The story set in Lystra begins with Paul healing a man whose feet were crippled from birth.
To be more precise, it is Jesus who heals the man through Paul. This turns out to be an important distinction, at least to Paul and Barnabas.
The crowd sees only that "the gods have come down to us in human form!" (Acts 14:11)
They decide that Barnabas is Zeus and Paul must be Hermes. Why? Because Paul is the chief speaker, like Hermes, and Barnabas (scholars surmise) was older and taller than Paul - just as Zeus was portrayed.
But at the heart of it, the reason the crowd jumps to this conclusion is that the Roman gods were their framework for reality. There was a temple dedicated to Zeus just outside the city. And it had its own priest. (v.13)
Everyone in the city knew for a fact that Zeus and Hermes were actual deities deserving of worship and sacrifice. They were also aware of an ancient story of these two gods visiting the area and being unrecognized by all the people save an elderly couple.
The Lystrans didn't want to make that same mistake. They brought out bulls and wreaths to dedicate to Paul and Barnabas.
[Isn't it fascinating that the people were open to the possibility that their ancestors had made a giant mistake, while still being oblivious to the fact that their entire present worldview itself was a giant mistake?]
These gestures of worship horrify Paul and Barnabas, of course. "We too are only men, human like you!" Even so, they have great difficulty in discouraging the sacrifices.
But do you remember how the story ends? Even though Paul and Barnabas preach the kindness of God - a God who knows them and provides for them - it is NOT Zeus.
So ...
They stone Paul so brutally, everyone presumes he is dead. Then they drag the "body" outside the city walls.
Paul shakes it off and goes back into the city, but he and Barnabas leave the next day.
And the Lystrans get to keep their worldview intact.
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