By Rev. A.M. Cattanach, M.A.
(Continued from page 185)
Lystra: a case of misguided adulation
Having fled from Iconium, the two Apostles made their way south east some eighteen miles, and arrived at Lystra, an important centre in the region of Lycania, where, as usual, they were soon engaged in preaching the Gospel. One thing emerges from a study of the account of their sojourn in this city, as recorded in this chapter of Acts from verse 8 to 20 – there is no mention of a synagogue, to which the Apostles repaired to declare the good news. The probable reason for this is that the number of Jews in Lystra was too small to warrant their having one, and they may, therefore, have met for worship in a house or at some other suitable place.
A further point to note is that we are not told anything about the length of time spent at Lystra – probably it was short, but we have no means of verification. The account opens abruptly with a miracle, and closes as abruptly with the stoning of Paul. Three things call for our attention briefly:
- a) The miracle performed
- b) The sad outcome of the miracle
- c) The final turn round of events
a) The account of the miracle performed upon the cripple is paralleled in other portions of the Scripture, and the case of the man who sat at the Beautiful gate of the Temple, and was healed by Peter, comes readily to mind as being very similar. Where this certain man of Lystra sat is not told us, but clearly he was in a position to hear Paul speak (verse 9). As Paul spake, something in his countenance or attitude appears to have arrested the Apostle – we read that Paul steadfastly beheld him; he looked him straight in the face, as if reading his very thoughts. Then he perceived that he had faith to be healed. Is it not wonderful to contemplate such an inter-reaction of feeling and thought between Paul and this poor disabled man of Lystra, until then complete strangers to one another? We cannot attempt to speculate as to how Paul perceived the faith in this man’s heart; one thing is certain, however; God was at work here, and Paul was but an instrument for good in His hand. In view of the forthcoming misconstruction of the whole miraculous event, how essential it is for us to remember this — God was working and to Him alone belonged of right, the glory. Paul knew this, and this, in part, accounts for the honour which filled his soul, when he saw how the poor ignorant peasants of Lystra had construed events. The man was commanded to stand upright upon his feet, and with Paul’s word, Divine power was given to enable him to rise up and leap about, in the joy of having been miraculously healed. Although miracles such as this belong essentially to the Apostolic age, and were often the means of confirming the Word preached in that early age, we are, even now, still able to stand afar off and reverently adore the wonder working God, who, as God remains the same, today yesterday and for ever. Spiritual wonders and miracles of grace are still being wrought in the name of His holy child Jesus. May each of us become living witnesses to such grace and power, as this man was, in another, and peculiar manner.
b) The sad outcome of the miracle.
The effect of such a miracle upon the simple country people of Lycania, living in the city of Lystra, was spontaneous and, in its own way, considering their spiritual background, perfectly understandable; they acted according to their light, since they knew no better. We read “And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycania, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men (verse 11)”. They attributed the whole thing to a divine visitation, as they conceived it and as they had been brought up to believe had once happened before, in that very region. Those who are acquainted with Roman and Greek mythology will remember the story, as recorded in the Metamorphoses of Ovid the Roman poet, of the visit of Jupiter and Mercury, in the guise of poor mortals, to this earth. They were turned away from every door except that of an old couple called Philemon and Baucis. The end of the legends tells of a flood which submerged this plain of Lycania, shortly after this visit of the gods, in which all perished, save Philemon and Baucis, the aged couple, who had shown hospitality to the visitors. Their humble dwelling was transformed also into a temple, of which they became priests. This is the mythological background to this scene before us. These poor deluded peasants of Lycania were ready to recognise the gods this time and pay due homage to them: to them Barrabas appeared to be Jupiter (he was the older of the two men, in any case and Jupiter was the father of the gods) and Paul Mercury; the reason for this association of identity in their minds is expressly told us – “because he was the chief speaker” (verse 12) (Incidentally, this gives us an interesting sideline on the great Apostle – he was, indeed, the chief speaker among his brethren, declaring the unsearchable riches of Christ as no fellow-man ever did). They were determined that the mistake committed by a former generation of their forefathers, as they fondly imagined it to be, was not to be repeated this time. The logical outcome was to welcome these visitors from the ‘heavenlies’, so they repair to the temple of Jupiter to make ready the usual sacrificial homage in honour of the gods. (verse 13).
