Acts of the Apostles Chapter 14 Summary

Paul In Iconium

  • Same thing goes down in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas make some headway getting people to follow Jesus, and then the naysayers start spreading the seeds of doubt. Boo.
  • When the naysayers threaten to stone them, Paul and Barnabas get the heck out of Iconium.

Paul In Lystra

  • They head to Lystra, where they meet a man who has never been able to walk. Guess what? Paul heals him and then dude can walk.
  • The people are amazed (as usual) and decide that Paul and Barnabas must be gods come to Earth. Obviously.
  • They call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes and they rush off to the temple to offer a sacrifice to their new gods.
  • Paul and Barnabas are pretty freaked out when they hear about this. They tear their clothes (so dramatic) and tell all the people that they're just regular guys like them. Their job is to tell people about the one true God, not to become him.

Paul Is Dead

  • Later on, some Jewish naysayers come from Antioch and Iconium to speak against Paul and Barnabas. Can't they just leave them alone?
  • The naysayers get the crowd so worked up that they actually get them to stone Paul.
  • When the crowd of stone-throwers thinks Paul's dead, they drag him out of the city and leave him there. Bummer.
  • But when the disciples come to find him, they see that Paul hasn't quite been stoned to death. Note to naysayers: use heavier rocks next time.
  • Paul gets up and walks back into the city. He's crazy like that.

Paul Gets Out Of Dodge

  • Paul and Barnabas travel around to lots of other places preaching about Jesus and converting Jews and Gentiles alike. Good work, guys.
  • All the time, they're happy to be persecuted because it means they're doing right by God. God likes people to be unhappy and downtrodden while serving him, we guess.
  • In the end, Paul and Barnabas head back to Judea and give a report to everyone there on the status of the church around the Roman Empire. Everyone is pretty psyched.