使徒行傳 14:1-18 精采的神蹟
- 馬克牧師
- May 31, 2024
- 8 min read
在以哥念傳道
1二人在以哥念同進猶太人的會堂，在那裏講的，叫猶太人和希臘人信的很多。 2但那不順從的猶太人聳動外邦人，叫他們心裏惱恨弟兄。 3二人在那裏住了多日，倚靠主放膽講道，主藉他們的手施行神蹟奇事，證明他的恩道。 4城裏的眾人就分了黨，有附從猶太人的，有附從使徒的。 5那時，外邦人和猶太人，並他們的官長，一齊擁上來，要凌辱使徒，用石頭打他們。 6使徒知道了，就逃往呂高尼的路司得、特庇兩個城和周圍地方去， 7在那裏傳福音。
在路司得傳道
8 路司得城裏坐着一個兩腳無力的人，生來是瘸腿的，從來沒有走過。 9他聽保羅講道，保羅定睛看他，見他有信心，可得痊癒， 10就大聲說：「你起來，兩腳站直！」那人就跳起來，而且行走。 11眾人看見保羅所做的事，就用呂高尼的話大聲說：「有神藉着人形降臨在我們中間了。」 12於是稱巴拿巴為宙斯，稱保羅為希耳米，因為他說話領首。 13有城外宙斯廟的祭司牽着牛，拿着花圈，來到門前，要同眾人向使徒獻祭。 14巴拿巴、保羅二使徒聽見，就撕開衣裳，跳進眾人中間，喊着說： 15「諸君，為甚麼做這事呢？我們也是人，性情和你們一樣。我們傳福音給你們，是叫你們離棄這些虛妄，歸向那創造天、地、海，和其中萬物的永生神。 16他在從前的世代，任憑萬國各行其道； 17然而為自己未嘗不顯出證據來，就如常施恩惠，從天降雨，賞賜豐年，叫你們飲食飽足，滿心喜樂。」 18二人說了這些話，僅僅地攔住眾人不獻祭與他們。
我們今天來分享的是《使徒行傳》第14章。保羅和巴拿巴來到以哥念，這個地方距離安提阿大約90公里。這個城市的歷史非常久遠，也不像羅馬帝國那樣有嚴格的控制，所以這裡的人比較野蠻一些。
保羅和巴拿巴到城裡面繼續勇敢地布道，但很快就遇到了不順從的猶太人，他們煽動外邦人一起來攻擊使徒。他們不僅用言語攻擊，甚至用石頭想要將他們打死。此時，雖然保羅和巴拿巴非常勇敢，但他們只能暫時避開這些瘋狂的攻擊，前往路司得傳福音。
保羅和巴拿巴來到這裡的時候，遇到了一個兩腳無力的人，這個人生來瘸腿，從出生起就是一個殘疾人，無法走路，他的腿完全沒有力氣。而這時，保羅對他說了一句話，叫他起來兩腳站著。那人就跳起來行走，這是一件神跡，發生在這些人中間，馬上讓當地的人驚訝不已，把保羅和巴拿巴當成神明來敬拜。要向他們兩人獻祭。
為什麼會有這種情況呢？這是因為在路司得曾經有過一個傳說。
傳說中，丟斯（Jupiter）和赫耳墨斯（Hermes），即希臘神話中的宙斯和赫耳墨斯，變成人的樣子微服出巡到這個地方，但沒有人接待他們，只有兩個老農夫妻接待了他們。結果，這兩個神就毁滅了這個地方，殺光了所有的人。在希臘神話中，神明經常會這樣來到人間，和人類女子生孩子，或是隨自己的意思幫助或懲罰人類。動機不一定都是良善的。
當我們看到希臘神話中的神，其實非常暴躁易怒，很多時候也非常不道德。希臘神話中的人充滿了各種人性的弱點，包括暴力、仇恨和慾望等。為什麼當時的羅馬帝國崇尚這些希臘神？其實，這也讓羅馬有很多傷風敗俗的行為。各地的神廟崇拜某一種神祇的神廟，其實裡面是非常骯髒污穢，龍蛇雜處，是一些治安的黑暗角落。
所以這個傳說讓當地的人非常警惕。今天他們看到保羅和巴拿巴行了這個神跡，就認為是神明來到人間，認為宙斯和赫耳墨斯再次降臨。因此，他們趕緊開始敬拜，把保羅和巴拿巴當成神來拜。這個行為也是因為他們所信的錯誤信仰所導致的。
這時，保羅趕緊跳出來對他們說：“我們只不過是人，和你們一樣，我們不是神。你們當敬拜的是那位創造天地萬物的主宰，真神的上帝。”保羅所傳的福音在當時其實是一個非常不一樣的思想。當這些人在各地敬拜自己的假神時，有一個人告訴他們說：“你們這些人手所造的都不是神，都不要拜。”這可以看到保羅這個時候所傳的福音其實正在開始對很多人和之間造成衝突。不僅僅是信仰上的衝突，還有家庭中的衝突，甚至我們到後來會看到，他的福音開始影響到某些人的生意，讓某些人的生意開始變得不好了。所以保羅在傳福音的時候是冒著相當大的危險，因為他要得罪很多人。尤其是在這個地方，這裡的人更暴力。
在現代世界中傳福音也是如此。當我們分享福音的時候，並不是每個聽到的人都會樂於接受，因為福音會要求人要改變，可能是改變生活習慣，可能是放棄一些不好的舊習慣，甚至有可能是要離開家族的信仰，成為家裡面的 “異類”。所以為什麼第一代基督徒所經歷的往往會比較多，這也是初代教會經常面對的挑戰。對於基督徒的孩子，從小在教會長大的孩子，要面對的是另外一種類型的挑戰。當我們說第二代，第三代基督徒，我想要強調一點，其實基督徒永遠都是第一代，因為我們每個人都是個人的信仰，你的信仰其實沒有辦法完全傳承給你的兒女或下一代，你只能夠傳遞聖經的知識，他們終究要去面對屬於自己的信仰的掙扎和挑戰。
明天我們將繼續分享從第19節到第28節的故事。我們很快就會看到保羅和巴拿巴經歷生死的風險。感謝各位的聆聽。
In Iconium
1At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so effectively that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed. 2But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. 3So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders. 4The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles. 5There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them. 6But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7where they continued to preach the gospel.
In Lystra and Derbe
8In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15“Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” 18Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
Today, we are sharing from Acts Chapter 14. Paul and Barnabas arrived in Iconium, which is about 90 kilometers from Antioch. This city has a very long history and is not as strictly controlled as the Roman Empire, so the people here are relatively more uncivilized.
Paul and Barnabas continued to preach courageously in the city, but soon encountered disobedient Jews who incited the Gentiles to attack the apostles. They not only attacked them verbally but also tried to stone them to death. At this time, although Paul and Barnabas were very brave, they could only temporarily avoid these crazy attacks and went to Lystra to preach the gospel.
