“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.
They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. ‘We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’ they said. Paul and Barnabas appointed elder for them in each church and, with prayer and fasting, committed them to the Lord, in whom they had put their trust. After going through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia, and when they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia.
From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they stayed there a long time with the disciples.“
Acts 14:19-28
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FEBRUARY 20, 2025
Today’s passage ends with Paul and Barnabas back in Antioch (the city where the growing Church was first called “Christians!”) giving their missions report—so to speak. The main thesis of their report was “how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.”
How was that door opened? Let’s look at the earlier verses.
We’ve already seen how, in Iconium, folks stirred up trouble for Paul and Barnabas, causing them to decide to stay longer. Ultimately, these folks tried to kill them, so they left—but continued stirring up the same trouble, doing the same acts of compassion, preaching the same stunning good news of Jesus. In Lystra, people tried to worship them, believing them the incarnation of Roman gods! But then things took a turn.
The unhappy folks from Iconium and other places (and remember, they have good reason to believe these men are dangerous heretics—we probably would too!) arrived in the city where Paul and Barnabas are preaching and “won the crowd over.” Now, the would-be-worshippers turn to violence, and try to kill them.
Please take this in for a moment: Paul was stoned until they believed him dead, then dragged out of the city. Yes, we know he’s alive, but what kind of physical and emotional shape must he be in?! Yet he gets up and goes back into the city. When Paul and Barnabas continue their journey, they don’t hesitate to come back to the same streets and squares where they were literally murdered (so the people thought) to continue encouraging the disciples who believed and remained.
And when they finally make it back to Antioch, they describe all this—the rejection, the suffering, their own murders!—as a doorway God opened for the Gentiles to have faith.
They reported it all with joyful praise.
Questions for reflection and discussion:
- What has happened in the lives of these men and women that has so powerfully overridden normal human fear and instincts, do you think?
- Have you also been transformed by this love, this power? What does it look like?
- Paul and Barnabas not only keep going in the midst of rejection, hatred, and attempted murder, but continue to live active love and compassion, even for their enemies. Even when it was dangerous! What makes this possible? What does this core aspect of following Jesus look like and ask of us, in our context, today?
Church Reading Plan: Exodus 3; Luke 6