Bible Study series: Acts 14:19-23. Paul was stoned and left for dead. The disciples gathered around him, and he recovered.
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Let’s begin.
Scripture: Acts 14:19-23
9 Then Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and after persuading the crowds and stoning Paul, they dragged him outside of the city, thinking he had died. 20 But when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the city. The next day, he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 21 After preaching the good news to that city and making many disciples, they returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, 22 strengthening the minds of the disciples, encouraging them to remain in the faith, saying, “Through many hardships we must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 They handpicked elders for them in each local church, praying with fasting, and commended them to the Lord, in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:19-23)
Comments:
19:
There was communication between the towns. This was mob violence. It happened right after a miracle healing. It could be that the crowds were insulted that Paul and Barnabas denied polytheism and Zeus and Hermes, but preached monotheism in the previous section. We almost had the second recorded martyr; Stephen was the first (Acts 7:54-8:1).
“thinking he had died”: His body appeared lifeless. It did not move. He was temporarily knocked out, but apparently the body was not dead, but they thought it was.
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea. (2 Cor 11:25, NIV, emphasis added)
From now on, let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. (Gal. 6:17, NIV)
Yes, his beatings left scars, but so did the rocks.
20:
“gathered around”: It is the Greek verb kukloō (pronounced koo-kloh-oh), and we get our word cycle from its noun form (kuklo– or cycl-). It means to encircle or surround or go around or circle around. Here we need to see the disciples surrounding him for prayer. Remember, v. 3 set the atmosphere in Acts 14 as supercharged with the power of the Spirit. Here Luke omits the details of their praying, but what else did they do? Pick him up? No, because the verse says he got up (on his own). So they were praying.
“he got up”: It is clear that this is a miracle of healing—a “near-resurrection,” “near” because he probably was not dead, but they only thought he was.
He went right back into the city. Now that is courage and defiance that comes from God. As noted in 14, Paul was not afraid to run into danger. It is almost as if he wanted to show his fellow Jews and the Gentiles who were persuaded by them to stone him, that here is another miracle. Nothing can stop the new Jesus movement. He is alive and guiding his new community past Judaism and paganism.
God had worked such a miracle of bodily restoration and healing in Paul that on the next day he could walk to the next town. Amazing.
21:
“preached the good news”: it comes from the verb euangelizō (pronounced eu-ahn-geh-lee-zoh). See v. 7 for a closer look.
“made many disciples”: it comes from the one verb mathēteuō (pronounced mah-thay-too-oh), and we get out word math from it. It means to become a pupil, student, adherent or learner. It goes deeper than win converts. Paul’s and Barnabas’s ministry was effective. They obeyed the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:20), and it is the same verb in Greek.
I like what Bruce says about Paul’s and Barnabas’s return: “Even so, a tribute must be paid to the courage of the two men in returning so soon to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch—cities from which they had so lately been expelled with shameful brutality” (comment on v. 21). Bruce’s understatement is charming.
22:
“strengthened”: Here it means the soul’s stiffening, shoring up, steeling up (not that steel existed back then!) or reinforcing.
“encouraging”: Paul encouraged them to remain in the faith, as distinct from the law of Moses for the Jews (Acts 13:39) and paganism for the Gentiles.
“hardships”: in Greek it is the noun thlipsis (pronounced th’leep-sees). It can be translated as “affliction” or “oppression.”
“kingdom of God”: here it means the kingdom that will appear in its fulness at the Second Coming or when we die and by God’s grace enter heaven. It is not talking about the initial entering the kingdom at conversion, going from light to dark by the born-again experience (John 3:3). Rather, from the moment we are born and then born again by the Spirit, life is full of hardships and trials and tribulations because we live in a fallen world. However, this saying of Paul does not involve God putting diseases on people. Instead, his Son spent his ministry taking diseases off of people. The context of Paul’s hardship is persecution.
Bible Basics about the Kingdom of God
Questions and Answers about Kingdom of God
Basic Definition of Kingdom of God
1 Introducing the Kingdom of God (begin a ten-part series)
“the faith”: it is a generic term for believing and remaining in Christ and also a set of beliefs that Paul was teaching them. See v. 1 for a closer look at faith and believing.
