Chapter 7

Lystra

 

“Praise God,” enthused Paul. “What a beautiful view. Look at the ‘Kara-Dagh’—the Black Mountain.”

“I see it,” returned Barnabas. “It seems to just grow up out of the plain—all by itself. It doesn’t seem to be connected with the mountain range behind it.”

“And the little village of Lystra sits at its base.” Paul pointed out the small walled city in the distance. “And another town, called Derbe, about two day’s journey beyond, is just around the corner of the mountain . . . you can’t see it from here.”

Even before they had reached Iconium, they had looked over the vast expanse of level ground at the two most eminent objects in view, the Black Mountain and snow-covered Mount Argaeus, still about 150 miles away. Now that they travelled to Lystra the mountains grew much closer.

 

As the apostles approached Lystra, they passed the Temple of Zeus , with ornately carved marble facets and a stone statue of Zeus in the center. The altar in front of the temple, though clean, had been used frequently.

The entrance to the city lay just beyond the temple, and as the apostles climbed the last incline and entered the gate, they passed an almost overwhelming olfactory zone where human waste flowed out of the city through a stone channel. The sewage was piped into a stone pit some distance outside the city. The overflow went into the nearby river. This system could be found in most walled cities and towns, so inhabitants and travelers alike had become accustomed to it.

The apostles found no synagogue in Lystra, for only a few Jews lived there. According to Paul’s custom, he began working with his own countrymen. He and Barnabas went door to door, seeking those who seemed interested in hearing the gospel. He discovered a home where Jews gathered on the Sabbath and other special days. The home of Lois, who lived with her daughter Eunice, son-in-law, and Timotheus, her grandson. Paul and Barnabas accepted the cordial invitation to stay in their house while in the city.

On Sabbath the apostles met with the small group. After the reading of the law and the prophets, they invited Paul to speak.

“Brothers of Israel,” explained Paul as he motioned with his hand, “I come with the good news that the long awaited Messiah, whom the prophets proclaimed . . . He’s already come to our people!” The joy on Paul’s face was unmistakably genuine. Several people gasped when they heard the news, though they still did not understand its implications.

“It’s true,” Paul continued. “Jesus of Nazareth, born of a virgin in Bethlehem of Judea grew up to become a remarkable man. But not just a man: He was God in human flesh. He came down from heaven to show us what God wants us to do in serving Him. He lived a marvelous life. He taught us how to live by showing us, with His own personal, sinless life. And He taught us how to pray to the Father.

“Jesus taught us to live by faith, and not seek salvation by doing the works of the law.

“Consider Abraham, for example: ‘He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.’ So we understand from this, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: He said, ‘All nations will be blessed through you.’ So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

 “All who rely for their salvation by observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’   Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, as the Scripture says, ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’”

Several coughed or scuffed their feet to show their disapproval of the message of Paul. But most of the group were intrigued, wanting to learn more.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

“Let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say ‘and to seeds,’ meaning many people, but ‘and to your seed,’ meaning one person—Jesus Christ.

Several gasped, for this came as an entirely new concept that ran somewhat counter to their previous interpretations.

Paul continued. “What I mean is this: The law that was introduced 430 years after God gave this promise to Abraham, does not set aside the covenant already established by God: It cannot do away with the promise. For if our eternal inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

“So what was the purpose of the law given to Moses and the people? It was given because of all the sins people did, until the Seed had come—Jesus—to whom the promise referred.

“The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could give us life, then righteousness would certainly have come to us by keeping the law.

“But the Scripture tells us that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised to Abraham, which is given to us through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe. Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge, like a guide on a mountain road, to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.”

Paul smiled as he put the “Icing on the cake.” “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law, for all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, so there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

“That’s very good, Paul.” Lois straightened up in her chair. She looked at the floor for a moment, trying to organize her thoughts. “You’re saying that we should not depend on the law to save us. I’ve always believed the law to be essential in the godly life.”

“The law is essential,” returned Paul as he too searched for words that would make his thoughts clear. “We do not depend upon the law to make us right with God, to make us righteous.” He paused for a moment, then continued. “I’m not trying to destroy our need for the law . . . we need the law to point out our sins, but the law cannot save us. Jesus did that when He died for us on the cross.”

“What do you mean by becoming sons of God?” asked Eunice’s son.

“That’s a good question, Timotheus. When we accept Jesus as our Savior from sins, we become members of the family of God. In this way we become sons of God. We will never attain to the position of God, as is in the case of Jesus. But when we become members of the family of God, we are given authority to rule with Christ. Those who are led by the Spirit of God become the sons of God.”