The situation has now taken on a most dangerous turn, from the apostolic standpoint. The full implications of all the preparations (oxen and garlands etc) are brought home to Paul and Barrabas, and their souls are filled with horror at the very thought of such idolatry. As a sign of their anguish of spirit at the superstition and delusion of the people, they rend their clothes, and run in among them in an effort to prevent what they saw, only too clearly, was going to happen. How urgent then the moving appeal which we find recorded in verses 15 – 17: how precarious the position of the Apostles in the midst of a crowd, ready to give to them the honour and glory due to God alone – the God of the Covenant, indeed with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob, but also the only living and true God for all men. He only must be worshipped and so the beginning of the appeal is to confirm that they were but men – men of like passions with the inhabitants of Lystra. We do not intend to analyse this appeal meticulously, though much profitable instruction could be derived from such an exercise of mind. Two points will suffice for thought:
- (i) There is no appeal to Scripture or written Revelation. In all the synagogal addresses this is a normal starting point – no such common ground was possible here, for they were dealing with native-speaking people, (the speech of the Lycaonians v. 11), hence the different approach. The same approach is found in Paul’s address to The Athenians in Chapter 17. Yet there is an appeal to revelation in the realm of Creation and Providence.
- (ii) That revelation the apostles identify with the living God –
(their God and not the heathen gods of the multitude) and so go on to declare that He made heaven and earth and He gives rain and fruitful seasons. This God they declare now as the God unto whom these people must turn from all these vanities.
The point is made; the truth declared, albeit in a different way than usual. With what relief the apostles must have beheld the crowd dissolve, their intention to do sacrifice unto them (v. 18) laid voluntary aside. Paul and Barrabas had survived a critical situation, lesser men might well have been overcome by such obvious adulation and hero-worship, on the part of an unlettered audience; flattery of such a sinister nature might well have tempted others; Paul and Barrabas by divine grace, stood firm and leave, for us all, an example to be admired and truly to be followed.
c). The final turn round of events.
As indicated already, in the case of Lystra, we have no means of ascertaining the time factor in the sequence of events – the miracle, the attempted sacrificial homage, and the final episode in their stay, on this occasion. The inspired historian proceeds, at once, in verse 19, to tell us of the arrival of Jews from Antioch and Iconium, in pursuit of the Apostles. There is likely to have been some delay – at least sufficient time for the Jews to have covered the distance between Antioch and Lystra, some seventy to eighty miles. Other factors, such as the mention of disciples in verse 20 suggest a little time in which to labour in that city. No account is given of such labour: the account of events in Lystra presents us with a striking divergence from that in other cities; yet it gives us an insight into the dangers and temptation to which the Apostles were consistently and constantly exposed.
Not content with having harried them in Antioch; nor even in Iconium; to Lystra these same enemies of the Cross must come. “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people . . . verse 19.” These are the very people who but recently were bent on worshipping the Apostles – the crowd, the mob or the “man in the street”. The Jews did not take long to persuade them to change their whole attitude – how easily swayed some crowds are! Instead of taking out the oxen and garlands (misguided, deluded though they might be in all is) now they take up stones to throw at these same men. Since stoning, as a form of punishment, was distinctively Jewish, it is clear that they were incited by these relentless enemies of the Apostles – their fellow-countrymen who thought that, in so doing, they were serving God. Paul falls victim to the onslaught and he is dragged outside the city and left there as one dead. In thinking over this sad and solemn turn of events, one cannot but remember the case of Stephen and the young man Saul, with which these articles began. Paul’s thoughts, as he lay there, outside the city, are not recorded; what is recorded is that he was surrounded by disciples — “Howbeit as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and came into the city . . .” verse 20. A precious bodyguard indeed! Disciples round about him: behind and above the disciples however, we must surely remember that the Lord stood round about him too: even as the Psalmist sang so long before:—
“As round about Jerusalem
The mountains stand alway,
The Lord his folk with compass so,
From henceforth and for aye.” Psalm 125 v. 2.
