Paul has a share in the suffering of Jesus Christ.

Yesterday ,  assured the people who considered them gods after the miracle of the healing of the lame that, together with Barnabas, they are mortal people (Acts 14,15). Today, he experienced his mortality firsthand. They stoned him and thought he was dead (v. 19). We see here first a significant volatility, the impulsiveness of the pagan multitudes. The same ones who allow themselves to be persuaded by Paul and Barnabas not to sacrifice to them allow themselves shortly afterward to be swayed by the Jews to lynch Paul. How easy it is to manipulate the crowd, and how careful we must be about manipulating. God guides his daughters and his sons in freedom by touching their hearts from within.

Paul is stoned, which reminds us of another stoning from the Acts of the Apostles, in which he was also involved. It was the stoning of Deacon Stephen, and Paul was on the side of the passionate crowd. It is usually said that whoever sins what, is punished. But now it is no longer Paul who eagerly persecuted Jesus’ followers. Therefore, to perceive today’s event as a tax that Paul had to pay for his old life would not be quite right. As a follower of Jesus, he receives a share in the suffering of his Lord. At the same time, the mysterious statement of Jesus that Ananias heard about Paul is fulfilled: „ I will show him how much he must suffer for my name“ (Acts 9,16).

Now we know precisely how it could happen that those who stoned Paul were not convinced of his death. But what follows is strikingly reminiscent of contemporary cinema: Paul does not need time to convalesce and, without apparent signs of injury, gets up and enters the city. In addition, the very next day, he embarks on an arduous seventy-kilometer journey from Lystra to Derbe. The disciples give it all a very nice dimension. Luke states that the disciples surrounded the half-dead Paul. Amid the community of believers, life flourishes because the resurrected Jesus is in it.

Let’s build faith in Jesus’ presence during the Easter season. Let us not be carried away by the crowd, and rejoice that we are free sons and daughters of God.