“You said,” asked Eunice, “that when we are baptized we are clothed with Christ.”

“Yes,” responded Paul. “It’s like with Adam and Eve. When they sinned, something happened to them—they knew that they were naked. What did they do? They tried to substitute fig-leaves for the righteousness of God which they had had before they sinned. They tried to save themselves by things that they were doing—by their own works.

“But when we’re baptized, we let Jesus take off the fig-leaf garment of our own trying to be righteous by keeping the law, and then, as Isaiah says, Jesus places on us His own robe of righteousness.”

“I like that,” mused Timotheus.

 

“That boy, Timotheus, seemed very attentive, don’t you think?” Paul had just washed his feet in preparation for reclining on his bed, and now dried them with a towel.

“That he was,” returned Barnabas. “He hung on your every word. It looks like he’s accepted Jesus as the Christ already.”

“I agree. I’m going to talk with him tomorrow about total surrender to Christ, and baptism.”

“Good idea.” Barnabas covered himself with his blankets and, leaning over, he blew out the lamp.

Paul’s heavy breathing indicated that he had already slipped into sleep. If I could only fall asleep as quickly as Paul . . . thought Barnabas, but his musing quickly modulated into a soft snore.

 

The next day Paul greeted Timotheus with a smile—though the lad preferred his nick-name, Timothy. “You’ve displayed unusual interest as I’ve preached God’s word, Timothy.”

“I like what you say about Jesus,” the boy replied. “And your talk about the promise and the law made a lot of sense.” He appeared to be about 12 or 13 years of age. “Jesus seems to be so kind, so loving, so courteous. That’s the kind of person I’d like to be. I love this Jesus friend of yours.”

“Hmm,” mused Paul, “and I like the way you refer to Jesus as my friend. Yes . . . He’s my best friend.”

“I think He is becoming my best friend too,” returned Timothy.

“Timothy, when we learn about Jesus and realize that He’s paid the penalty for our sin, we need to make a public profession of our faith, and we do that by being baptized.”

“What does it mean, ‘baptized?’ You mentioned that yesterday. You said, if I remember correctly, ‘all of you who are baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.’”

“You know Greek, my boy. Baptizo means to be immersed.”

“Of course,” he berated himself and snapped his fingers. “I should have known that.”

“Jesus was baptized when He began His ministry,” continued Paul. “When He came up out of the water, the Holy Spirit came down from heaven in the form of a dove, and lighted upon Him. Then the voice of God thundered from heaven: ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’”

“So Jesus is God’s Son?”

“Yes. Jesus helped the Father create the world in the beginning; He talked with our father Abraham under the oaks of Mamre; He wrestled with Jacob at the brook; talked with Moses at the burning bush; He spoke the Israelites at Sinai, and caused the water to gush out of the rock. Jesus hovered over Israel in the cloud of fire and smoke, and went before the children of Israel through the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness.” Paul looked Timothy in the eyes. “Jesus is the Son of God, and has been beside God every moment since eternity past.”

“Wow!”

“And when He came to earth, He was born of the virgin Mary, just like Isaiah prophesied, He grew up in a little town called Nazareth, He lived among ordinary people. After His baptism, Jesus healed the sick, He taught the way of salvation, opened blind eyes, gave lepers new skin, and raised the dead to life again. He told stories to thousands of people—stories that taught important lessons about how people could be saved in God’s kingdom.”

“He did?”

“Yes,” Paul went on. “And after all that good life, and all the people following Him, our nation’s leaders became afraid of Him. They feared that He’d take away their power. So they arrested Him, tried Him at night, handed Him over to Pilate, and crucified Him on a cross.”

“Oh, my,” gasped Timothy. “That’s terrible,”

 “That’s true,” Paul replied, “it is terrible. But while Jesus was dying on the cross He said, ‘Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they’re doing.’ They buried Him in a rich man’s tomb, but he rose to life again on the third day. You can’t keep the Author of life in a tomb! The life that was in Him just had to come out. So, even though an angel called Him to wake up, He raised Himself to life by the power that still lived within Him.”

Tears coursed down Timothy’s cheeks. “That’s horrible . . . and wonderful all at the same time.”

“Yes, Timothy. It’s horrible because our sins nailed Jesus to the cross. But it’s wonderful that He died willingly, He died for us, and He died to save everyone who accepts Him as their Savior.”

“I believe in Him, Paul. I want Him to be my Savior. Would you baptize me?”

“I’d be happy to. Perhaps we should tell your mother and grandmother about it. They’ll want to watch, don’t you think?”

