Acts 14

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Acts 14 completes the first missionary journey. At Iconium Paul and Barnabas win many Jews and Greeks, divide the city, and flee a plot to stone them. At Lystra Paul heals a man lame from birth, and the crowd hails the two as Zeus and Hermes and prepares a sacrifice; the apostles tear their clothes and preach the living God who gives rain and fruitful seasons. Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrive, stone Paul, and drag him out of the city for dead; he gets up and leaves for Derbe the next day. On the return they strengthen the disciples, warn that the kingdom is entered through many hardships, and appoint elders. Back in Antioch they report that God has opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

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Acts 14 is the chapter where being an apostle nearly gets Paul killed twice, and where he keeps walking. In Iconium the preaching works so well that the city splits down the middle, and the two men leave one step ahead of a mob with stones. In Lystra, a backwoods town with its own dialect, Paul looks at a man who has never walked, sees faith in him, and shouts at him to stand, and the man jumps up. The crowd concludes that the old story has come true again: the gods have come down in human form, Barnabas is Zeus and the talkative Paul is Hermes, and the priest of Zeus is at the gate with bulls and garlands before the apostles understand a word. They tear their clothes and run into the crowd shouting that they are only men, and Paul preaches the only sermon in Acts to people who had never heard of Moses: the living God made heaven and earth, let the nations go their way for a while, and yet never left himself without a witness, because he sends rain and harvests and fills your hearts with food and gladness. They can barely stop the sacrifice. Then Jews arrive from the last two towns, turn the same crowd, and stone Paul, and drag him outside the walls as a corpse. The disciples gather around him. He gets up. He goes back into the city, and the next day walks on to Derbe. On the way home he revisits every town that tried to kill him, tells the new believers that this is what entering the kingdom costs, and appoints elders so that they will not be alone.

Pasajes clave

Acts 14:1-7 Acts 14:8-18 Acts 14:19-23 Acts 14:24-28 2 Timothy 3:10-12 Acts 17:22-31

Historical and literary context

The journey took place around AD 47 or 48 in the Roman province of Galatia, in what is now central Turkey. Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe were towns of Lycaonia, and the crowd's cry "in the Lycaonian language" explains why the apostles were slow to grasp what was happening. A local legend, preserved by the poet Ovid, told of Zeus and Hermes visiting the region in disguise and being welcomed only by an old couple, which is why the people were determined not to miss the gods a second time. Paul's speech at Lystra is the first in Acts to a purely pagan audience and appeals to creation and providence rather than Scripture. Timothy, from Lystra, probably witnessed the stoning. Paul later lists it among his sufferings.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 7 cover Iconium: success, opposition, division, the plot, and the flight to Lystra and Derbe. Verses 8 to 18 cover Lystra: the healing, the acclamation as gods, the sacrifice prepared, and the apostles' protest and sermon. Verses 19 and 20 record the stoning and Paul's recovery. Verses 21 to 23 describe the return visits, the encouragement, the warning about hardships, and the appointment of elders with prayer and fasting. Verses 24 to 28 trace the route home through Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia to Antioch, and the report to the sending church.

Why this chapter matters

The chapter established the pattern of Paul's mission: synagogue first, then Gentiles, opposition, flight, and return to organize churches with elders. "We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" is the New Testament's frankest statement that suffering is normal for believers. The Lystra sermon, God known through rain and harvest and "not left without testimony," is the seed of the Christian appeal to natural revelation, developed at Athens in chapter 17. The scene of the apostles refusing worship, "We too are only men," has been the church's rebuke to the cult of religious leaders, and Paul getting up after being stoned is one of the most remarkable images of endurance in Acts.

Interpretive tension to watch

Luke says Paul was stoned and "presumed dead," and readers differ on whether his rising was a miracle or a recovery; Paul's own later mention of a man caught up to paradise has been linked to this day without evidence. Verse 4 calls Barnabas an apostle, which complicates the idea that the apostles were only the Twelve plus Paul. The appointing of elders on a return trip within months raises the question of how quickly new churches should have local leadership. And the Lystra sermon's claim that God "let all nations go their own way" sits beside Romans 1's judgment on those nations.

