Acts, Part 25: True Preachers of Righteousness
While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barnabas came upon a man with crippled feet. They prayed and he was healed. What happened next was a test for Paul and Barnabas. The people went wild, believing that the gods Zeus and Hermes had appeared in human form. They wanted to make sacrifices to Paul and Barnabas. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard what was happening, they tore their clothing in dismay and ran out among the people, shouting, “Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. Some hostile Jews turned the crowd against the preachers: They stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, thinking he was dead.