LIFE SCRIPTS

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. In the past, he let all nations go their own way. Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
Acts 14:8‭-‬20 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/act.14.8-20.NIV.

Lystra was a scene from a movie. Moments before, Paul and Barnabas had been forced to leave Iconium. A riot had broken out forcing them to flee for their lives. Now here they came to Lystra and the first thing they encountered was a lame man who had never walked from birth. Peter and John had earlier in this book healed another man who had such an infirmity. At that time, people rejoiced at the doing of the Lord. However, in Lystra, people corrupted by their pagan worship mistook Paul and Barnabas for Greek gods. Not even Paul’s persuasions prevented them from offering sacrifices to them. I can only imagine the fame they were basking in. The people were shouting their names and lifting them high in their praise. Paul and Barnabas had a choice. A choice between basking in glory or returning it back to the Owner. This is a lesson to us when God uses us to perform miracles, signs and wonders. A warning to us when He uses us to speak divine things, to encourage and build others. When people elevate us, we must remember to glorify God in their prescence. Some will even go to the extent of making it religious. But we must be forthright and return all glory to God.

But the drama in the scene didn’t end there. Some inhabitants of Iconium (where the riot had taken place) arrived with some agitators who incited people against Paul. And the tables suddenly turned. The same people who had been celebrated as gods now became outcasts. In fact so vicious was the riot that Paul himself was stoned, dragged out of the city and left for the dead. In one passage of scripture, we see a man elevated to the status of a god being stoned. This is the deception religion brings. It elevates what has no value only for the followers to discover that it was a raw deal. Paul pointed these people towards Christ. But their eyes were blinded by what they held onto. At the end, they ended up turning against him. But this is not a new scenario. When Christ walked on earth, He was followed and revered by many people. But when He was arrested and presented before Pilate, the same people who marvelled at His teachings turned against Him by shouting the famous phrase, ‘…crucify Him’. As Pastor Jon Courson says, ‘the heart of every matter is a matter of the heart’. The people in Lystra had a ‘heart’ problem not solved by religious rituals. That void in the heart could only be filled by the good news about the Savior, Jesus Christ. And these good news had been veiled from them because of their unbelief.