Turning to the Gentiles in Antioch did not mean Paul and Barnabas would simply stop trying to reach Jews everywhere they went. Yet, every time the same pattern repeats itself, where they seek Jews first, only to be driven off to evangelize Gentiles, it served to show them and us how utterly far Judaism had drifted from God's work in this world. Thus, God shows the justice in closing the Covenant of Moses, and taking away the unique status Israel held before the Him. As Paul noted, they had judged themselves unworthy of eternal life.
So we see the missionaries left Antioch and went to Iconium. This was on the major route toward Paul's home town. The scene here repeats itself somewhat. First, they enter the synagogue and are invited to speak. Here a large number of both Jews and Gentiles attending the synagogue meetings are moved to faith in Christ. Tension took a bit longer to rise here. Again, it was the unbelieving Jews who manipulated the Gentiles. This only emboldened Paul and Barnabas, who managed to keep things going much longer than at Antioch. As the Lord began supporting their teaching with miraculous signs, the debate began spreading across the entire population of the city. At some point, the tension rose to the point of action, as the unbelievers planned to stone the missionaries, having gained support of the synagogue leaders. Someone tipped off the intended victims and they fled down the road a bit farther to Lystra.
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 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, 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 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. Meanwhile, He made sure nature testified of Him, by having regular seasons and predictable crops. This harkens 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 Christ had become the final and eternal sacrifice under all covenants.
Paul and Barnabas stayed for some time. Eventually, the persecutors from Antioch and Iconium caught up with them. Manipulators to the core, we can sense they took advantage of the embarrassing incident to build a case for treating Paul and Barnabas as a serious problem for the city. The residents formed a mob and tried to silence Paul by stoning him. They dragged his body outside the gates, assuming he was dead. Once the mob melted away, Barnabas and the believers gathered around, only to be stunned as Paul simply got up and walked back into the city which had just tried to kill him. The next day, the missionaries left for Derbe. Things were less dramatic there, as they stayed for quite some time, making disciples.
Luke tends to ignore the time factor, but we can guess the mission up to this point was already several months. In places where there had been a Jewish witness, it was a matter of correcting false understandings. But in other cities, they had to build from scratch, and this took much longer. The reason Paul and Barnabas didn't continue on toward Tarsus by land was the small kingdom in between whose ruler protected the one official religion, recognized by Rome, and would have authority to execute them for daring to challenge it. We can be sure that king was known for vigorous action on such matters. Thus, Paul and Barnabas simply retraced their steps.
We would be fools to read our modern cultural biases back into the text. Though Rome operated on a magisterial imperial structure, almost the entire empire was a collection of tribal nations. The fundamental meaning of "elder" is drawn from the ancient head of household, the patriarch. This man may not be the oldest in years, but the most influential, the one the extended family would follow. It remains the same as the level rises to clan and tribe. While the churches started by this mission were seldom actual households, it was the assumption of Jesus' teaching each congregation would act as a single household. Not just using the words "brother" and "sister" as mere titles, they reflected embracing the fellow members as if they were genuine blood kin. However, the blood shared is that of Christ. For Paul and Barnabas to appoint elders in each congregation was to allow the church to form familial ties under their leadership, as the entire church would be structured as an extended household.
This form of tight dependence was necessary to survive the brutal opposition Christians faced. This was, after all, a form of conquest. The Realm of Christ displaced all other loyalties, and called into question the legitimacy of every other tie by which humans are bound together, as Christ Himself had taught. Operating under oppression was taken for granted, and must be embraced as the duty and call of every citizen of Heaven's Realm. Working their way back through the churches they had started, Paul and Barnabas took time to stay, pray and fast with each congregation, confirming this other-worldly outlook, which would dismiss the possessions, comforts, and life itself in this world.
They stopped off in the cities of Perga and Attalia, the port. They found passage back to Seleucia, just down river from Antioch, whence they began this first mission. After making a full report, they rested up for perhaps a year or so. A good thing it was, because trouble was brewing, and it required Paul to resolve things.
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By Ed Hurst
01 August 2009
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