A Study of Acts: A Miracle and Misguided Worship
Acts 14:8-18 - Paul heals a disabled man in Lystra, but the reaction of the people is not what he intended.
“At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk. When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.”
And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.”
Acts 14:8-18 NASB1995
Paul and Barnabas are now in the town of Lystra, preaching the Gospel. So what do we know about this town in the same region of Galatia and located southwest of Iconium? According to Biblical scholar Tony Merida, quoted on Precept Austin, here is a little tidbit about Lystra; other research I did discovered that this town had no synagogue, so Paul and Barnabas were likely preaching in the town square or agora:
Lystra was a small country town in Paul’s day, a frontier outpost of the Roman Empire. I like to imagine it as the Wild West. The Lystrans were generally uneducated and, it also seems, gullible. Kent Hughes says, “The people were half-barbarous.” He adds, “The Romans ruled the land, the Greeks controlled the commerce, and the Jews had little influence” (Acts, 184–85). It was, then, a much different place from Iconium. (Christ-Centered Exposition Commentary – Exalting Jesus in Acts)
In this small town, a man was listening to Paul preach. The man was disabled and had no strength in his legs; he had never walked since birth (notice the medical details that the physician Luke provides). Paul fixed his gaze on the man and “had seen that he had the faith to be made well”. Paul tells the man in a loud voice to stand upright on his feet. He leaped up and began to walk! I like this commentary from Enduring Word about this healing miracle:
This man heard Paul speaking: The crippled man heard Paul preach about Jesus. When he heard about Jesus, his face and manner showed that he believed Jesus could touch his life; he had faith to be healed.
This certain man without strength in his feet made the important transition from hearing about the work of Jesus to believing that it was for him. Not everyone makes this same transition, but they should.
Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed: There was something about this man’s faith that was evident, and it is likely that God gave Paul the gift of discernment, so much so that Paul knew God intended to heal the man at that moment.
“That this lame man had faith was made plain by his ready obedience to Paul’s command to stand up.” (F.F. Bruce)
I believe that healing still goes on in this time. Whether all of gifts given to the apostles in the early church are still active is probably debatable but God can do whatever He wants. However, the person desiring healing or another answer to prayer from God must first have faith in God and their prayer must align with His word and will (in other words, stop asking to win the Powerball jackpot by “pledging” to give most of the money to Him).
Jesus said this more than once to those He healed that their faith has made them well, as noted in this list from Precept Austin:
Matthew 9:22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.
Mark 5:34; And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
Mark 10:52 And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road.
Luke 8:48 And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.”
Luke 17:19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”
Luke 18:42 And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra - Michel Corneille 1644
When the crowds saw the healing, they began speaking in the Lycaonian language, saying that the gods have become like men and descended to them. Paul and Barnabas are a bit slow on the uptake (probably because they don’t understand the language), so when they finally see the people bringing tribute and sacrifices and falling down at their feet they realize what has happened. The people call them “Zeus” (Barnabas) and “Hermes” (Paul); the latter was probably because Paul spoke most of the time, like a messenger of the gods. Here’s an interesting tale of why the people are so quick to assign these particular god names to Barnabas and Paul and to worship them, from Jack Andrews quoted in Precept Austin:
The Lycaonians had a legend that was known amongst their people that Jupiter (Zeus) and Mercury (Hermes) had once came down to the people disguised as mortals seeking lodging. They went to a thousand homes and no one would take them in. Finally, at a humble cottage of straw and reeds, a poor elderly couple, Philemon and Baucis (see story on Wikipedia), freely welcomed them and feasted them with what meager means they had (see picture). In appreciation, the gods transformed the cottage into a temple, making the couple priest and priestess. And when they died, they were immortalized as great oak trees. The inhospitable homes were destroyed! The people of Lystra did not want that to happen again! This time they wanted to make sure they received, welcomed, and worshiped their gods. (Expository Sermons)
Paul and Barnabas are appalled by this reaction and rend their garments and rush to speak to the people and deny that they are gods, which tells us about their integrity. Just think about it - these two have been attacked, accosted, and driven out of towns and are probably exhausted; lesser men would think twice and perhaps succumb to the worship. There are many who have allegedly preached the Gospel who have sadly fallen to the temptations of their power and privilege; these scandals are prominent in the televangelist world and include Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggert and a host of other names (be careful, however, doing a search to find the stories of these scandals, because some of the mainstream “media” will tell you that “controversies” about some prominent pastors are because they actually abide by God’s word and aren’t afraid to speak to His precepts).
Paul is adamant in his response. He tells the people that he and Barnabas are men just like themselves. The rending of the garments is an instinctive response to blasphemy. He asks the people to turn from their vain things to a living God. Even so, they have difficulty restraining the crowd. I really like this commentary from Enduring Word about this passage:
They tore their clothes: They did this to show that they were completely human, just as the Lystrians. They also did it out of an instinctively Jewish reaction to blasphemy. For Paul and Barnabas, it wasn’t just inconvenient that they were called gods; it was blasphemy.
That you should turn from these useless things: These were strong words from Paul to people who took their pagan worship seriously, but Paul wasn’t afraid to confront this mob with the truth, and the truth was that their idolatry was wrong. They had to turn from it.
As Paul told them more about Jesus and what He has done, he especially wanted them to turn from these useless things to the living God. Jesus could not merely be added to their pagan ways.
To the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them: Paul called the Lystrian crowd to consider the real God, the One who stands behind all creation, not one of the lesser (and imaginary) Greek gods.
The things Paul mentions in Acts 14:17 (He did good… gave us rain from heaven… and fruitful seasons… filling our hearts with food and gladness) were just the kind of things these people would think that Zeus gave them. Paul told them these blessings come from the true God who lives in heaven, not from Zeus.
God’s kindness to all men (in giving rain and fruitful crops) should be seen as a witness of His love and power, something theologians sometimes call common grace.
Paul did not preach to these pagan worshippers the same way he preached to Jews or those acquainted with Judaism. He did not quote the Old Testament to them, but instead appealed to natural revelation, to the things that even a pagan could understand by looking at the world around them.
And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them: Even with all this, Paul and Barnabas had an extremely difficult time challenging the wrong conceptions of God held by the Lystrians.
There’s a lot to unpack here. Seeing Guzik refer to something called common grace sent me on a bunny trail to try and understand that idea. It appears to be referenced most often in Reformed churches. I’ll leave a link to Gotquestions.org so the reader, if so inclined, can go read their commentary on common grace. A very compelling idea, although one of the concepts that common grace stays the hand of unbelieving humans so that they are not too evil is belied by the actions of recent genocidal regimes all over the world. Not sure what to think about this - it is true that it does rain on the just and the unjust.
My next devotional examines Acts 14:19-28. While Paul and Barnabas are dealing with this blasphemous reaction by the people of Lystra, the Jews from Iconium and Pisidian Antioch have come all the way to Lystra to deal with the disciples. Paul miraculously recovers from a stoning and they preach in another nearby town, Derbe, then make their way back to the group at Antioch (near Damascus). This will end the first missionary journey.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I thank You for the incredible fortitude and integrity of the men in the early church like Paul and Barnabas. I would ask that You guide church leaders and pastors to emphasize Your precepts and commands and be humble in their leadership. Amen.
Precept Austin was accessed on 11/08/2024 to review commentary for Acts 14:8-18.
Commentary in Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.