Acts chapter 14

vs 11

Since they shouted it in Lycaonian, did Paul and Barnabas understand? Possibly not. But trouble starts right about here.

vs 12

So rather than hear the message as it was given, these people have interpreted it into their current religious context, and therefore think that B & P are gods. Which is a horrific thought for people who's religious background tells them such talk is blasphemous.

vs 13

It just keeps getting worse and worse. The official priest of the pagan religion now wants to honour them with sacrifices and wreaths! I know we generally blame this situation in the people at Lystra. But is it not perhaps a little bit B & P's fault for not considering more the situation they were going into, and perhaps rushing a little bit as they moved from town to town?

vs 14

Tearing your clothes is a sign of mourning. And with the amount of times people seem to do it, you wonder how people ever ended up with any clothes left.

vs 15

So now they are setting them straight. In their favour, they weren't tempted to hang around and be treated as gods for a little while. And remember, these gods weren't treated as aloof and holy either - women slept with Zeus and Posiedon and other gods all the time. But they are now drawing attention away from themselves, making sure people realise that they are just men, and that only 1 God is God.

vs 16

This is a fair comment to make to these people, who are obviously wrapped up in their own religion. So much so that they took B & P's message and weaved it in with their own theological understanding. So Paul chooses to tell them, gently at first, that God has in the past allowed these transgressions against him.

vs 17

But Paul is a big believer in natural or general revelation - he believes that God should have been obvious through giving rain and food and joy.

vs 18

Obviously people were so wrapped up in the excitement that they really wanted to believe these guys were gods, even if they were saying they weren't.

vs 19

Don't think that they came and won the crowd over with Judaism. They probably just won the crowd over with "these buggers are pretenders!". And the result was that Paul got his ass kicked. I mean, when you get stoned, that means people are trying to kill you. It's not a joke.