When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker. Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. In the past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways, but He never left them without evidence of Himself and His goodness. For instance, He sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts.” But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.
Acts 14:11-18
Two of you have written to ask how you start to look at the reaction of Paul and Barnabas to the Lystrans calling them gods. Simply read the passage through a number of times and let the situation soak in. I am sure when you do that you will come up with questions or aspects of the story which puzzle you. Note them down and see if you can come up with answers or responses which help you get into the text of what Luke has written for us at a deeper level. Let the text of what Luke wrote guide you in terms of the aspects you need to focus on.
These are the questions before us so far related to the above passage:
How did the Lord prove their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders? Why doesn’t Luke tell us what happened?
Zeus is famous but I haven’t heard much about Hermes.
Why didn’t Paul and Barnabas use the people’s thought that they were Gods for their benefit?
“They tore their clothing in dismay and ran out amongst the people…” that must have been quite a scene. Was this form of behaviour normal and is it still in present day times?
The respond of the crowd is confusing: if they really think that Paul and Barnabas were gods and they tell them not to sacrifice, why did they still do it?
Here are some more questions which came to me:
- Why did the crowd automatically assume Paul and Barnabas were gods in human form?
- Why did they assume they were the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes?
- Why did they think Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes? I would have thought it would have been the other way around.
- Why would the people want to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas? What had they done to deserve that?
- What language did Paul and Barnabas use to speak to the crowd? Did Paul and Barnabas know the local dialect of Lycaonian?
- Why do some translations of Acts 14:14 have “when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening. . .”
- and others have “when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of what was happening . . .”
- Was what Paul and Barnabas did successful in stopping the crowd’s reaction or not?
I am going to divide all these questions into three categories.
- Those related to Paul and Barnabas’ activity in Lystra
- The crowds reaction concerning their assumption that Paul and Barnabas are gods in human form
- The curious question of the language of communication used in Lystra.
Let’s tackle the first of these questions:
Paul and Barnabas’ activity in Lystra
How did the Lord prove their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders? Why doesn’t Luke tell us what happened?
This statement relates the demonstration of power to miraculous signs and wonders and is connected to what happened in Iconium but I still have a hunch it happened in all places that Paul and Barnabas visited. Just as I told you in a previous Gem that I suspected each time Paul and Barnabas preached in Jewish synagogues they took time to make the links to Jewish roots. So the pattern of what was said in Antioch was likely what was shared in other places too. On reaching Lystra and Derbe, they had moved down into the area of Lycaonia where another language was spoken and where it seems there were no synagogues. Yet we are told in Acts 14:7 that they preached the gospel in Lystra and again in Derbe. In Derbe the gospel was preached and there were many who believed in the message. I think the same thing happened in Lystra. The two disciples/apostles spent much time preaching the Gospel. However Luke tells us no more than a single event to sum up what happened there. I think Paul and Barnabas preached in other places there but Luke has chosen this one incident to sum up their activity. We have this one report told to us to give us an idea of what was happening. It was highly likely that this healing in Lystra was not the only one which took place, given the fact that signs and wonders followed wherever the Word was preached. Luke only chooses to tell us about this one.
Do you see the healing of the cripple in Lystra is an example of the signs and wonders. This single act was what stirred the crowd to revere Paul and Barnabas. It seems these people were very ready and willing to accord deity to Paul and Barnabas. I think there were likely a number of healings and miraculous power encounters. But even if there was just one miraculous sign, that healing of the cripple it was enough to spark their adulation. Consider what we talked about in Gem 1643 – the nature of healing that the Holy Spirit of God called out from the crowd. For a people group who were not used to divine intervention in their midst I am sure what happened would have stirred all sorts of feelings. I think what we have here is the beginning of the Gospel being taken to people who have no experience whatsoever of a personal, active God moving among them – hence their reaction. Luke in telling the story spends more time on their reaction than he does on the nature of the gospel preached and the other things that happened. Notice how after the healing and the crowd’s reaction we have Paul’s summary explanation of the Gospel for Gentiles. We will look at that when the time comes.
The inhabitants of Lystra re-interpret what they have just seen in their own cultural terms. Clearly they have witnessed something which was out of the ordinary; outside of normal natural happenings. Yes, that’s right – extraordinary and supernatural – that which is outside the ordinary and going beyond what naturally occurs. That is indeed what happens when the Holy Spirit of God shows up. Having witnessed these things they reinterpret them from their own religious terms. What Paul had done was beyond their comprehension. I remember the first time I saw something like that – someone called out from the crowd with a word of knowledge and then healed on the spot – I was left having to work out what had just happened. That is what happened to the people of Lystra. Hence the summary statement we have from Luke is: When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in their local dialect, “These men are gods in human form!” What an interesting statement to make. Firstly that they should make the statement in Lycaonian and secondly that they should perceive Paul and Barnabas to be a manifestation of the gods come down to earth.
In Graeco-Roman terms the more primitive people groups on the more remote edges of the Roman Empire saw things in terms of anthropomorphisms, gods morphed as people. The gods have come down. There is a Roman story from Ovid which tells the story of an old, devout couple from the Lycaonium region who were said to have entertained the gods Jupiter and Mercury without realizing it at the time. This is a feature of the pagans of the day seeing the gods as being human but having attained to a godlikeness by their endeavours. They conceived of a relatively free flow between the gods and mankind. They also regarded strangers as perhaps gods disguised as men. Their reaction was then quite normal for people of that region and beyond. Besides which there was a temple in honour of Jupiter (Zeus) in Lystra at the time. Luke tells us that “the temple was located just outside the town”. The names for the gods vary greatly between Roman and Greek terms and in this case Lycaonian. It is not likely that they used Zeus and Hermes as specific names for the gods in the Lycaonian language. It is more likely the Lycaonian terms have been reinterpreted as Greek names.
Another interesting question is what was meant by the literal words “the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of the city”. “So the priest brought the sacrificial bulls to the town gates”. There is huge difference of opinion over this description. Did this mean that the temple was located was outside the city or did it mean the god was before the city in the sense of this god being the prime focus of worship for the city of Lystra? Some argue there was a statue to this god at the entrance to city gates. Where were the priests bringing the sacrificial bulls – To the gates of city? To the gates of the temple? Or to the gates of house where Paul and Barnabas were staying? I won’t get into commenting on each one of those. Suffice to say Paul and Barnabas had indeed been assimilated into the religious practices of Lystra and had been given the status of gods.
How would they handle it? As one of you have asked:-
- Why didn’t Paul and Barnabas use the people’s thought that they were Gods for their benefit?
- Surely they could use this to their benefit and this would open up opportunities into the future?
- As Hermes was the Greek messenger of the gods (Mercury – Roman). Curious labelling, don’t you think? Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes.
We will explore these things in Gem 1647.
Memories take us back. Dreams take us forward!
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