Acts 16:1-2 remind us that Derbe and Lystra were two of the cites Paul and Barnabas had visited during their first missionary journey five years earlier. Comparing the travel patterns between the two journeys you will see that Paul and Silas are heading in reverse order. Now we know that on the first journey they went first to Cyprus which was Barnabas home and this time he took John Mark with him. So Paul takes the inland route through his hometown of Tarsus, a place where he had ministered several years after his conversion. This time he is with Silas and they travel until they reach Derbe.
Paul had a history in these towns; Lystra was where he was stoned and dragged out of the city when they thought he had died. Then you will recall that the next day he goes back into the city then departs to Derbe. Now when Paul had traveled the 40 miles to Derbe he was still, no doubt, bearing the marks of his stoning. All that Luke tells us of the ministry in Derbe is that they preached the gospel there and made many disciples. Apparently one of those disciples was a young teenager named Timothy. I was trying to picture in my mind how I would have reacted to someone, who was in the process of healing from having stones hurled at him, come and share about Jesus. I kind of think this would have caused Paul’s words to carry much more weight. What could possibly possess a man to share freely an ideology which clearly does not benefit him anything? Why would this stranger risk his life to people he has never met to mention a name which some clearly hate to hear?
We are told in the book that bears his name that Timothy was the son of a Greek father and that his mother’s name was Eunice and grandmother’s name was Lois. Evidently his Jewish Mother and Grandmother had from his childhood taught him the Scriptures, as Timothy 3:15 tells us. So on that day, five years earlier, as a young teenager listening to a bloodied man speak of the fulfillment of those scriptures alongside his mother and Grandmother he gave his life to Jesus.
Acts 16:2 tells us what had happened to this teenager in the five years that followed his conversion! Luke tells us only that he was well spoken of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium. Hey folks, I’ve got to tell you that as a pastor nothing encourages me more than to hear good things about you. In a time when so many equate the Church’s success on how large it is I believe it is far better to hear how healthy it is. In Jesus’ messages for the Churches in Revelation He never says, “I see how many come into your doors and how full your parking lot has become!” No He says, “I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name.” The plain truth was that Timothy had grown in his relationship with Jesus in Paul’s absence to the place where Paul sees his value in taking him with him on his 2nd missionary journey.
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