Acts chapter 14 continues the account of Paul and Barnabas’s first missionary journey, detailing their experiences in Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe as they proclaimed the gospel and faced both remarkable success and intense opposition. In Iconium, a significant number of Jews and Greeks believed the message, yet unbelieving Jews stirred up hostility among the Gentiles, leading to a divided city and eventually forcing Paul and Barnabas to flee due to a plot to stone them. Despite this danger, they continued preaching the gospel with boldness, and God confirmed their message through signs and wonders.
In Lystra, Paul healed a man who had been lame from birth, an event so astonishing that the crowds began to worship Paul and Barnabas, mistaking them for the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes. Paul and Barnabas urgently corrected this misunderstanding, insisting that they were merely men and directing the people’s attention to the living God who created all things. Despite their efforts to prevent idolatrous worship, the crowd’s admiration quickly turned to hostility when instigators arrived from Iconium and Antioch, leading to Paul being stoned and left for dead outside the city. Remarkably, Paul survived and, after being surrounded by the disciples, returned to the city the following day before continuing his journey.
The chapter concludes with Paul and Barnabas retracing their steps through the cities where they had ministered, strengthening and encouraging the new believers and appointing elders to lead the growing congregations. They emphasized that trials and hardships are part of the Christian journey into the Kingdom of God, providing spiritual guidance to help sustain the young churches. Finally, Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch, where they reported to the church all that God had accomplished through their ministry, particularly the opening of the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Chapter 14 (BBE)
1 Now in Iconium they went together to the Synagogue of the Jews and gave such teaching that a great number of Jews and Greeks had faith.
2 But those Jews who had not the faith, made the minds of the Gentiles bitter against the brothers.
3 So they kept there for a long time, taking heart in the Lord, who gave witness to the word of his grace by causing signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4 But there was a division among the people of the town; some were on the side of the Jews and some on the side of the Apostles.
5 And when a violent attempt was made by the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, to make an attack on them and have them stoned,
6 Having got news of it, they went in flight to the towns of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the country round about:
8 And at Lystra there was a certain man, who from birth had been without the use of his feet, never having had the power of walking.
9 This man was giving ear to the preaching of Paul, who, looking at him, and seeing that he had faith to be made well,
10 Said in a loud voice, Get up on your feet. And, jumping up, he went walking about.
11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they said in a loud voice, in the language of Lycaonia, The gods have come down to us in the form of men.
12 And they gave the name of Jupiter to Barnabas, and to Paul that of Mercury, because he was the chief talker.
13 And the priest of the image of Jupiter, which was before the town, took oxen and flowers to the doors of the town, and was about to make an offering with the people.
14 But when this came to the ears of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas, they went running out among the people, parting their clothing, and crying out,
15 Good people, why are you doing these things? We are men with the same feelings as you, and we give you the good news so that you may be turned away from these foolish things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them:
16 Who in the past let all nations go in the ways which seemed good to them.
17 But he was not without witness, because he did good, and gave you rain from heaven and times of fruit, making your hearts full of food and joy.
18 And even with these words, it was hard for them to keep the people from making an offering to them.
19 But some Jews came to that place from Antioch and Iconium, and got control over the people; and after stoning Paul, they had him pulled out of the town, taking him for dead.
20 But when the disciples came round him, he got up and went into the town: and the day after he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.
21 And having made a number of disciples through the preaching of the good news in that town, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,
22 Making strong the souls of the disciples, saying to them that they were to keep the faith, and that we have to go through troubles of all sorts to come into the kingdom of God.
23 And when they had made selection of some to be rulers in every church, and had given themselves to prayer and kept themselves from food, they put them into the care of the Lord in whom they had faith.
24 And they went through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.
25 And, after preaching the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia;
26 And from there they went by ship to Antioch, where they had been handed over to the grace of God for the work which they had not done.
27 And when they came there, and had got the church together, they gave them an account of all the things which God had done through them, and how he had made open a door of faith to the Gentiles.
28 And they were with the disciples there for a long time.
Important Verses
Acts 14:3 This verse highlights how the Lord confirmed the message of grace through signs and wonders performed by Paul and Barnabas, strengthening their bold proclamation of the gospel.
Acts 14:9 and 10 The healing of the lame man in Lystra demonstrates the powerful working of faith and the miraculous confirmation of the gospel message.
Acts 14:15 Paul’s correction of the crowd’s attempt to worship him and Barnabas as gods emphasizes the importance of directing all glory to the true and living God.
Acts 14:19 and 20 The account of Paul being stoned and left for dead, only to rise and continue his ministry, illustrates the severe hardships faced by early missionaries and the resilience granted through faith.
Acts 14:22 Paul and Barnabas’s encouragement of the disciples to continue in the faith, despite tribulations, highlights the reality that suffering is often part of the Christian journey.
Acts 14:27 The report given to the church in Antioch about the door of faith being opened to the Gentiles emphasizes the expanding reach of the gospel beyond its original Jewish context.
