)

We had the great privilege of reading this quote as it was illustrated in today’s passage in Acts. The Jews did not understand the plan of salvation that God the Father established and foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament (Tanakh also called the Hebrew Bible). And in Acts 14:1-20, we read that they conspired with the Gentiles to mistreat and even stone Paul and Barnabas to try and stop them from preaching the Gospel. 

But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. (Acts 14:2)

Reflect:

Additionally, we read that the Gentiles in Lystra began slandering the work of Christ through Barnabas and Paul by ascribing to them deity as the explanation for how they were able to heal a man who had been lame from birth. They even burned sacrifices unto them in honor of, as they believed, “the gods coming down in human form.” This was yet another attempt by satan to pervert the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Because Paul and Barnabas were only humans like us, we can be sure that Jesus desires to confirm the message of His grace by enabling us to perform signs and wonders, when we speak boldly for Him. Our faith in His grace gives us the courage to believe when we donot understand God’s plan for our lives. Because of Jesus, we need not be afraid. As with Paul and Barnabas, God is here with us and He will uphold us with the right hand of His righteousness (Isaiah 41:10).

Prayer: