How Did Paul And Barnabas Come To Lystra In Lycaonia?

After leaving Iconium, Paul and Barnabas crossed the frontier and came to Lystra in Lycaonia. Never intimidated, Paul and Barnabas continued to teach the gospel in the neighboring cities of Lystra and Derbe, two cities also located in the region of Lycaonia.

In Lystra, Paul preached mainly to a pagan audience and healed a lame man. The people of Lystra who witnessed this act assumed Paul and Barnabas were Greek gods. Paul was horrified by their idolatrous response, and he instructed the crowd about the true nature of God, missionaries, and his mission.

The fickle crowd, filled with propaganda from venomous Jews who arrived in Lystra from Antioch and Iconium, turned against Paul. They actually dragged him from the city, stoned him and left him for dead. Paul, left for dead, revived and returned to Lystra in short order. He finally departed to preach in Derbe fifty miles away.

Paul and Barnabas retraced their steps through Lycaonia, figuratively, completing a circuit. Returning, they strengthened the groups of believers, and appointed local leadership in the churches.
The churches were organized similar to synagogues, but the leaders were selected more by prayer and fasting than by
Peter. Much of the debate was centered on the Jewish Law, customs, and how it was to be taught now versus Paul’s version. It was decided, and more or less agreed, Paul would minister to the Gentiles and St. Peter (a gentleman’s agreement), and the other apostles in Jerusalem would minister to the Jewish converts. James, the brother of Jesus, likely wrote his book of ‘James’ between 49 A.D.–50 A.D. I would recommend reading the short book of James and learning how he interpreted his personal theology of ‘Christ and His message.’ Remember, ‘James, James the Just, St. James’ was the brother of Jesus -