Paul lying there, outside the city of Lystra, sorely wounded for His masters’ sake, must have valued such a Presence; but even that of the disciples was sweet. They were his friends in the midst of a hostile environment. The mention of disciples in such circumstances pre-supposes a blessing on some labours for the Lord in that region. Though the Apostles moved on, it was normal for the disciples to remain — the beginnings of a Christian community in each place. The disciples here, then, are to be understood as disciples in Lystra. There is one special reference to them in Chap. 16 from the beginning, to which we should refer now: the case of Timothy. We are all aware how much the Apostle loved this young man, calling him in after days his son in the faith. It is here at Lystra that they first met; some think at Derbe but we prefer to adhere to Lystra — “Then came he to Derbe and Lystra; and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus . . .” whether the word ‘there’ refers to Lystra or Derbe is not easy to determine; verse 2, however, speaks of Timothy as being “well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium” — the absence here of Derbe appears to favour Lystra as the city of Timothy. To return, then, to our present chapter — Paul is miraculously restored to health — he rises up and enters the city, accompanied by his faithful friends, the disciples of Lystra. The friendship between Paul and Timothy, forged then in the furnace of affliction, was to become stronger and stronger with each passing year, and through each changing circumstance of life, until the last glimpse which we have of the great Apostle is in his second letter to Timothy, his own son in the faith.
Paul’s stay at Lystra is now at an end, on this occasion; “the next day he departed with Barrabas to Derbe.” What a record of a period in the life of an Apostle in the early church! It is a record, which reveals to us the dangers to which some of His servants may yet be exposed — flattery and adulation may quickly change, through unjust prejudice, to hatred and strife. It is also, however, a record, which leaves upon us the impression, that in the midst of all the dangers and difficulties, the Lord was still working, and sinners were being born in Sion. Surely the mission which produced, by God’s blessing, a young disciple such as Timothy was, indeed, worth while. Let us all seek to persevere in the work of the Lord, if so be, by His mercy, others such as Timothy and his fellow-disciples may be raised up to witness in His church on earth.
d). Derbe: a haven after the storm.
After a long and stormy passage through Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, Paul and Barrabas arrive at Derbe, to find a haven, where they can enjoy some rest. Their work and labour for the Lord will not cease, but it will, as far as we can gather from the Record, be unhampered by persecutions and trials of strength and endurance, such as they had experienced in the other cities mentioned above. We read, “And when they have preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned . . .” (verse 21).
This verse reads literally, ‘and having evangelised that city, and made many disciples, they returned.’ There is here, in the short compass of half a verse, a glimpse of the glory and power of the everlasting Gospel, when the word of God runs and has free course among our people; when the Holy Ghost is poured out, and Satan’s mouth is closed. It must have been a happy place for Paul and Barnabas to labour in, after all that they had recently endured. The full force of the word ‘evangelise’ is revealed here — many are turned unto the Lord; we use it now to speak of bringing the light of the Gospel to the dark regions of heathendom. Derbe was evangelised in that sense. Men and women received with meekness the ingrafted word of truth.
A further suggestion that the Apostles experienced no trouble at Derbe, appears to be found in Paul’s own words later on to Timothy. “But thou hast fully known my doctrine, . . . persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me (2 Timothy iii 11). The absence of Derbe in the list of cities visited on the first missionary journey, as a place where the Apostle had endured persecution would seem to be deliberate. It would seem to indicate that there he enjoyed a much-needed rest, and had much joy in the service of his Lord while the ‘argument from silence’ may not always be sound-proof, we feel that, in this instance, at least, it can stand the test.
Now we have reached the end of this particular study, leaving the Apostles at Derbe, rejoicing in the Lord, and all that needs to be said is — how wonderful is the grace of God that upheld the Apostles during that critical stage of their first missionary journey, and how much we have to learn still, as we may be called to face similar difficulties. The grace that sufficed for Paul, will suffice for all those who follow in his steps, whether as preachers or believers. The Saviour, whom Paul preached, is still the Saviour offered by all true heralds of the Cross, for He is the same ‘yesterday, today, and for ever.’