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.

Ключові місця

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.

Запитання до цього розділу

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.

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1 이에 이고니온에서 두 사도가 함께 유대인의 회당에 들어가 말하니 유대와 헬라의 허다한 무리가 믿더라 2 그러나 순종치 아니하는 유대인들이 이방인들의 마음을 선동하여 형제들에게 악감을 품게 하거늘 3 두 사도가 오래 있어 주를 힘입어 담대히 말하니 주께서 저희 손으로 표적과 기사를 행하게 하여 주사 자기 은혜의 말씀을 증거하시니 4 그 성내 무리가 나뉘어 유대인을 좇는 자도 있고 두 사도를 좇는 자도 있는지라 5 이방인과 유대인과 그 관원들이 두 사도를 능욕하며 돌로 치려고 달려드니 6 저희가 알고 도망하여 루가오니아의 두 성 루스드라와 더베와 및 그 근방으로 가서 7 거기서 복음을 전하니라 8 루스드라에 발을 쓰지 못하는 한 사람이 있어 앉았는데 나면서 앉은뱅이 되어 걸어 본 적이 없는 자라 9 바울의 말하는 것을 듣거늘 바울이 주목하여 구원 받을 만한 믿음이 그에게 있는 것을 보고 10 큰 소리로 가로되 `네 발로 바로 일어서라' 하니 그 사람이 뛰어 걷는지라 11 무리가 바울의 행한 일을 보고 루가오니아 방언으로 소리질러 가로되 신들이 사람의 형상으로 우리 가운데 내려오셨다 하여 12 바나바는 쓰스라 하고 바울은 그 중에 말하는 자이므로 허메라 하더라 13 성 밖 쓰스 신당의 제사장이 소와 화관들을 가지고 대문 앞에 와서 무리와 함께 제사하고자 하니 14 두 사도 바나바와 바울이 듣고 옷을 찢고 무리 가운데 뛰어 들어가서 소리질러 15 가로되 `여러분이여, 어찌하여 이러한 일을 하느냐 ? 우리도 너희와 같은 성정을 가진 사람이라 너희에게 복음을 전하는 것은 이 헛된 일을 버리고 천지와 바다와 그 가운데 만유를 지으시고 살아 계신 하나님께로 돌아오라 함이라 16 하나님이 지나간 세대에는 모든 족속으로 자기의 길들을 다니게 묵인하셨으나 17 그러나 자기를 증거하지 아니 하신 것이 아니니 곧 너희에게 하늘로서 비를 내리시며 결실기를 주시는 선한 일을 하사 음식과 기쁨으로 너희 마음에 만족케 하셨느니라' 하고 18 이렇게 말하여 겨우 무리를 말려 자기들에게 제사를 못하게 하니라 19 유대인들이 안디옥과 이고니온에서 와서 무리를 초인하여 돌로 바울을 쳐서 죽은 줄로 알고 성 밖에 끌어 내치니라 20 제자들이 둘러 섰을 때에 바울이 일어나 성에 들어갔다가 이튿날 바나바와 함께 더베로 가서 21 복음을 그 성에서 전하여 많은 사람을 제자로 삼고 루스드라와 이고니온과 안디옥으로 돌아가서 22 제자들의 마음을 굳게 하여 이 믿음에 거하라 권하고 또 우리가 하나님 나라에 들어가려면 많은 환난을 겪어야 할 것이라 하고 23 각 교회에서 장로들을 택하여 금식 기도하며 저희를 그 믿은 바 주께 부탁하고 24 비시디아 가운데로 지나가서 밤빌리아에 이르러 25 도를 버가에서 전하고 앗달리아로 내려가서 26 거기서 배 타고 안디옥에 이르니 이곳은 두 사도의 이룬 그 일을 위하여 전에 하나님의 은혜에 부탁하던 곳이라 27 이르러 교회를 모아 하나님이 함께 행하신 모든 일과 이방인들에게 믿음의 문을 여신 것을 고하고 28 제자들과 함께 오래 있으니라