As we've seen throughout the book of Acts, this chapter continues with exciting highs and painful lows.
At Iconium a great number of Jews and Greeks believed, but then opposition was stirred up against the brothers. At first I was somewhat surprised by the next sentence "So they remained for a long time..." Normally I'd expect opposition was stirred up, so they went on to the next city. But then I noticed the difference that the opposition was stirred up against the "brothers" meaning the believers who are there. So actually Paul and Barnabas are staying to help defend, strengthen and encourage the new believers and to witness to the gift of forgiveness in Jesus Christ.
It is interesting again that it is the Lord who bears witness to the word of grace and he grants signs and wonders to be done by their hands. As we saw with the disciples when sent out by Jesus, the credit and glory is always going to God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, never to the disciples. The disciples aren't building their own kingdom or fame, but that of Jesus Christ. And this is made even more clear and explicit in as they preach in Lystra, a man is healed, and then the people think that they are gods and try to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and said that they were only men and convinced the people (barely) to not sacrifice to them.
Again they go from an exiting miracle but now to extreme opposition to the point where the people stone Paul and leave him for dead. When the disciples gather around him though, he rises up and enters the city again.
What is interesting is how these highs and lows are described. The stoning to almost death gets one verse and in general the opposition is always mentioned but almost in passing. The good news is what is highlighted. I think that when we are in similar situations, we tend to flip the conversation the other way. We talk for a long time about the opposition and difficulties for longer than the good news. And when we are in the middle of the difficulties, the negatives are magnified and the positives are shrunk.
We read Acts and get excited about all of the miracles that God is doing. We somehow think that if God is doing great miracles and people are being saved that everything will be great and going well. But there seems to be a direct correlation between the number of miracles and the moving of God and the level of opposition and persecution that goes with it.
Paul was stoned, almost to death, but then he gets up, goes into the city, moves on to the next city where he and Barnabas continue to preach and make many disciples, and then they go back to these cities (Lystra and Iconium) where they had just been stoned or almost stoned. There they encouraged the disciples to continue in their faith and said that through many tribulations that we must enter the kingdom of God.
I think that my tendency after being stoned would probably be to head straight back to Antioch, their sending home church, and not go back to the places of opposition right away.
Lord, I pray that you would increase my faith so that I would know that you are still at work, even in opposition and persecution, and that I won't faint nor shrink back from the tasks that you've called me to. I pray that you would stretch out your hand to perform miracles and signs to confirm your word and that many would turn to you. And I pray that we would be able to continue strong in you, focusing on the great things that you are doing rather than focusing on the persecution. Amen
I think my tendency after being stoned would be to lay up in the hospital for a few weeks and then wallow in self pity indefinitely at my deformed appearance and severe injuries! I believe that being a Christian martyr is the more glorious and highest calling a believer can achieve to. That being said, I would likely be miserable in the midst of it.
ReplyDeleteHaving a wife and a son, I understand what Paul says when he writes about how an unmarried man can more fully focus on the Lord's affairs. It would be much easier to volunteer for near-death experiences if I did not have responsibilities for others in my life. In a sense, "the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does" (1 Corinthians 7:4).
:) Yes, these are important considerations. On the other hand, God will sometimes keep us alive because we have people who depend upon us and he has given us that work to do.
DeleteAfter reading the account in Philippi (Acts 16) where they were singing hymns to God while in jail, I had a new perspective on responding to persecution and difficulty. I had previously thought "Wow what a great attitude in the middle of suffering that they would be singing!" which is indeed true. But, I was thinking about situations I've been through and I can say that in the middle of extreme difficulty when I've chosen to cry out to God for help and even sing to God, in the middle of crying out and singing, God changes me. He gives me hope, he sometimes will speak words of encouragement or comfort and sometimes he intervenes right then and fixes the problem.
So my encouragement to myself and others is that in the times of persecution or other difficulty, cry out to Jesus for help and sing songs of praise to him. In the middle of that God can come and meet with us, change our attitude and help us to go on in him.
I think it is incredible that the crowds were trying to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods in one paragraph and trying to kill them in the next!
ReplyDeleteI view the worship of Paul and Barnabas after the healing miracle as a form of opposition too. Sometimes the devil tries to join with the church and corrupt or pervert what God is doing. I think God tests us with the miracles to see if we love the power more than Jesus. It's encouraging to see that Paul and Barnabas are always acting of servants of God and of the people, not trying to gain anything for themselves. Like Nathanael said, they are concerned only for the Kingdom of God and the glory of Jesus.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I would do if I were stoned almost to death. I'm glad that Paul was able to get up and keep working with the people there.
The people still kept worshiping the apostles even when the apostles proclaimed that the power of healing was from God and people should worship God rather than human beings. But the people believed what they saw rather than they heard. Some people didn't believe even though they saw what happened, like the Jews who stoned Paul.
ReplyDeleteI think I need to see using my eyes and to hear using my ears, but more importantly, I need to touch the truth using my heart. Open the eyes of my heart and others' hearts to know you, our Lord Jesus!