A body was stoned and left, in all appearances, as dead on the outskirts of the city of Lystra. This man had, just shortly before the stoning, been exalted and proclaimed as a god but he refused the worship of the inhabitants. He and Barnabas scarcely restrained them from unwanted and undeserved adoration as gods. Instead of accepting exaltation as a god, he had tried to direct them to the one true God, “who left not himself without witness,” (Acts 14:17). The Jews whom Paul had enraged at Antioch made it their duty to travel some 130 miles, along with the angered Jews of Iconium, to stir up the people of Lystra. They did not feel it adequate merely to have Paul and Barnabas chased from their own cities but wanted Paul adequately “marked” for preaching about Jesus. Later, Paul describes his scars as, “for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus,” (Galatians 6:17).
Paul’s experience was not unlike another man who endured the pain and despised the shame, but looked beyond the suffering of the cross that men might be reconciled to God (Hebrews 12:1-2). Jesus’ body bore the marks of the nails in his hands and feet and a Roman sword in his pierced side. The reason that Paul called the scars he bore the “marks of Jesus” was because they were identifiable with the righteous cause of Jesus – he shared in some small way the same kind of suffering that Jesus had endured.
There are some folks who go looking for suffering. They seem to think that when they are obnoxious, rude and arrogant, and then suffer because of their own wrong doing, they must be blessed of heaven (cf. Matthew 5:10-12). But whatever marks they bear are not the “marks of Jesus” – suffering for the sake of suffering may comfort the masochists but it has no value beyond the salving of a perverted conscience. Seeking suffering is like spilling water to quench a thirst.
If you are righteous, suffering will come (2 Timothy 3:12). In whatever form it takes, do not be terrified by the enemy. Rather, wear the “marks of Jesus” as a proud soldier displays his medals – the scars considered as shameful by the world are really to be considered as evidences of courage by the Christian. – Jim R. Everett
A body was stoned and left, in all appearances, as dead on the outskirts of the city of Lystra. This man had, just shortly before the stoning, been exalted and proclaimed as a god but he refused the worship of the inhabitants. He and Barnabas scarcely restrained them from unwanted and undeserved adoration as gods. Instead of accepting exaltation as a god, he had tried to direct them to the one true God, “who left not himself without witness,” (Acts 14:17). The Jews whom Paul had enraged at Antioch made it their duty to travel some 130 miles, along with the angered Jews of Iconium, to stir up the people of Lystra. They did not feel it adequate merely to have Paul and Barnabas chased from their own cities but wanted Paul adequately “marked” for preaching about Jesus. Later, Paul describes his scars as, “for I bear branded on my body the marks of Jesus,” (Galatians 6:17).
Paul’s experience was not unlike another man who endured the pain and despised the shame, but looked beyond the suffering of the cross that men might be reconciled to God (Hebrews 12:1-2). Jesus’ body bore the marks of the nails in his hands and feet and a Roman sword in his pierced side. The reason that Paul called the scars he bore the “marks of Jesus” was because they were identifiable with the righteous cause of Jesus – he shared in some small way the same kind of suffering that Jesus had endured.
