03-18-2023, 06:23 PM
While it was certain the Gentiles would respond more strongly, Paul and Barnabas continued the same standard approach in each city, when possible. They would start with the Jewish synagogue and offer the gospel message to Jews first. So they did at Iconium.
As usual, the message that welcomed Gentiles without having to convert to Judaism first caused trouble, but it took a while in Iconium. Meanwhile, there were plenty of signs and miracles to support the message. Those Jews who still rejected the gospel eventually stirred up a mob against Paul and Barnabas. This time, the city itself was just about evenly divided between those who hated the missionaries and those who favored them. When the haters had a firm plan to stone the two, the plot leaked and the two left town.
This time they headed south and a bit west over rolling hills to Lystra. It would have been about a day's hike. The unexcavated mound today stands among farm fields to the west outside the village of Hatunsaray, in the Meram District of Turkey. Here I'll quote a couple of paragraphs from my previous commentary:
This was a distinctly Phrygian city, with almost no Jews, so no synagogue. The preaching took place in the public forum, probably the city square just inside the main gates. While preaching, Paul realized that a man born crippled had gained complete trust in Christ, sufficient to be healed. Paul directed the man to stand, which the man did with great enthusiasm. The problem was the context. These folks had a pagan temple outside the city gates, and at some point had simply renamed it as a temple of Zeus/Jupiter, the closest from the Greek/Roman pantheon to their ancient deity. There had been some legends about Zeus, with his spokesman Hermes, visiting the area and performing miracles. The locals seized upon this association, and began chattering excitedly in their native dialect, which Paul and Barnabas didn’t understand. Since Paul was younger and speaking, they assumed he was Hermes the Messenger, while the older Barnabas was Zeus, the King of gods. A few went off to fetch the temple priests and a sacrifice fit for their patron deity. When Paul and Barnabas realized what was happening, they reacted as typical Jews, tearing their garments to symbolize distress over blasphemy.
The approach Paul used was tailored to those lacking knowledge of Jewish religion. They first protested that they were mere men. The whole point of their message was to turn them away from useless animal sacrifices to dead gods, and to embrace the One True Living God. He is described as the one who made all things, who tolerated the nations wandering from the true revelation. We note in passing God’s tolerance was in part due to the failure of Israel to get the message out. Meanwhile, He made sure nature testified of Him, by having regular seasons and predictable crops. This hearkens back to the Covenant of Noah, which remained in force among all Gentile nations. It was still difficult to dissuade the local priests from leading a sacrificial celebration for the city residents, as Paul surely taught them that Christ had become the final and eternal sacrifice under all covenants.
The two stayed for some time, but eventually the Jewish troublemakers from Antioch and Iconium caught up with them. Taking advantage of the residual tension from the misunderstanding with the local priests, these agitators stirred up a mob to stone Paul and drag him out of the city. As Barnabas and some Christians gathered around what they thought was Paul's dead body, he simply rose to his feet and went back into the city.
The next day they traveled several days toward the border of the Roman province of Cilicia. They would have passed an extinct volcano, a ring of snow-capped peaks with a high bowl valley nestled in the middle. East of there was the city of Derbe, whose ruins have been partially excavated. The mound stands today just below the Cilician mountain range that separated Paul from his homeland and the city of Tarsus. In Derbe there was no drama, and they stayed quite some time.
This has now been at least a couple of months since the two left the church at Antioch. There was no way they could have traveled on the main road through the Cilician Gates (a narrow pass, the only way through the range). At that time, western Cilicia was ruled by local kings who had vigorously guarded their pagan religions under Roman protection. It seems Jews did not travel that route, and just passing through would have been pretty risky for Christian preachers. So they retraced their journey, stopping to encourage the new churches they had planted along the way and ordaining elders.
As was typical of the church in Jerusalem, elders were administrative leaders, rather like heads of households. Each church was organized like a synagogue under one or more elders, and the members were taught to regard each other as one family. Eventually they would have added men playing a priestly role, and called them pastors, but that came later. It was critical to encourage the churches to become strong family units to face the persecution that was just getting started.
