The first stop on Paul’s second journey is the village of Lystra. Our Mediterranean Moments at Lystra focus on a market village situated in a pleasant valley, bordered by gently sloping hills through which two small but steady streams meandered their way to the open Lycaonian plain a few miles farther east. The city resided on a small hill in the middle of the valley at the intersection of the streams. Paul evangelized the village on his first missionary journey (Acts 14:8-21); revisited it on his second (16:1) and probably his third (18:23) excursions.
History of the Village of Lystra
Little is known of the early history of Lystra. The name is apparently from the Lycaonian language as there are several bergs with derivatives of the name in the region. Since Lystra did not lie along the course of the main roads, it was not destined to become a great city. As a result, it was able to preserve more of its primitive, local character when Hellenism flavored the region.
Despite these drawbacks, or perhaps because of them, Augustus designated Lystra, along with Antioch of Psidia, a Roman colony in AD 6. Roman rule demanded a safe passage way connect the two cities. Rome ruled Lystra for some time previously, following the reign of the Seleucids and Attalids. Augustus’ generals regarded Lystra as a suitable place for the Roman garrison charged to defend the province of Galatia from the mountain tribes.
Lystra was probably not significant enough to have been on Paul’s original itinerary during the first journey. Paul and Barnabas were driven there from Iconium by hostile opponents. Thus Lystra became a relatively unimportant city of refuge, as did Berea later when Paul and Silas fled the wrath of the Thessalonians (Acts 17:10).
Luke identifies Lystra along with Derbe as cities of Lycaonia (in contrast to Iconium). Lycaonia was a region or “state” in a broader region known as Galatia. In turn, Galatia occupied an even broader region known as Asia Minor. References in the area become a little confusing, as “Galatia” was also the designation of a smaller “state” like Lyconia. (Compare that to our “New York City, New York” concept.) These cities of southern Galatia were most likely the recipients of the epistle to the Galatians.
Mission and Mentoring in Mediterranean Moments at Lystra
Converts made at Lystra during the first journey fulfilled Paul’s mission. Soon, though, many allowed themselves to be carried away by efforts from Jews in the area seeking Paul’s death. Although Lystra was a Roman colony, the account contains no hint of Roman order or justice. At the end of his career, Paul referred to the persecution that he experienced in Lystra (2 Tim 3:11). Earlier he explicitly recalls a stoning attempt (2 Cor 11:25). It is probable that he alluded to this life event in the Galatian letter when he poignantly proclaims that “I bear on my body the marks of Jesus” (Gal 6:17).
Mediterranean moments at Lystra remind us of the setting in which Paul started his mission and his mentoring.