Zeus is Not in Session: Confronting Pagan Realities
Introduction: When the Circus Comes to Town
We live in a time that prides itself on its sophistication, its supposed escape from the superstitions of the past. We think of paganism as something confined to dusty mythology books, tales of capricious gods throwing lightning bolts and turning into bulls. But the reality is that paganism is not dead; it has simply changed its clothes. It has traded its stone temples for corporate boardrooms, university lecture halls, and the halls of government. The names have been updated from Zeus and Hermes to Science, Progress, the State, or Self-Actualization, but the essential idolatry remains the same. Man is still desperately trying to deify something within the created order.
This is why the scene in Lystra is not some quaint historical anecdote. It is a paradigm for all gospel encounters with a pagan worldview. It is a raw, unfiltered look at what happens when the power of the true and living God collides with the entrenched religious imagination of a people who do not know Him. And what we find is that the pagan mind, whether ancient or modern, is not a blank slate. It is a canvas already crowded with stories, assumptions, and a deep-seated religious impulse. When confronted with the supernatural, it will always try to cram the new data into its old, familiar categories.
The apostles perform a miracle of genuine, creative power, and the crowd immediately misinterprets it through the lens of their local legends. They see a real miracle and draw a false conclusion. This is a critical lesson for us. Power is not self-interpreting. A miracle without a message leads to misattribution. Without the clear, authoritative preaching of the Word, even a direct act of God will be co-opted by the reigning idolatry of the day. This is what Paul and Barnabas run into headlong. They are not just dealing with a lack of information; they are confronting a rival theology, a deeply ingrained way of seeing the world. And their response is a master class in worldview apologetics, starting not with the cross, but with the Creator.
They don't just correct a minor misunderstanding. They tear their clothes, reject the worship, and drive a sharp, non-negotiable wedge between the creature and the Creator. They call the people to turn from "vain things" to the "living God." This is the fundamental task of all evangelism: to expose the vanity of idols and to introduce the reality of the God who made all things.
The Text
And at Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, when he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had faith to be saved from being lame, said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM. In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.
(Acts 14:8-18 LSB)
A Sign Demanding Interpretation (vv. 8-10)
The scene opens with a man in a condition of utter helplessness, a condition Luke is careful to emphasize.
"And at Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked." (Acts 14:8 LSB)
This is not a case of a sprained ankle. This is a congenital, lifelong, and total inability. The man is a living picture of humanity apart from grace: powerless, crippled from birth in Adam, and utterly unable to walk in the ways of God. Luke is drawing a deliberate parallel here to Peter's healing of the lame man at the Temple gate in Acts 3. In both cases, the man is lame from birth, and in both cases, he leaps up after being healed. Luke is showing us that the same power of the risen Christ that was at work through Peter among the Jews is now at work through Paul among the Gentiles. The gospel is for the uttermost parts of the earth.
But notice the prerequisite for the healing. Paul, while preaching, "fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had faith to be saved from being lame" (v. 9). This was not saving faith in the fullest sense of justification, not yet. But it was a seed of faith, a receptive heart that believed God could act. The man was listening to the gospel being preached, and the Word produced a readiness to believe. Faith comes by hearing. God's grace was already at work in this man's heart, preparing him to receive the physical healing that would point to a deeper spiritual healing.
Paul's command is sharp and authoritative: "Stand upright on your feet" (v. 10). And the response is instantaneous. "He leaped up and began to walk." This is a creation-level miracle. What was not there before, strength, muscle, coordination, is now there. God spoke, and it was. This is not therapy; it is creation. And it is a public spectacle, a sign that cannot be ignored. But as we are about to see, a sign can be tragically misinterpreted.
Pagan Conclusions from Christian Premises (vv. 11-13)
The crowd witnesses an undeniable display of supernatural power, but they process it through their pagan software.
"And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, 'The gods have become like men and have come down to us.' And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker." (Acts 14:11-12 LSB)
Their reaction is immediate and religious. They don't conclude that a new philosophy has arrived; they conclude that their gods have. Local legend in that region told of a time when Zeus and Hermes visited the area in disguise, and only one elderly couple showed them hospitality. As a result, the rest of the region was destroyed. So, when two men show up and one of them performs a god-like act, the people are not about to make the same mistake twice. They are terrified of offending the gods again.
Their theology is on display. They identify the more stately, perhaps older, Barnabas as Zeus, the chief god. Paul, the one doing all the talking, is naturally Hermes, the messenger of the gods. Their conclusion is logical, given their premises. They see a supernatural event, and they reach for a supernatural explanation. The problem is not their belief in the supernatural; the problem is their catalog of supernatural beings is all wrong. They have the right category (divine visitation) but the wrong occupants.
