Unexpected Reaction

Acts 14:8-18

⁸Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.

⁹He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well,

¹⁰said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking.

¹¹And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”

¹²Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

¹³And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,

¹⁵“Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, 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.

¹⁶In past generations he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways.

¹⁷Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

¹⁸Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.

Today’s reading recounts an interesting event in the mission work of Paul and Barnabas. There was probably no one more surprised than these two men at the events following the healing of a crippled man. Paul is merely following the voice of God and reaches out his hand under instruction from the Holy Spirit. When the healing takes place the reaction from the crowd is most decidedly unique.

The city of Lystra comes along with a legend that is born out of Greek mythology. The story goes this way. Zeus and Hermes were travelling together in disguise in the area of Lystra. When they came to the city no one would show them any hospitality except for two very old people who lived on the edge of town. As a result, Zeus completely destroyed the city, sparing only the two people who had been kind to them. When Paul is used by God to heal the cripple, the people assume Zeus and Hermes are back and they aren’t going to let city-wide destruction happen again; thus the outpouring of sacrificial offerings. Paul is of course appalled at the notion of being worshiped and uses this time to teach the people about the true and Living God.

Today, we are not caught up in the mythology of Zeus. But we do tend to fall back onto explanations for things we don’t understand that may not be completely accurate. It is natural for us to try and make sense out of our world. The temptation to look anywhere but to God for our “logical explanations” can be pretty over powering. But I would suggest a different option. How about we look in God’s direction first when we don’t understand something? And maybe sometimes we accept the fact that we cannot explain everything adequately. The crippled man accepted the healing he was given. I’ll bet he didn’t continue to sit at the city gate every day after being given the ability to walk again. He accepted the gift given him by faith and lived a new life. Just as I don’t totally understand how God can grant me forgiveness because of Jesus’ death doesn’t mean it isn’t real. Faith says that it is – so I’m going to go with that.