14:8 Like Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra (modern Zoldera) was a Roman colony.580It was the most eastern of the fortified cities of Galatia. Lystra was about 20 miles south of Iconium.581Luke did not mention synagogue evangelism here. Evidently there were so few Jews that there was no synagogue in Lystra.
"The further on Paul and Barnabas went the further they got from civilisation [sic]."582
Luke stressed the hopeless case of the lame man (cf. 3:1-10; 9:33-35).
"Luke undoubtedly wanted his readers to recognize the parallel between the healing of this crippled man and the healing of another one by Peter (cf. 3:1-8) . . ."583
"In opposition to those who would challenge Paul's claim to apostolic authority based on his direct commission from the risen Christ, Luke is concerned to show that his hero shares with the chief Apostle [Peter] the healing power vested in his disciples by the Lord himself (Jn 14:12) and exemplified in Jesus' own ministry (Lk. 7:22)."584
14:9-10 As is true of other similar references to a healed person's faith, this man's confidence was in God. He believed God couldheal him, not that God woulddo so. Confidence that Godwouldheal him, in other words, is not what made him whole. It was confidence that God through His servant couldheal him that constituted his faith (e.g., Matt. 9:28-29; Mark 9:22-24). His faith was a factor in his receiving healing (cf. Mark 6:5-6).
". . . Paul and Barnabas had the gifts of an apostle, the sign gifts. They came into these places without any New Testament with the message of the gospel. What were their credentials? How could they prove their message was from God? The sign gifts were their credentials--they needed them. Today we have the entire Bible, and what people need today is to study this Bible and to learn what it has to say [cf. 17:11]."585
14:11-12 Why did Luke refer to the fact that the natives spoke in the local Lycaonian language? He probably did so to explain why their plans to honor Paul and Barnabas got as far as they did before the missionaries objected (v. 14). People who lived in Asia Minor spoke three languages: Latin (the official administrative language), Greek (the lingua francaof the empire), and the native vernacular, which in this case was Lycaonian.586
Archaeology has turned up evidence of a legend in Lystra that Zeus and Hermes once visited an elderly couple who lived there, a man named Philemon and his wife Baucis.587This supposedly took place before Paul and Barnabas' visit. Apparently the populace concluded that these gods had returned. Zeus was the chief god in the Greek pantheon, and Hermes was his herald. The residents of Lystra identified Barnabas with Zeus (whom the Romans called Jupiter), probably because he looked dignified and authoritative. They called Paul Hermes (the Roman Mercury) because he was the chief speaker.
If Satan cannot derail Christian witness with persecution, he will try praise. Too much persecution has destroyed many preachers, and too much praise has ruined many others. One of the problems with miracles is that they often draw more attention to the miracle worker than to God.
14:13 Customarily the pagan Gentiles decorated animals destined for sacrifice to the Greek gods, like these oxen, with woolen garlands as they led them to the place of sacrifice.
14:14 Tearing one's robe was a common way Jews expressed grief and, in this case, horror over blasphemy (cf. Mark 14:63). Usually they tore the robe for about four or five inches from the neckline.
14:15-18 By recording the substance of what Paul and Barnabas said here, Luke preserved a sample of their preaching to pagan audiences (cf. 13:16-41; 17:22-31).
"With a pagan audience it was necessary to begin a stage further back with the proclamation of the one true God."588
In earlier times God had manifested the knowledge of Himself to Gentiles mainly through creation and Israel (cf. Rom. 1). Now He was giving them more special revelation through the church. This was the first time Luke recorded the preaching of the gospel to a group that was predominantly, if not exclusively, Gentile. Thus this incident became another benchmark of worldwide gospel extension.589
"Paul's speech here, apart from his address to the Athenian philosophers (17:22ff.), is the only example in Acts of his technique in dealing with a purely pagan audience; it is a striking example of his ability to reinterpret the Gospel in terms intelligible to his hearers. It differs widely from his approach to Jews and adherents of Judaism, as illustrated by his sermon in the synagogue at Antioch (13:16ff.), where some knowledge of the scriptures could be assumed on the part of his listeners. Here, as at Athens, he proceeds on the basis of natural revelation--the providential order of the universe--which ought to lead men's thoughts from the cult of idols to the worship of a living God, Creator of all that exists; he expounds this line of argument more fully in Rom. 1:19ff.; 2:14f., and he writes of its successful outcome at Thessalonica in I Th. 1:9)."590
14:19-20a We do not know how long it took the hostile Jews from Antioch and Iconium to turn the tide of popular sentiment against Paul and Barnabas. They convinced the fickle residents of Lystra that the missionaries were deceivers rather than gods and deserved to die.
"Disillusioned fanatics are easily led off into contradictory actions."591
Some scholars believe that Paul died from this stoning and experienced resurrection.592However, the text only says that onlookers supposed that Paul was dead.593Luke's description of his speedy recovery (v. 20) stresses God's powerful hand in restoring His servant (cf. 1:1-2). Paul courageously returned to Lystra, but he left town the next day (v. 20b).
"It was John Wesley's advice, Always look a mob in the face.' Paul never did a braver thing than to go straight back into the city which had tried to murder him."594
