WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday December 17, 2017
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FAITH
TO PERSERVERE
(The
power of the Gospel overcomes all opposition)
(Acts
14:8-28)
After arriving in Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came across a lifelong
cripple who had been born with his disability being in his feet. The cripple
man was listening as Paul preached JESUS to the crowd who had gathered to hear
them.
Here in this passage we see Paul and
Barnabas, preaching JESUS to a crowd of pagans, who lacked any Jewish
background whatsoever, that they could appeal to, and yet, even in this
atmosphere, Paul was able to take notice of this cripple man and realize he
already had enough faith to be healed. And so Paul called out to the cripple
man and commanded him to stand up. And the man jumped to his feet and started
walking.
When the crowd saw what Paul had done for
the cripple man, they shouted aloud in their own local dialect, (a language
that he and Barnabas could not understand), “These men are gods in human
bodies!” they said. And so they had foolishly demised that Paul was the Greek
god Hermes, because he was the chief speaker, and Barnabas was the Greek god
Zeus.
There was a temple that was already built
for Zeus worship, located just outside the city of Lystra, and the priests of
that temple, and the people of Lystra
began bringing oxen and wreaths of flowers, and prepared themselves to
give sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas at the city gates.
The worship of the idol gods Zeus and
Hermes in that area can be traced back to an age-old legend about the two gods
coming to earth in disguise, and none of the residents of Lycaonia were willing
to show them any hospitality. Finally, an old peasant couple by the names of
Philemon and Baucis took them in. As a result, this couple was made the
guardians of the temple of Zeus, and when they died, they were turned into two
great trees by the idol god. The rest of the people of Lycaonia were killed for
refusing to lend hospitality to the two gods. This time the highly religiously
superstitious people were determined not to make the same mistake as their
predecessors had.
When Paul and Barnabas heard about what the
people were planning to do, they tore their clothes in dismay, and rushed down
to stop them. They explained to the crowd that they were only human, just like
them, and that they only came to preach the Gospel of CHRIST so that they might
refrain from just such idol worship and worthless things. Even after the pair
explained certain facts about GOD to them, they could scarcely restrain the
people from trying to sacrifice to them.
About that time some Jews arrived from
Antioch and Iconium and turned the worshipful crowd into a murderous mob, and
they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city and left him for dead. The
next day Paul and Barnabas left Lystra for Derbe where they hoped that they
could, perhaps, preach to a more rational, less hostile audience.
PAUL AND
BARNABAS RETURN TO ANTIOCH OF SYRIA
Acts 14:21-28
In Acts
14:21-28, we see that, after preaching the Good News about CHRIST to the people
of Derbe and making many disciples, Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch of
Syria, the missionary branch of the early Christian Movement. It had been a
mission that was very successful, despite the severe persecutions and rigors of
their travels by land and by sea. And even though Paul had been nearly stoned
to death in their initial visit to Lystra, near the end of their journey, they
persisted in their charge from the HOLY SPIRIT, and he actually got up and went
right back into Lystra, before returning back to their base at Antioch of
Syria.
Barnabas and Paul (Saul) were sent out by
the HOLY SPIRIT to serve and to grow the Church of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS
CHRIST, and it is in that same SPIRIT that we Christians operate today when we
commit ourselves to the work of CHRIST. The early church had many struggles and
persecutions, and Barnabas and Paul warn of that fact to the Church, at the end
of this maiden journey. They also encouraged the believers to continue on in
the faith, and reminded them that, in order to enter into the kingdom of GOD,
we, like JESUS, must go through many trials tribulations along the way.
During their maiden missionary journey,
Paul and Barnabas appointed many elders, and planted and established many
branches of the Christian Church along the way. There was also much praying and
fasting done, before turning those men over to GOD, WHO was faithful to empower
them in every area of their ministry.
When Paul and Barnabas had arrived back at
Antioch, they called the Church together and told the congregation about all of
the things that GOD had done for, and with them on their trip, including how HE
had opened the doors of faith also to the Gentiles in every city and town that
they visited.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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