Deconcerting vertility (2)

"Then the crowds, at the sight of what Paul had done ... said ... the gods made themselves like men and descended to us ... From Antioch and Iconium then came Jews ; After winning the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, believing he was dead." Read Acts 14. 8-19

One could justify the versatility of the Jews to the Lord, commented on yesterday by the fact that it is the fulfillment of several prophecies concerning it (Psalm 25:19, 118, 26, Zach. This interpretation, although relevant, would not excuse their responsibility. It is evident from the text quoted today that versatility is the characteristic of a man who does not possess the Holy Spirit and is left to his own passions.

A legend of Ovid, a Latin poet of the first century, reprinted by La Fontaine and later put on by Offenbach under the title of Philemon and Baucis, relates that Jupiter and Mercury, descended on earth, wished to experience the hospitality of the inhabitants of Lystra . This was refused everywhere, except by an elderly couple, largely rewarded, the city was submerged and destroyed by the waves.

Remembering this legend or not, the inhabitants of Lystra, witnesses of the miraculous healing of the man with paralyzed feet, identify Paul and Barnabas with their gods (Jupiter and Mercury), and it is with great difficulty that the apostles Dissuaded them from offering them a sacrifice. Between Bethany and Jerusalem, the Lord was acclaimed king, at Lystra, it is the divinization that the apostles risked.

It is therefore with astonishment that the only sayings of Jews, foreigners in Lycaonia and not even having witnessed the miracle, can convince these Greeks so quickly to stonate Paul and Barnabas. How can this inconsistency be explained ?

Paul and Barnabas preached "the living God who created the heavens and the earth" which Satan can not tolerate. So he armed with hatred and violence those he wants to lead to crime if he can. Let us not be surprised, the violence that is operating today in the world will even increase (2 Tim. 3: 12). But it is even more surprising that this disconcerting versatility is Paul's perseverance : the next day, after being first left for dead, Paul "went back to Derbe", some sixty kilometers away. "I can do everything in him who strengthens me" (Phil 4: 13; Hebrews 11: 34). "The LORD, the Lord is my strength" (Hab 3. 19).

Source (To pleasing the Lord)