And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
At Lystra Paul healed a cripple who had never walked and who had faith to be healed, making him strong to leap and walk. When the people saw the miracle they shouted in the Lycaonian speech that the gods had come down in the likeness of men. They called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker, and the priest of Jupiter brought oxen and garlands to the gates to sacrifice with the people.
When Paul and Barnabas heard it they tore their clothes and ran in among the people, positively denying that they were divine. They declared that they were men of like passions and representatives of the God of heaven and of His Son the great Healer. They urged the people to turn from these vanities to the living God who made heaven and earth and sea and all things therein, the only object worthy of adoration. That living God in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, yet did not leave Himself without witness in that He did good and gave rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filled hearts with food and gladness.
Even with those sayings they only barely and with great difficulty restrained the people from doing sacrifice to them. The heathen enthusiasm remained so great and the people were so firmly convinced from what they had seen with their own eyes that they were gods, and so loath to acknowledge their error, that only after much persuasion and careful explanation did they reluctantly give up their purpose. Their readiness to abandon idol worship shows their worship of idols was giving way to a first understanding of the true God and the honor due to Him as Creator of heaven, earth, the sea, and all things in them.
Very soon after refusing sacrifice, the reverence of people whose faith was not firmly rooted in the true God was turned into insult, abuse, and a determination to kill him. False accusations and falsehood and misrepresentation by opposing Jews persuaded them against him, showing how quickly they could change from honoring the apostles to hostility and how vulnerable to deception they were. Paul refused to be worshiped as a god and, after being stoned and left for dead, rose up and went on preaching with Barnabas from city to city. He faced this furious crowd while remaining committed to serving Christ, unturned by opposition and upheld by faith.
The response at Lystra parallels the islanders' response after Paul survived the viper bite, when they likewise regarded him as a god. That regard gave him influence that he used to lead them toward the gospel.
At Lystra Paul healed a cripple who had never walked and who had faith to be healed, making him strong to leap and walk. When the people saw the miracle they shouted in the Lycaonian speech that the gods had come down in the likeness of men. They called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker, and the priest of Jupiter brought oxen and garlands to the gates to sacrifice with the people.
When Paul and Barnabas heard it they tore their clothes and ran in among the people, positively denying that they were divine. They declared that they were men of like passions and representatives of the God of heaven and of His Son the great Healer. They urged the people to turn from these vanities to the living God who made heaven and earth and sea and all things therein, the only object worthy of adoration. That living God in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, yet did not leave Himself without witness in that He did good and gave rain from heaven and fruitful seasons and filled hearts with food and gladness.
Even with those sayings they only barely and with great difficulty restrained the people from doing sacrifice to them. The heathen enthusiasm remained so great and the people were so firmly convinced from what they had seen with their own eyes that they were gods, and so loath to acknowledge their error, that only after much persuasion and careful explanation did they reluctantly give up their purpose. Their readiness to abandon idol worship shows their worship of idols was giving way to a first understanding of the true God and the honor due to Him as Creator of heaven, earth, the sea, and all things in them.
Very soon after refusing sacrifice, the reverence of people whose faith was not firmly rooted in the true God was turned into insult, abuse, and a determination to kill him. False accusations and falsehood and misrepresentation by opposing Jews persuaded them against him, showing how quickly they could change from honoring the apostles to hostility and how vulnerable to deception they were. Paul refused to be worshiped as a god and, after being stoned and left for dead, rose up and went on preaching with Barnabas from city to city. He faced this furious crowd while remaining committed to serving Christ, unturned by opposition and upheld by faith.
The response at Lystra parallels the islanders' response after Paul survived the viper bite, when they likewise regarded him as a god. That regard gave him influence that he used to lead them toward the gospel.