. . . ⁶they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region; ⁷and there they continued to preach the gospel. ⁸At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. ⁹This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, ¹⁰said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.

Although Paul and Barnabas stayed in Iconium longer than in Pisidian Antioch, the time came to move on. Their goal was not to set down roots in any one place but to plant the seed of the gospel. To the church in Corinth, where he had initially stayed “a year and six months” (Acts 18:11), Paul reminded them: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (1 Cor. 3:6). At Ephesus, He spent no more than three years (Acts 20:31). Paul was a church planter, not a church “grower.”

We should not take Paul and Barnabas’ fleeing as a fearful response, but simply a description of the need to avoid further danger and to get on with their mission. The Word had been planted, and it was taking root. Paul’s mission was to continue spreading the seed and not be hindered in his travels by physical dangers that he could avoid. Although he was willing to die for Christ, he was called on a mission to spread the Word, not to submit to a premature or needless death. Paul did not have a pseudo-spiritual martyr complex. If death were unavoidable because of his loyalty to Christ, then he would accept that (Phil. 1:21). But death at this juncture was avoidable, for the sake of keeping the mission going.

Paul’s ministry was marked by the supernatural, at least early on (see 1 Timothy 5:23, written later in his ministry, when he told Timothy to take some wine to settle his stomach ailments, indicating that neither Paul nor Timothy anticipated a miraculous intervention). This was a bona fide miracle, the healing of a man who was congenitally lame, having never walked in his life. In a mix of the man’s faith (“Paul . . . had seen that he had faith to be made well”) and Paul’s marked ability as an apostle (2 Cor. 12:12), the man was healed. This was done publicly and verifiably. There was no question of its authenticity, and we have the inspired testimony of Luke, so the healing was incontrovertible (as we will see in the next verses). Does this not remind us of Peter and John healing the lame man at the Beautiful Gate (Acts 3:1–10)? Paul was indeed an apostle on the same level of authority as the twelve apostles at Pentecost. God was continually confirming Paul’s gospel message.

Lord, thank You for authenticating the ministry of Paul as an apostle of Christ.