When Paul and Barnabas arrived here, they encountered a man who was lame in both feet. This man had been crippled from birth and could not walk; his legs had no strength at all. At this moment, Paul said to him, "Stand up on your feet." The man jumped up and began to walk. This was a miracle that happened among the people, immediately astonishing them and leading them to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods, intending to offer sacrifices to them.
Why did this happen? It was because there was a legend in Lystra.
According to the legend, Zeus (Jupiter) and Hermes (Hermes) in Greek mythology once came down to this place disguised as humans. No one received them except for an elderly couple of farmers. As a result, these two gods destroyed the place and killed all the people. In Greek mythology, gods often came down to earth, had children with human women, or helped or punished people at will. Their motives were not always benevolent.
When we look at the gods in Greek mythology, they are often very irritable and immoral. The characters in Greek mythology are full of human weaknesses, including violence, hatred, and desire. Why did the Roman Empire at that time venerate these Greek gods? In fact, it led to many immoral behaviors in Rome. Temples across the land worshipped various gods, but these temples were often very filthy and chaotic, places of darkness in terms of law and order.
So, this legend made the locals very cautious. When they saw Paul and Barnabas perform this miracle, they thought it was gods coming down to earth again, believing that Zeus and Hermes had returned. Therefore, they quickly began to worship them, treating Paul and Barnabas as gods. This behavior was also due to their incorrect beliefs.
At this moment, Paul quickly jumped out and said to them, "We are only human, just like you. We are not gods. You should worship the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth." The gospel Paul preached was actually a very different idea at the time. While these people were worshiping their false gods everywhere, someone told them, "These things made by human hands are not gods and should not be worshipped." You can see that the gospel Paul was preaching was starting to cause conflicts with many people. It wasn't just religious conflicts, but also conflicts within families, and later we will see that his gospel began to affect some people's businesses, making their businesses go bad. So, Paul was taking considerable risks in preaching the gospel because he was offending many people. Especially in this place, where people were more violent.
In the modern world, preaching the gospel is similar. When we share the gospel, not everyone who hears it will be willing to accept it because the gospel requires people to change. It might be changing their lifestyle, giving up some bad habits, or even leaving the family's faith and becoming an "outcast" in the family. That's why the first generation of Christians often experienced a lot, and this was a common challenge faced by the early church. For the children of Christians who grew up in the church, they face a different type of challenge. When we talk about the second or third generation of Christians, I want to emphasize one point: in fact, Christians are always the first generation because each person has their own faith. Your faith cannot be completely passed on to your children or the next generation. You can only pass on the knowledge of the Bible, and they will eventually face their own struggles and challenges of faith.
Tomorrow, we will continue to share the story from verse 19 to 28. We will soon see Paul and Barnabas experiencing life-and-death risks. Thank you for listening.
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