Tuesday of the 5th Week of Easter
But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
But as the disciples stood around him, he rose up, and entered into the city. On the next day he went out with Barnabas to Derbe.
When they had preached the Good News to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many afflictions we must enter into God's Kingdom. When they had appointed elders for them in every assembly, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they had believed.
They passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. From there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work which they had fulfilled. When they had arrived and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations. They stayed there with the disciples for a long time.
All your works will give thanks to you, Lord. Your saints will extol you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom, and talk about your power,
To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, the glory of the majesty of his kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words, and loving in all his deeds.
My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord. Let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.
Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives, I give to you. Don't let your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. You heard how I told you, 'I am going away, and I will come back to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced because I said 'I am going to my Father;' for the Father is greater than I. Now I have told you before it happens so that when it happens, you may believe. I will no more speak much with you, for the prince of the world comes, and he has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father commanded me, even so I do. Arise, let's go from here.
The contrast couldn't be sharper. Paul gets stoned, dragged from the city, and left for dead—yet he gets up, dusts himself off, and keeps preaching. Meanwhile, Jesus offers his disciples something the world desperately seeks but can never manufacture: genuine peace.
Notice how Paul's response to violence reveals something profound about Christian resilience. He doesn't retreat to safety or nurse his wounds in private. Instead, he returns to the very communities where he faced persecution, strengthening the disciples and reminding them that "through many afflictions we must enter into God's Kingdom." There's a gritty realism here—Paul doesn't sugarcoat the cost of following Christ, but he also doesn't let suffering have the final word.
This connects directly to Jesus's promise of peace. The peace Christ offers isn't the absence of conflict or the world's version of tranquility—a perfect vacation or a stress-free day. Rather, it's the deep assurance that nothing can separate us from God's love, even when we're facing our own versions of being stoned and dragged outside the city walls.
Consider how this plays out in our daily lives. When we're dealing with difficult colleagues, family tensions, or health concerns, we often seek the world's kind of peace—the elimination of problems. But Christ's peace is different. It's the calm that can exist in the storm, the confidence that God is working even through our afflictions.
The movement here is from fear to faith, from worldly peace to divine peace. Paul embodies this transition—he experiences real suffering but continues his mission because he's anchored in something deeper than circumstances.
What would it look like to carry Christ's peace into your most challenging relationship today? How might God be inviting you to find strength not around your difficulties, but through them?