 

Lois and Eunice clapped their hands when they heard of Timothy’s decision. “We were just talking about it,” revealed Lois, “and we’ve decided we love this Jesus and want Him to be our Savior too. We didn’t know about baptism, but we’d like to be baptized too.”

Paul’s lips nearly split with his grin. “Where would be a good place for us to perform this rite?”

“At the river, east of town, I imagine—just above the rapids,” laughed Eunice, as she rejoiced in her new-found faith. “We should probably take towels and a change of clothing. We can change behind the bushes at the riverside.”

 

Several others who had attended the gathering on the night before found out about the baptism and came to Lois’ home to express their desire to join them. “Of course you can join us, don’t you think, Paul?”

“Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that the blood He shed will wash away your sin?”

“Yes,” chorused the group.

“Then get your towels and another set of clothes. We’ll be going to the river in just a few minutes.”

Soon the small group of about 15, including Paul and Barnabas, left the gate of Lystra and walked down to the river. A number of people watched from the top of the walls, curious as to what the people were up to.

On reaching the river, Paul gave a few instructions about how he would baptize them. He prayed that God would be present to infill those who were baptized with the Holy Spirit, and then walked into the river, followed by the tall apostle, until they were about waist deep.

Lois came first, with Eunice close behind. Lois went to Paul and Eunice to Barnabas. The two men raised their hands in salute to the decision of the candidate, and Paul said, “Because you believe that Jesus is your Savior, I now baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.” He smiled, and, with Barnabas, lowered the two women into the water for a moment, and then raised them—to walk a new life with Christ.

Timothy and the others followed, two at a time, until all had been baptized.

By this time several observers stood on the banks of the river, and the wall of the city—not far away—was crowded with curious onlookers.

“What’s this all about,” asked a young boy, about Timothy’s age.

“These people have been baptized because they have accepted Jesus as the Christ the Son of God,” explained Barnabas, dripping still from standing in the water.

“Who is Jesus, and what do I have to do to be baptized?”

Barnabas began to tell the boy about Jesus and His life and death on the cross. He told about how to accept Jesus as his personal Savior.

“I like that,” he exuded. “If Jesus was like you say He is, I want Him to be my Savior.”

“Do you believe that He was the Christ, the Son of God, and that He died to save you from your sins?”

“Yes, I do,” replied the boy.

“Me too,” chorused several of those who had crowded around to hear Barnabas.

The tall apostle looked up, surprised. He had concentrated so much on the boy that he hadn’t noticed the others.

“Then why should we decline baptism to these who believe in Jesus?” Barnabas asked, looking toward Paul.

“Let’s do it,” grinned Paul. “Praise the Lord!”

 

On the following day, Paul and Barnabas strolled through the market place when a voice spoke from one of the nearby tables. “Would you tell us about Jesus?”

Paul and Barnabas turned to see a man seated at a table on which baskets had been displayed for sale. “Of course I will,” replied Paul. Waving his hand toward the others in the market, he announced, “Are there others who would like to hear about Jesus?”

“Yes, yes,” chorused the crowd.

“Why don’t we gather outside the gate over there,” Paul suggested. “There’ll be more room, and everyone can be comfortable on the grass.”

As the people were still settling on the living carpet of green, Paul began to talk to them. Paul knew that these people had little understanding about God. They hadn’t been exposed to Jewish teachings as had the people in the other cities, and knew only the superstitions of idolatry—centered on the worship of Jupiter, whose temple stood just outside the main gate. So he felt he would need to explain Creation before he could present the plan of salvation.

“I want to tell you about the God of heaven and earth, the God who created everything that is—the trees, the flowers, the earth, the rocks, the animals and the people. He even created the sun, the moon and all the stars. There is no God greater than He.” Paul surveyed the faces of the people before continuing. He saw that they had difficulty comprehending a God above all gods.

“God made the entire earth in six days, and formed man and all the animals too. Everything that you see, God created it in six days.”

People, gasped as they looked around, beginning to understand the implications of this new teaching. “God put a start to the beautiful order of the recurring seasons, the mighty snow-capped mountains we see there, the lofty trees, and other varied wonders of nature. God has skills beyond anything we can imagine.”

Through these descriptions of God’s works, Paul led the people’s minds to a contemplation of the great Ruler of the universe.

