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Paul’s First Mission Trip (Part 2)

In the last session, we witnessed the beginning of Paul’s missionary journeys, history’s greatest Christian evangelism effort. Commissioned by the church in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas sailed to Barnabas’ home of Cyprus. Things were great at first! In Paphos, the Roman proconsul became a Christian . . . arguably the highest-ranking and wealthiest Gentile convert. Flushed with such success, they traveled to Pisidian Antioch, on the mainland of what is modern Turkey, and preached salvation by believing in Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, rather than through the Jewish oral law (Acts 13:39). At first they were warmly received by both Jews and Gentiles; but the Jewish leaders became "jealous" of their popularity, "talked abusively against what Paul was saying" (Acts 13:45), and had them "expelled . . . from the region" (Acts 13:50b). Paul and Barnabas "shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium" (Acts 13:51).

We didn’t have time in the last session to discuss the significance of that statement about "shaking the dust from their feet." It’s not just a colorful comment; it’s a symbolic act based on the instructions of Jesus to His 12 disciples when He sent them out on the first "dry run" of field missions work. These instructions, as recorded in Matt 10, are:

Look what Jesus is saying: those who reject Him will be dealt with more harshly at the time of God’s judgement than the residents of the two Gentile cities which the bible portrays as the worst cesspools of evil and sexual immorality. And it’s significant that Jesus’ condemnation applies to Jews . . . because Jesus sent the disciples only to Jewish areas; they were to avoid Gentiles and Samaritans (Matt 10:5-6).

This condemnation is compounded when we realize Jesus’ instruction turns a practice of the Jewish Pharisees back on them. As we discussed Acts 10-11, the Pharisees expected observant Jews to remain separated from Gentiles . . . to interact with Gentiles only on routine governmental and commercial matters—nothing social—and to avoid contact with anything the Jewish oral law characterized as "unclean." Furthermore, when leaving a Gentile area, observant Jews were to shake the dust from their feet as the ultimate symbol of their contempt for "unclean" Gentiles.

Jesus seems to be saying that Jews who reject Him as Messiah are really the ones who are unclean and unsaved. And since the Pharisees were Jesus’ most vocal opponents, this is a symbolic condemnation of the Pharisees just as strong as in Matt 23, in which Jesus refers to them as "hypocrites" who cannot "escape being condemned to hell."

The Jewish leaders of Pisidian Antioch are Pharisees. Hence when Paul and Barnabas "shook the dust from their feet in protest against them," (Acts 13:51), they are saying the Jewish Pharisees who "stirred up persecution against (them), and expelled them from their region" (Acts 13:50b-51), are unclean and unsaved . . . and will receive horrible punishment on Judgement Day.

This marks the beginning of Christianity’s separation from Judaism, because it’s the first time Jewish Christians have questioned the salvation of observant Jews who reject Jesus. No longer do Jewish Christians consider fellow Jews automatically "saved" just because they are "sons of Abraham."

Yet lest we modern Christians become smug about this, don’t forget in Matt 7 and Matt 29 Jesus also condemns so-called Christians who go through the motions of acting like believers, but don’t live a changed life to demonstrate their hearts are right. Jesus calls them "evildoers," who will be sent away from heaven (Matt 7:23) to "eternal punishment" (Matt 25:46). Legalism doesn’t save either Jews or Christians!

After shaking the dust of Pisidian Antioch from their feet, Paul and Barnabas go to Iconium, about 100 miles away. Today it’s Konya, home of the "whirling dervish" sect of Islam. The people of Iconium are a receptive audience: Paul and Barnabas "spoke so effectively (in the synagogue) that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed" (Acts 14:1). As in Pisidian Antioch, the "Jews who refused to believe" worked to undercut their efforts, but this time "the Lord . . . enabl(ed) (Paul and Barnabas) to do miraculous signs and wonders" (Acts 14:3). Their popularity as miracle-workers enabled them to stay a long time in Iconium; but ultimately Jewish non-believers enlisted the help of Jewish and Gentile leading men of the city in a plot to stone Paul and Barnabas to death, and they fled the city.

Trying to "read between the lines" . . . it’s unlikely Jewish leaders—Pharisees—would plot to stone fellow Jews without some charge of breaking a Jewish law which requires death by stoning. Probably they accused Paul and Barnabas of blasphemy. But on what basis? We assume the arguments Paul and Barnabas used in Iconium were similar to those used in Pisidian Antioch: salvation can be attained for both Jews and Gentiles by believing in Jesus . . . not by following the Jewish oral law (Acts 13:39). This is a debate over fine points of the Jewish law; it’s not blasphemy. But Stephen’s claim that Jesus was the Messiah was called blasphemy when he said he saw Jesus in heaven as: "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). And Paul’s story about encountering Jesus as the risen Messiah in a voice from heaven might be considered blasphemy on that same basis. We’ll never know . . . but it’s less important "why" the leading men of Iconium plotted to stone Paul and Barnabas; it’s most important that it was a serious enough threat to cause them to leave. (And we will see later they were wise to do that.)

