Acts 14:8-20
Summary for Acts 14:8-20: 14:8-20 a Paul’s healing of a man with crippled feet recalls a similar incident in 3:1-12 b. In Acts, the work of Paul parallels the work of Peter, and the many miraculous signs and wonders performed among the Jews were also performed among the Gentiles.14:9 c Paul realized he had faith to be healed: Paul, full of the Holy Spirit (9:17 d), sensed the man’s spiritual openness and expectancy for divine help and intervention.
Summary for Acts 14:11-13: 14:11-13 e Zeus was the patron god of Lystra, and the city had a temple in his honor. They associated Barnabas with Zeus, perhaps because he was the more impressive figure, and Hermes was identified with Paul ... since he was the chief speaker. The native people of Lystra thought that they were being treated to a divine visitation similar to a past mythological appearance cited by the poet Ovid (in which the gods Zeus and Hermes came to visit the area but were unrecognized except by an old couple; see Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.616–724). So the people set out to honor these supposed gods.
Summary for Acts 14:13-18: 14:13-18 f The apostles opposed the people’s idolatry and their attempt to offer sacrifices to them. They directed the people’s worship to the living God; the apostles were his representatives as they brought the Good News of the Christian message.
Summary for Acts 14:19-20: 14:19-20 g The crowd became fickle when some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and easily turned the people against the apostles.
• They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town: Paul later referred to this time of persecution as a lesson (2 Tim 3:11-12 h).
• thinking he was dead: That Paul got up and went back into the town suggests that God miraculously healed him of his wounds.
14:20 i The next day he left: Paul later returned to Lystra on his second missionary journey (16:1 j).
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