“This great God has a Son who wanted to save us from all the sin that causes us so much trouble.” Paul chose his words carefully. “The Son of God loved us so much that He laid aside His divinity and came down among men, taking upon Himself the form of a man. He lived among us for 33 years and during the last three and a half years, He spent all His time, traveling from town to town, teaching people about how to become children of God, how to be saved from their sins. He healed many people of all kinds of diseases and deformities. He healed lepers, caused the blind to see, and gave hearing to the deaf, and speech to those who had never spoken. He gave the power to walk to those who had been lame, and life to those who had died. Everything that He did, caused people to want to follow Him and accept Him as their Savior.

“But His enemies arrested Him, treated Him cruelly and crucified Him on a cross.” His hearers gasped. “Yes, they crucified Him. They buried Him in a rich man’s tomb, but He rose to life again on the third day.” Even more gasps than before. “And 40 days later he slowly ascended right up into the sky and went back to be with God.”

Paul noticed a lame man sitting on the ground at the edge of the crowd. The man looked at Paul in rapt attention. Paul could see in His eyes that He had latched onto Jesus by faith, understood the implications of His miracles, and longed for Jesus to touch him so he could walk again. Paul couldn’t help himself, for the Spirit moved within him. He called out to the lame man: “In the name of Jesus, Stand up on your feet!”

At this, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they forgot all about the Jesus He had told them about, and the God who had created all things. They shouted to each other in the Lycaonian language—which Paul didn’t understand—“The gods have come down to us in human form!” They began to dance around Paul and Barnabas, calling Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

“I don’t like this,” confessed Barnabas.

“You should go,” said the man who had just been healed. “They will try to worship you. I believe in this Jesus, and I don’t want to see you mistreated.”

The man led Paul and Barnabas through the crowd and into the city. The people didn’t seem to notice their disappearance, and continued to dance and sing, “The gods have come down to us in human form!”

“Get out of sight as fast as you can,” whispered the healed man, and turned from them to go to His own home.

The apostles hurried to the home of Lois, Eunice and Timothy, and closed the door after them.

“There’s trouble in the town,” Barnabas explained. “Paul healed a crippled man, and the people think we’re Zeus and Hermes come down in the flesh.”

“Oh, no,” cried Eunice. “They’ll want to offer sacrifices to you.” She trembled with fear. “And if you don’t accept it . . .”

 

The sounds of shouting and merriment came from the direction of the main gate. “It’s the worshipers . . . they’re coming from the temple of Zeus that stands just outside the gate.”

“You see,” explained Lois, “There is an old legend that tells that the gods occasionally visit the earth in the form of men. It’s only natural, of course, for the people here at Lystra to think of Zeus, since they’ve made a temple for him. They also think that Hermes is Zeus’ companion on many of his earthly jaunts. Hermes is thought to be the messenger of the gods.” Lois turned away for a second. “Here I am, telling myths to Christian missionaries. I’m sorry.”

“Go on,” encouraged Paul. “We need to know this so we can understand what’s happening.”

The shouting and merriment sounded closer, but didn’t seem to be coming with haste.

“So the notion of these two divinities appearing together in Lycaonia fits the work that you are doing here. They think you are Zeus, Barnabas, because you are tall and gracious; and they think Paul is Hermes, since he is so eloquent a speaker.

Putting his hand on Barnabas and the other on Lois’ arm, Paul then darted for the door. “We must stop this, Barnabas! We can’t let them sacrifice to us!”

Rushing out the door and down the street, they met the intended worshipers at an intersection. The priests of Zeus led bulls and wreaths so that they could offer sacrifices to the apostles.

“Men, why are you doing this?” Shouted Paul, waving his hands, and running about among the people. The shouting stopped and Paul moved back to the front. “We too are only men, human like you,” He explained. “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. In the past, He let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provided you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”

But, even with these words, Paul and Barnabas had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Finally the tumult ran down, and the people, disappointed, turned to their homes, and the priests to their temple.

 

A number of visitors had just entered the city gates when the priests were leading their bulls back to the temple. They could see the crowds milling around, upset because of the outcome of their attempt to worship the apostles. The visitors were Jews that had come all the way from Antioch and Iconium in order to see if they could stop the work of Paul and Barnabas.

“What’s going on,” a short Jew asked one of the priests.

“We thought those two were Zeus and Hermes,” he grumbled. “But they insisted they were human like any one of us.”

“The people look upset,” one of the other Jews observed.

“They are,” the priest spoke matter-of-factly.

“They’re mad at the two men,” he muttered as he turned away, continuing to lead his bull toward the temple of Zeus.

“They’re mad at the two men,” repeated the leader of the party. “Perhaps we could use their anger to our benefit.”

“Hey,” he shouted to one of the Lystrians who passed nearby. “What’s happening?”