They go to Lystra . . . just 20 miles down the road. Lystra is the home of Timothy, who has a Jewish mother and a Greek father. Timothy becomes an important disciple, but we won’t meet him until Paul’s next visit.

The bible does not say Paul and Barnabas went to a synagogue, so it’s probable Lystra has no synagogue, and hence few Jews. Assuming this is the case, Paul and Barnabas face a big challenge. Where can they find Jews and God-fearing Gentiles meeting to discuss scripture—including Messianic prophesy? And if they can’t find people familiar with God’s promise of salvation through a Messiah, how do they describe the saving work of Jesus? . . . and where do they do it? Acts doesn’t say . . . it only says "they continued to preach the good news" (Acts 14:7).

Then God empowered Paul to do his most powerful recorded miracle. A cripple, lame from birth, is one of Paul’s hearers. Paul looks at this man, believes he has faith to be healed. He says to him: "Stand up on your feet!"; and "the man jumped up and began to walk" (Acts 14:10).

This miracle in Lystra and is extremely similar to one by Peter in Jerusalem—recorded in Acts 3—but the results are dramatically different. Peter’s miracle brought about 2000 Jews to believe in Jesus (Acts 4:4). But Paul’s miracle in Lystra makes the people think Paul and Barnabas are Greek gods Zeus and Hermes come to earth.

Apparently Paul and Barnabas stumbled into a local legend that Zeus and Hermes once visited Lystra but were not recognized, so they punished the people. Paul’s miracle makes the people think the gods have returned, and they don’t want to make the mistake their ancestors did . . . so they go to the temple of Zeus to offer sacrifices to them. Paul and Barnabas don’t realize what’s happening at first, because they don’t understand the local language . . . but when they figure it out, they freak! "Stop!" they say. "We are just humans like you . . . we have come to teach you to quit worshiping ‘worthless’ Greek gods, and turn to the one true creator-God, who has cared for you even though you didn’t know Him, and now He wants you to learn about Him" (cf Acts 14:15-17). But the people don’t want to hear this . . . Paul and Barnabas have difficulty preventing them from offering the sacrifices.

From this episode, we infer how Paul tried to preach to Gentiles unfamiliar with Jewish scripture. He told them about an all-powerful creator-God—greater than the pantheon of Greek gods worshiped by the people of Lystra. Perhaps he suggested—as in his letter to the Romans—that mankind instinctively knows there is such a creator-God and hence is "without excuse" (Rom 1:20b) for sin. Paul may have told them God came to earth as a man, Jesus the Messiah, to teach people about Himself, and through His death and resurrection to justify everyone who believed in Him. But the people of Lystra fail to comprehend the concept of just one all-powerful God, and when Paul does his miracle, they associate Paul and Barnabas with the ancient legend that Greek gods came to Lystra.

Oops!! This first effort to preach the gospel to Gentiles who lack knowledge of Jewish scripture does not seem to turn out as Paul and Barnabas hoped. Perhaps they need to use this as a learning experience and rethink their approach!

But this learning experience is almost deadly. Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium arrive in Lystra, determined to carry out their plot to stone Paul and Barnabas. Meanwhile, the people of Lystra are confused and frustrated—and probably angered—by Paul’s and Barnabas’ rejection of their proclamation as Greek gods. This makes the people are receptive to negative stories from their neighboring cities, and they stand aside as Paul is stoned, dragged outside the city, and left for dead. But he picks himself up, and the next day he and Barnabas leave for Derbe, 50 miles away.

Derbe seems a town like Lystra with few Jews, since no synagogue is mentioned. Here Paul "won a large number of disciples" (Acts 14:21a), without being proclaimed a Greek god or making anyone mad enough to try to kill him. Acts doesn’t say what he did differently; but we will pick up on his revised techniques later when he visits Macedonian cities like Philippi with no synagogue.

