Stoning of Paul

“But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking that he was dead.” (1) Jews from Antioch and Iconium pursued Paul. The crowd was fickle and easily swayed by the Jews who had come to incite them. (2) They stoned Paul and, thinking he was dead, dragged him out of the city. Stoning was a method of punishment used by Jews, indicating that the instigators were Jewish. (3) Paul reflects on his experiences, writing: “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift at sea” (2 Cor. 11:25). “Now you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, perseverance, persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra; what persecutions I endured…”  (2 Tim. 3:10-11). “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal. 6:17). The “marks of Jesus” refer to the scars Paul received for the sake of Christ. (4) The prophecy of Paul’s suffering was given to the believer Ananias in Damascus: “For I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name” (Acts 9:16). It is an irony that Paul, who once participated in the stoning of Stephen, was himself stoned.

Paul standing up

“But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.” (1) Paul, whom they thought was dead, stood up. Surely, those who had thrown the stones were in great shock. Paul then re-entered the city. (2) The following day, he and Barnabas set out for the next town, Derbe. (3) There is no need to think that the evangelism in Lystra was a failure, because it is highly likely that Timothy was saved through Paul’s ministry at that time. When Paul visited Lystra during his second missionary journey, Timothy was already a believer: “Now Paul also came to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, and he was well spoken of by the brothers and sisters who were in Lystra and Iconium (Acts 16:1-2). Trials are the seeds that bring blessings.