Acts 14:19, commentary and pictures

Jews from Antioch and Iconium followed Paul to Lystra and turned the people against him and Barnabas, so that the crowd stoned Paul until he lay bruised and insensible, then dragged him outside the city and left him as dead. It was a sudden reversal from honoring the apostles as gods to seeking to kill them, made possible because the people's faith was not anchored in God and they were fickle, excitable and easily led. The Jews accomplished it by envy, craft and falsehood, denying God had any part in the healing of the cripple and charging that the miracle was done by demons whom the apostles served. Believers gathered lamenting around his apparently lifeless body, but by a miracle of God he rose up bruised and bloodied to praise God and strengthen their faith, went back into the city, left the next day with Barnabas for Derbe, and afterward undauntedly returned through Lystra, Iconium and Antioch to confirm the disciples. Those who faithfully carry the truth to all parts of the world in the last days will realize similar Satan-stirred opposition and suffering, which is the best evidence that the work opposed is of the Lord, who preserves His servants while letting them know what they will meet from enemies of the truth.

The Attack at Lystra

Certain Jews from Antioch who had driven the apostles from that coast joined with Jews from Iconium and followed on the track of the apostles to Lystra, and there persuaded the people against Paul and Barnabas. The verse marks a sudden reversal from welcome to violence, for the same people who had just offered to worship the apostles as gods, who had so recently refused to be worshiped as a god, who had admired them and regarded them with wonder, turned to hatred and killing. Their former wonder and admiration were turned into hatred by false reports stirred up by Jews from other cities. The crowd that had been ready to honor the apostles as divine beings came to count them worse than murderers and to believe that whoever put them out of the world would do God and mankind good service.

The persuasion succeeded because the people's faith was not anchored in the true God, leaving them fickle and excitable, fickle and easily led, superstitious and credulous. They were disappointed at being refused the chance to sacrifice to the apostles, and after the idolaters were refused sacrifice they turned against the apostles with rage. The Jews exploited that disappointment and credulity, using their superstition to incite the attack and persuading them to attack by force. They worked with crafty arguments, with envy, falsehood and misrepresentation, putting a false version on the miracle wrought on the cripple and its effect on the witnesses. They denied that God had any part in the work and claimed it was accomplished through demons whom Paul and Barnabas served, falsely claiming that their miracle came from demons. They called them deceivers who would bewitch the people if allowed to speak, charging the Lystrians not to let Paul speak lest he bewitch them, claimed to know thoroughly their history and faith, and so misrepresented their characters and work by falsehoods that they inspired the people of Lystra with their own bitterness of spirit. In this they repeated the same unreasoning wrath once shown to Christ when He was accused of casting out devils through the prince of devils and denounced as a deceiver.

Behind the human agents, Satan stirred up the people against Paul, working through men under him as their general who were full of hatred toward Paul and his work. The Lystrians rushed with fury and hurled stones violently, stoning Paul until he was bruised, battered, fainting, insensible and apparently dead. Then the mob dragged his insensible body through the gates, drew him outside the city, threw it beneath the walls, and left him there because they supposed he was dead. As he was being stoned Paul felt his end had come, with the martyrdom of Stephen and his own cruel part in it vividly in mind.

Recovery and Return Mission

Left for dead outside the walls, Paul was not abandoned by those who had believed through the apostles' preaching. Newly converted disciples gathered around his apparently lifeless body, lamenting him as dead and remaining loyal at his side despite the danger from the mob that had just stoned him. Their presence around him became the setting for what followed.

While they stood around him he rose up, lifted his head and stood to his feet in what seemed to them like a resurrection from the dead. It was a miracle of God preserving the life of His faithful servant because his work was not done. Bruised, battered and covered with blood, he praised God, gave thanks, and spoke words of courage to those weeping around him. Their sorrow turned to joy, and his endurance and restoration renewed, strengthened and confirmed their faith, setting the signet of God upon their belief as a miracle and a sign from God upon their acceptance of the truth.

Timothy was among those present, witnessing Paul's suffering, his rising, and his praise to Jesus for being counted worthy to suffer for His name. That sight bound the witness of suffering and deliverance together for the young believers.

The risen apostle went back into the city that same day, and the next day departed with Barnabas for Derbe. In this they acted in obedience to Christ's direction to flee from persecution in one city to another. At Derbe they preached the gospel, taught many, and their labors were blessed in leading many souls to embrace the truth and receive Christ.

Undaunted by danger, Paul and Barnabas afterward returned to the very fields where they had met opposition and persecution — Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. They came to visit the churches planted there, to strengthen and encourage believers left exposed to reproach and bitter opposition, to confirm the souls of the disciples, and to securely bind off the work they had done so it would not ravel out. They found the converts firm, not intimidated by violent persecution but holding that the kingdom is reached through trial and suffering. Paul later counted this stoning at Lystra among his sufferings for the truth and among the dangers he faced both from his own countrymen and from heathen people.

Strength for Faithful Workers

Laborers together with God in the last days who carry the truth to all parts of the globe will realize similar experiences of opposition, persecution and suffering. The pattern is seen where one who had just refused to be worshiped as a god was stoned at Lystra by people persuaded by Jews from Antioch and Iconium and dragged out of the city as dead. As the disciples stood around him he rose up and came back into the city, and the next day departed with Barnabas to Derbe, preached the gospel there and taught many, and then returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch to visit and confirm the churches planted. Faithfully carrying the gospel, especially to the Gentiles and even while laboring among idolaters, can bring fierce persecution and severe suffering, as being stoned and dragged out and left for dead shows. Jews stirred the Gentiles against him, and his endurance under such attack belongs to the opposition faced by God's faithful witnesses.

Such Satan-stirred hatred and opposition, worked through men under him as their general who were full of hatred toward the apostle and his work, is the best evidence that the work opposed is of the Lord. Certain Jews coming from Antioch persuaded the people at Lystra with crafty arguments that he and his fellow laborer were deceivers, and the idolaters, fickle and easily led, readily joined in persecuting the disciples, stoning him, drawing him out of the city, and leaving him for dead. The Lord preserved the life of His servant because his work was not done, preserving His workers under such attacks so that enemies cannot destroy them or do them harm, while letting them know what they will meet from the enemies of the truth. While the disciples stood round his body supposing him to be dead he rose from the ground, filling the hearts of his brethren with great joy as he spoke words of courage to them and offered thanksgiving to God.

Before the furious mob at Lystra that stoned him he was never ashamed of the cause he was advocating there. His one great purpose was to serve Christ, whose name had once filled him with contempt, and no opposition or persecution could turn him aside from that purpose. His faith, made strong by effort and pure by sacrifice, upheld and strengthened him.