After Paul and Barnabas conclude a peaceful ministry in Derbe, they return the way they came . . . sneaking into Lystra and Iconium and Pisidian Antioch, "strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith" (Acts 14:22). After Paul’s extreme persecution in these cities, the new disciples probably need encouragement. In fact, it’s amazing there are still believers in these cities . . . but that just shows the power of the gospel of Jesus. In fact, most likely, it’s the powerful gospel of Jesus—together with Paul’s effective preaching—which caused both reactions: vehement rejection by people unable to believe . . . yet in others a belief in Jesus so strong it withstands persecution. Moreover, from a "leadership theory" point of view, the example of Paul—who picks himself up and keeps on preaching even after being stoned—is itself an inspiration to followers: "strengthening . . . and encouraging them."

Paul and Barnabas also set up a leadership structure, ordaining elders in each of the churches, and committing them to God with prayer and fasting. This was an important step—and especially important was to begin the ongoing ministry with prayer.

Paul and Barnabas next travel to the cities of Perga and Attalia on the coast, preaching the gospel as they go. Then they sail home to Antioch (Acts 14:24-26).

What are they thinking as they return home? How do they assess their 1^st missionary journey? They have been way up . . . and way down. Their witness in Paphos on Cyprus—at the beginning of their trip—was a stunning success: a wealthy and powerful Roman official became a believer. It’s good they had such initial success, because things did not go so well from then on. There may have been serious disagreements about strategy, because the leadership shifted from Barnabas to Paul in Paphos, and John Mark deserted them. Not good. Things started well in Pisidian Antioch and Iconium, but deteriorated badly. In Pisidian Antioch they were not allowed to speak in the synagogue and were expelled from the city by the Jewish leaders (Acts 13:45-50) when they preached salvation for Jews and Gentiles through Jesus, apart from the legalism of the Jewish oral law (Acts 13:39). Should they instead preach Judaism—or conversion to Judaism—as a requirement for salvation? Hardly! We’ll find out next week Paul would never agree to that—even though that’s the approach of many in the Jerusalem church. In Iconium they are pursued out of town, probably accused of blasphemy, and Paul is stoned. Should they modify their rhetoric so this doesn’t happen again—if they can do so without weakening the message? Probably a good idea . . . indeed, Paul never again says something that causes Jews to stone him. In Lystra their message of a creator-God who comes to earth as a man confuses the Gentiles, and a miracle which usually makes people believe in Jesus leads them instead to proclaim Paul and Barnabas as Greek gods. Should they modify their message so this doesn’t happen again? Definitely!!

What’s the point of this critique? The point is to illustrate that even "giants" of the faith like Paul and Barnabas—so close to the advent of the Holy Spirit—didn’t get everything right the first time. They went through a trial-and-error process: making mistakes and adjusting. Should we be surprised if we make mistakes when called to witness for Jesus under unfamiliar circumstances? We, too, are doomed to a trial-and-error process as we try to do God’s will. All we can do is—like Paul—pick ourselves up, make adjustments, and keep on truckin’ . . . because if we quit "pushing the envelope" for Jesus, we’ll quit growing in the faith. The 1^st missionary journey gives us a unique window to watch Paul and Barnabas "push the envelope" for Jesus, and grow in the faith . . . and in so doing it gives us practical lessons how to live for Jesus and spread the word about Him.

Paul made enemies on this trip . . . and he almost died! Jesus predicted the gospel will separate friends and families (Matt 10:34-37). Jesus also said Christians will be hated because of following Him (Matt 10:22) and that we must be willing to die for the gospel (Matt 16:25) . . . but most of us prefer not to die for Jesus—or even make enemies because of Him! Are we sometimes too timid in our cushy 21^st century America?

How would history be different if Paul had died when he was stoned in Lystra. God would have spread the gospel another way. But God has a time and place for martyrdom. And for Paul it was in Rome at the time of Nero, many years later . . . as it was for Peter, who earlier escaped execution by King Herod Agrippa I.

When Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch, they undergo extensive de-briefing: they "reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles" (Acts 14:27). I speculate they also discussed what to do on future journeys . . . how to learn from what had happened this time.

Yet as Paul and Barnabas undergo their debriefing, sinister opposition is forming into a challenge greater than Paul’s near death in Lystra. This new challenge could cause the death of the church . . . and the opposition is coming from within!

The challenge is a result of the unresolved debate from Acts 11, in which Peter defended himself before the elders of the church of Jerusalem for associating with and baptizing Cornelius the Roman centurion and his friends and family in Caesarea. The issue is whether Gentiles baptized in the name of Jesus gained salvation through faith in Jesus alone . . . or whether they were also required to be circumcised and follow the oral law of the Pharisees—essentially to become Jews. This issue is fundamentally a question of freedom vs legalism: the freedom preached by Jesus, or the legalism of the oral law.

Resolution of this question requires the first major church council to be convened. It’s called the Council of Jerusalem, and we’ll discuss it next week as we study Acts 15.