“We thought two men were Zeus and Hermes and were going to sacrifice to them and worship them. But they stopped us,” he spat the words out. “They claimed that they were not gods, that they were only humans like the rest of us.”

“Makes you mad, doesn’t it,” suggested the Jew.

“Sure does,” grumbled the Lystrian.

“Perhaps you need to teach them a lesson.” The leader of the Jews talked smoothly. “You shouldn’t let them get away with pulling a trick like this on the whole city.”

“You’re right,” the man growled, “We ought to teach them a lesson.”

He turned, and disappeared into the crowd. The Jewish “hounds” from Antioch and Iconium smiled at each other. “Perhaps they’ll do our work for us,” observed the leader.

 

“Fraud!” shouted a bald man near the back. “You come in here pretending to be Zeus and Hermes, and look at you . . . you’re no different from us.”

Rioters had already reached Lois’ door, and when she tried to stop them, they just pushed her aside, marched into her courtyard, and reached for Paul.

“You preach against Moses,” harangued a Jew from Iconium who stood in the background. “We ought to stone you.”

“Yeah, stone ‘em!” shouted another Jew near the door.

The crowd took up the chant: “Stone ‘em! Stone ‘em!”

The mob seemed unstoppable.

 “Bring him over here,” blurted a straggly-haired beggar half-way down the street. “We got big stones in the square.”

“Oh, no,” groaned Paul as the nearest fellow grabbed his arm. “Lord, Help!” He tried to extricate himself from the assailants grasp. “PlEAse dON’t . . . ugh!” He found it next to impossible to speak anymore because of the violence with which the crowd buffeted him down the ally-way.

A huge man jerked him from the clutches of those who bullied him to the square, and slammed him down onto the stone pavement, while the others grabbed grapefruit-sized rocks from a pile of unused paving stones.

Paul could hardly breathe from the man-handling he’d received, but cried out when the first missile hit his ribs. “OoOWww . . . unh!” Stones hit his arms.

“LORd, forGIVE them . . . ,” he blurted out as others hit his shoulder, his backbone, his legs: it felt like a wall fell on him, one brick at a time.

Then, as the giant who’d knocked him down planted a small boulder up-side his head . . . the lights went out.

Paul was apparently dead.

Two well-muscled men grabbed him by the arms and dragged him out one of the gates, dropping him some distance from the city. They turned around and reentered the gate.

 

A dozen or so of Paul’s new friends slipped out of the city and ran to the spot where he lay. Lois stooped over him, feeling for life, but couldn’t find any.

“Oh, Lord!” she wailed. “They’ve done to our Paul like they did to your Son. Bring Him back to us . . . please?”

She looked at the fallen apostle again. The wounds disappeared. The gash in his head stopped bleeding, and all signs of his recent encounter were gone. Paul lifted his head, and stood to his feet.

“I thought I would die,” he confessed. “Praise God He saved me.”

“Paul,” put in Timothy, quietly, tears still staining his cheeks. “We thought you were dead. But Grandma prayed and God raised you up.”

“Well, Praise the Lord! even more.” Paul beamed. “What a wonderful Lord. He was there all the time. He has never forsaken us yet. Hallelujah!” Turning to Lois, he smiled and spoke quietly: “Thank you for your prayer.”

Turning toward the city, Paul straightened up to his full height—which wasn’t very much—and walked back into the city. Some bystanders recognized him and seemed startled. “Isn’t that Paul, the man we just stoned to death,” whispered a man to his wife.

“That’s Paul alright,” she said. “Or maybe his ghost.”

 

Back in Lois’ home, the apostles joined with all the believers in thanking the Lord for His great love and mercy.

“When God is on our side, we have no need to fear men,” quoted Paul. “He is our strength and our fortress, our God, in Him will we trust.”

“Amen!” chorused the group.

No one wanted to leave the apostle’s presence. All of them realized that the men would leave in the morning. “We don’t want to cause you to be in danger too,” explained Barnabas. “If we stay, the people may turn on you, and we wouldn’t want that. If we go, they’ll soon forget their anger, and you can go about your business without fear.”

“But what will we do without you?” asked Timothy. “There’s so much we need to know about Jesus and about God. Who will teach us when you’re gone?”

“You have the Scriptures,” Paul returned. “Your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice have already taught you a great deal about the promise of Abraham, the laws of Moses, and the coming Messiah. You will need to study more, all of you,” he indicated the entire group, “so that you will learn to know Jesus through the means of the prophets and holy men of old.”

“Will you ever come back?” asked Eunice.

“Yes,” answered Barnabas. “I think we’ll be back to see you soon.”