Here Paul assumes that one can drift away from the faith, after genuine salvation by grace through faith. This potential to walk away after being ground down by opponents and circumstances can become actual. The potential can become actual. This warning is not empty.
Remaining a Christian or Falling Away?
Possible Apostasy or Eternal Security?
23:
“handpicked”: It means to appoint, choose or elect by raising one’s hand, or install. Originally and literally, people voted by raising (stretching out) their hand. Here it means to appoint or install. Wisdom and Scripture (1 Tim. 3:6) says not to appoint novices to leadership, so Paul and Barnabas were taking a risk. We have to trust that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit to have discernment and guidance to pick the right ones. But in normal circumstances, please be sure the elders have a long walk with God and also have wisdom from above (Jas. 3:17).
“praying”: It is extremely important to pray before selecting leaders and committing or commending them to the Lord, just before you leave them in charge. Jesus prayed before he chose the twelve (Luke 6:12-16), so how much more should we?
What Is Biblical Intercession?
“fasting”: this practice may be involved in selecting leaders, especially since Barnabas and Saul were newcomers to these towns. They had to get extra-clear wisdom, in a hurry.
The Right Attitude and Practice in Fasting
“commended”: it comes from the verb paratithēmi (pronounced pah-rah-tih-thay-mee), and it combines para– (alongside or near) and tithēmi (the standard verb for putting or placing). So we should see the apostles putting the elders in the hands of the Lord, committing them to him.
Did the apostles lay hands on the elders, even though Luke does not state this openly? It is most likely that they did, because that’s what the small group did for the two missionaries (Acts 13:3). Here again we see Luke omitting details because he assumes we will fill in the gaps with the power and anointing of the Spirit inserted in those ellipses. This is why I have nicknamed him Luke the Omitter. (Or he could be called Luke the Condenser.)
Next question: did these elders receive the fulness of the Spirit and some manifested gifts, even though Luke does not record any of this—again omitting details!
Paul, after all, writing later, said he spoke in his Spirit-inspired languages more than the Corinthians did (1 Cor. 14:18). He said he wanted everyone to pray in their spiritual languages (1 Cor. 14:5) and not forbid this wonderful gift (1 Cor. 14:39).
Therefore, Luke does not need to link the fullness or baptism of the Spirit with prayer languages in every verse that talks about installing ministers. It would be like Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, intervening to tell his readers on every other page, “Don’t forget! We’re on a whaling ship!” In Acts, Luke omits some of these details, but that is how all four Gospels and Acts are presented to us: elliptical. But the entire context of Acts is Spirit-empowered and Spirit-filled. The entire book is very charismatic. Luke expects us to fill in the ellipses with the power of the Spirit and manifested gifts, like prayer languages.
It is like the anointing of Jesus at his water baptism with the Holy Spirit descending on him like a dove (Luke 3:31-22; 4:18-19). From then on, Jesus worked miracles of nature and healing and demonic expulsion in the third Gospel, and Luke does not have to announce every time Jesus did those things: “Remember when I wrote that Jesus was anointed with the Spirit? He worked that miracle based on those verses!” Rather, Luke expects us to fill in those omissions with the power of the Spirit. Likewise, in the many cases of Christian witness from town to town in Acts, Luke expects us to fill in the omissions with the same empowerment because of Acts 2:1-4. And so Luke-Acts is all very charismatic, which is normative for the church throughout its history. Spirit-filled empowerment and anointing continues.
It is similar to his omitting water baptism in key places. Often he does say that new converts got baptized: Acts 2:38, 41; 8:12-13, 35-38; 9:18; 10:48; 16:14-15, 31-33; 18:8; 19:5), Yet in other cases water baptism is not brought up for new converts: Acts 9:42; 11:21; 13:12, 48; 14:1; 17:12, 34. Believe it or not, throughout this first missionary journey, Luke does not record one water baptism, but we can be sure they were done because that was the early practice. Luke expects us to fill in these omissions. This is why I nicknamed him “the Omitter” or “the Condenser”.
“believed”: see v. 1 for more comments.
GrowApp for Acts 14:19-23
1. We go through many troubles from opponents and circumstances. Have you ever been ground down to such a point that you have almost walked away from God? How did your faith remain strong?
2. Have you ever walked away from your relationship with God? How did he woo you back?
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
SOURCES
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