Thus, Luke tells us how they eventually made their way back to the home church of Antioch. When they delivered their report, it brought considerable rejoicing over the strong response from among Gentiles. The two missionaries stayed home for at least a year.
As usual, the message that welcomed Gentiles without having to convert to Judaism first caused trouble, but it took a while in Iconium. Meanwhile, there were plenty of signs and miracles to support the message. Those Jews who still rejected the gospel eventually stirred up a mob against Paul and Barnabas. This time, the city itself was just about evenly divided between those who hated the missionaries and those who favored them. When the haters had a firm plan to stone the two, the plot leaked and the two left town.
This time they headed south and a bit west over rolling hills to Lystra. It would have been about a day's hike. The unexcavated mound today stands among farm fields to the west outside the village of Hatunsaray, in the Meram District of Turkey. Here I'll quote a couple of paragraphs from my previous commentary:
This was a distinctly Phrygian city, with almost no Jews, so no synagogue. The preaching took place in the public forum, probably the city square just inside the main gates. While preaching, Paul realized that a man born crippled had gained complete trust in Christ, sufficient to be healed. Paul directed the man to stand, which the man did with great enthusiasm. The problem was the context. These folks had a pagan temple outside the city gates, and at some point had simply renamed it as a temple of Zeus/Jupiter, the closest from the Greek/Roman pantheon to their ancient deity. There had been some legends about Zeus, with his spokesman Hermes, visiting the area and performing miracles. The locals seized upon this association, and began chattering excitedly in their native dialect, which Paul and Barnabas didn’t understand. Since Paul was younger and speaking, they assumed he was Hermes the Messenger, while the older Barnabas was Zeus, the King of gods. A few went off to fetch the temple priests and a sacrifice fit for their patron deity. When Paul and Barnabas realized what was happening, they reacted as typical Jews, tearing their garments to symbolize distress over blasphemy.
The approach Paul used was tailored to those lacking knowledge of Jewish religion. They first protested that they were mere men. The whole point of their message was to turn them away from useless animal sacrifices to dead gods, and to embrace the One True Living God. He is described as the one who made all things, who tolerated the nations wandering from the true revelation. We note in passing God’s tolerance was in part due to the failure of Israel to get the message out. Meanwhile, He made sure nature testified of Him, by having regular seasons and predictable crops. This hearkens back to the Covenant of Noah, which remained in force among all Gentile nations. It was still difficult to dissuade the local priests from leading a sacrificial celebration for the city residents, as Paul surely taught them that Christ had become the final and eternal sacrifice under all covenants.
The two stayed for some time, but eventually the Jewish troublemakers from Antioch and Iconium caught up with them. Taking advantage of the residual tension from the misunderstanding with the local priests, these agitators stirred up a mob to stone Paul and drag him out of the city. As Barnabas and some Christians gathered around what they thought was Paul's dead body, he simply rose to his feet and went back into the city.
The next day they traveled several days toward the border of the Roman province of Cilicia. They would have passed an extinct volcano, a ring of snow-capped peaks with a high bowl valley nestled in the middle. East of there was the city of Derbe, whose ruins have been partially excavated. The mound stands today just below the Cilician mountain range that separated Paul from his homeland and the city of Tarsus. In Derbe there was no drama, and they stayed quite some time.
This has now been at least a couple of months since the two left the church at Antioch. There was no way they could have traveled on the main road through the Cilician Gates (a narrow pass, the only way through the range). At that time, western Cilicia was ruled by local kings who had vigorously guarded their pagan religions under Roman protection. It seems Jews did not travel that route, and just passing through would have been pretty risky for Christian preachers. So they retraced their journey, stopping to encourage the new churches they had planted along the way and ordaining elders.
As was typical of the church in Jerusalem, elders were administrative leaders, rather like heads of households. Each church was organized like a synagogue under one or more elders, and the members were taught to regard each other as one family. Eventually they would have added men playing a priestly role, and called them pastors, but that came later. It was critical to encourage the churches to become strong family units to face the persecution that was just getting started.
Thus, Luke tells us how they eventually made their way back to the home church of Antioch. When they delivered their report, it brought considerable rejoicing over the strong response from among Gentiles. The two missionaries stayed home for at least a year.