Preguntas para este capítulo

The same crowd wanted to sacrifice to Paul and then stoned him. What does that swing say about the applause of crowds?
Paul tells new believers that the kingdom is entered through many hardships. Is that a message churches today would put on their welcome sign?
God "has not left Himself without testimony" in rain and harvests. Where do people outside the church encounter his goodness before they hear his name?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Añadir a notas

1 Or avvenne che in Iconio pure Paolo e Barnaba entrarono nella sinagoga dei Giudei e parlarono in maniera che una gran moltitudine di Giudei e di Greci credette. 2 Ma i Giudei, rimasti disubbidienti, misero su e inasprirono gli animi dei Gentili contro i fratelli. 3 Essi dunque dimoraron quivi molto tempo, predicando con franchezza, fidenti nel Signore, il quale rendeva testimonianza alla parola della sua grazia, concedendo che per le lor mani si facessero segni e prodigi. 4 Ma la popolazione della città era divisa; gli uni tenevano per i Giudei, e gli altri per gli apostoli. 5 Ma essendo scoppiato un moto dei Gentili e dei Giudei coi loro capi, per recare ingiuria agli apostoli e lapidarli, 6 questi, conosciuta la cosa, se ne fuggirono nelle città di Licaonia, Listra e Derba e nel paese d’intorno; 7 e quivi si misero ad evangelizzare. 8 Or in Listra c’era un certo uomo, impotente nei piedi, che stava sempre a sedere, essendo zoppo dalla nascita, e non aveva mai camminato. 9 Egli udì parlare Paolo, il quale, fissati in lui gli occhi, e vedendo che avea fede da esser sanato, 10 disse ad alta voce: Lèvati ritto in piè. Ed egli saltò su, e si mise a camminare. 11 E le turbe, avendo veduto ciò che Paolo avea fatto, alzarono la voce, dicendo in lingua licaonica: Gli dèi hanno preso forma umana, e sono discesi fino a noi. 12 E chiamavano Barnaba, Giove, e Paolo, Mercurio, perché era il primo a parlare. 13 E il sacerdote di Giove, il cui tempio era all’entrata della città, menò dinanzi alle porte tori e ghirlande, e volea sacrificare con le turbe. 14 Ma gli apostoli Barnaba e Paolo, udito ciò, si stracciarono i vestimenti, e saltarono in mezzo alla moltitudine, esclamando: 15 Uomini, perché fate queste cose? Anche noi siamo uomini della stessa natura che voi; e vi predichiamo che da queste cose vane vi convertiate all’Iddio vivente, che ha fatto il cielo, la terra, il mare e tutte le cose che sono in essi; 16 che nelle età passate ha lasciato camminare nelle loro vie tutte le nazioni, 17 benché non si sia lasciato senza testimonianza, facendo del bene, mandandovi dal cielo piogge e stagioni fruttifere, dandovi cibo in abbondanza, e letizia ne’ vostri cuori. 18 E dicendo queste cose, a mala pena trattennero le turbe dal sacrificar loro. 19 Or sopraggiunsero quivi de’ Giudei da Antiochia e da Iconio; i quali, avendo persuaso le turbe, lapidarono Paolo e lo trascinaron fuori della città, credendolo morto. 20 Ma essendosi i discepoli raunati intorno a lui, egli si rialzò, ed entrò nella città; e il giorno seguente, partì con Barnaba per Derba. 21 E avendo evangelizzata quella città e fatti molti discepoli se ne tornarono a Listra, a Iconio ed Antiochia, 22 confermando gli animi dei discepoli, esortandoli a perseverare nella fede, dicendo loro che dobbiamo entrare nel regno di Dio attraverso molte tribolazioni. 23 E fatti eleggere per ciascuna chiesa degli anziani, dopo aver pregato e digiunato, raccomandarono i fratelli al Signore, nel quale aveano creduto. 24 E traversata la Pisidia, vennero in Panfilia. 25 E dopo aver annunziata la Parola in Perga, discesero ad Attalia; 26 e di là navigarono verso Antiochia, di dove erano stati raccomandati alla grazia di Dio, per l’opera che aveano compiuta. 27 Giunti colà e raunata la chiesa, riferirono tutte le cose che Dio avea fatte per mezzo di loro, e come avea aperta la porta della fede ai Gentili. 28 E stettero non poco tempo coi discepoli.

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