And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 10said in a loud voice, ‘Stand upright on your feet.’ And the man* sprang up and began to walk. 11When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, ‘The gods have come down to us in human form!’ 12Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city,* brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.
Acts 14:9b-13
I'm not sure where to go with this particular passage. I'm still chuckling over it.
It's the pagan equivalent, in some respects, to Peter's reaction to the Transfiguration. Remember, after seeing Jesus revealed for who and what he really is, rather than realize what is happening, Peter says to Jesus, "Let's build a tent so we can stay here, us few disciples who you allowed to see it, and you and Elijah and Moses!" One is perhaps grateful that Jesus was not a violent individual, because dope-slapping Peter certainly seems appropriate in this instance.
Paul and Barnabas do a verbal dope-slap for the poor folks in Iconium. Even so, this particular passage ends thus: "18Even with these words, they scarcely restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them." It's enough to make you tear your hair out!
In some ways, this is similar to blogging. You sit down and figure out what you want to say, say it to the best of your ability, and some commenter comes along and says something way out of left field concerning what you have just written. You patients type a response that can be summed up as, "No, sir, I didn't say x. If you look carefully, you will see quite clearly that I said y." Usually, though perhaps not always, the commenter will respond by saying, "Well, you may believe you said y, but quite clearly you said x." Wall and head then meet.
Communicating across all sorts of gaps - religious, political, social, cultural, linguistic - makes for odd moments, frustrating moments, and sometimes hilarious moments. These certainly well-meaning but misguided worshipers of the pagan deities were interpreting what they saw in light of the categories by which they interpreted the world. Nothing wrong with that at all.
We contemporary Christians experience these moments all the time. We are told we are talking about scientific stuff, psychological stuff, moral stuff, impossible stuff. We respond, quietly but firmly, that we are actually talking about living-for-God stuff. Usually, though not always, we are told (sometimes in patronizing tones, sometimes in barely controlled fury) that we are ignoramuses who have no idea what we're talking about. Head and wall meet repeatedly.
We can take it to heart that this particular type of miscommunication has Biblical precedent, and chuckle at it.