This religious fervor quickly escalates. The priest of the local temple of Zeus mobilizes for worship, bringing oxen and garlands for a sacrifice (v. 13). This is not a polite round of applause. This is full-blown, public, pagan worship. The gospel has landed, and the first reaction is not faith, but a geyser of idolatry.
Tearing the Robes and Drawing the Line (vv. 14-15)
The apostles' reaction is violent and visceral. This is a theological emergency.
"But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, 'Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you...'" (Acts 14:14-15 LSB)
Tearing their garments was a traditional Jewish expression of horror at blasphemy. To them, accepting this worship would be the height of blasphemy. Their immediate, instinctive action is to establish the Creator/creature distinction. This is the bedrock of all true religion. There is God, and there is everything else. And the line between the two is absolute and infinite. "We are also men of the same nature as you." We are on your side of the line. We are creatures. The power you saw did not originate with us.
Then they get to the heart of the matter. The gospel is a call to "turn from these vain things to a living God." "Vain things" is a biblical term for idols. Idols are nothing, empty, futile. They have no life in them. They cannot see, hear, or act. Worshiping them is an exercise in utter futility. You become like what you worship, and if you worship what is vain, you become vain.
In contrast, they preach a "living God." Not a block of stone in a temple, not a myth, but the source of all life. And how is this God identified? How do you begin to speak of the true God to a people who have no Bible, no history of Israel, no messianic expectation? You start where the Bible starts. You start at Genesis 1. "...a living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM."
General Revelation as a Witness (vv. 16-18)
Paul's apologetic method here is crucial. He doesn't quote the Old Testament, which would be meaningless to them. He appeals to general revelation, to the witness of God in creation and providence.
"In the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:16-17 LSB)
Paul acknowledges their pagan history. God, in His sovereignty, "permitted all the nations to go their own ways." This doesn't mean God was indifferent. It means He did not give them the special revelation He gave to Israel. But that does not mean He left them with no revelation at all. He did not leave Himself "without witness."
And what is that witness? It is the goodness of God embedded in the very fabric of their lives. Every time it rained, that was a witness. Every harvest, every fruitful season, that was a witness. Every meal that filled their stomachs, every moment of gladness in their hearts, that was a witness. All the good things they had been attributing to Zeus were, in fact, gifts from the true and living God. He was the one giving them rain and crops. They were thanking the wrong person. Paul is essentially re-labeling all the gifts in their lives, directing their gratitude away from the dumb idols and toward the benevolent Creator.
This is the foundation of natural law. Creation itself testifies to the goodness and power of its Maker (Romans 1:20). This witness is sufficient to render all men without excuse for their idolatry. They knew God, but they suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. Paul is appealing to that suppressed knowledge, that innate sense that all this goodness must have a good source.
Even with this powerful, foundational appeal, the habits of idolatry die hard. "And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them" (v. 18). It took everything they had to stop the pagan party. This shows the deep, tenacious grip that idolatry has on the human heart. It is not a simple intellectual error; it is a spiritual bondage.
Conclusion: From Vain Things to the Living God
This scene in Lystra is a permanent lesson for the church. We are always, in every generation, confronting the paganism of our day. Our neighbors are not worshiping Zeus, but they are worshiping the vain things of materialism, sexual autonomy, political power, and personal peace and affluence. They are taking the good gifts of God, food and gladness, rains and fruitful seasons, and they are thanking the wrong source. They thank the economy, or their own hard work, or blind chance.
Our task is the same as Paul's. First, we must live and speak in the power of the Spirit, so that the reality of God is made manifest. There must be something about us, a spiritual vitality, that makes people ask a question. There must be a "miracle" of transformed lives.
Second, when they misinterpret that power, when they try to make us into gurus or celebrities or political saviors, we must tear our robes. We must vehemently refuse the worship and insist on the Creator/creature distinction. We are just men. We are creatures. We are pointing to the Creator.
And third, our message must begin at the beginning. Before we can talk about the cross, we must talk about creation. Before we can talk about Jesus the Redeemer, we must talk about God the Maker. People must understand that they are creatures, living in a created world, accountable to a Creator God who owns them. They must be called to turn from their vain, empty, and futile idols to the living God who made the heavens and the earth, the one who gives them every good gift, every bite of food, every moment of gladness. It is only when they understand that they have been thanking the wrong god for all of life's blessings that they will be ready to hear the good news of how the Son of that living God came down, not as a myth, but as a man, to save them from their vain worship and bring them into His glorious kingdom.