Luke Can Be Funny

 Fourth Tuesday after the Epiphany

Thanks to Frances for her question. We'll talk about it onthe blog this coming Monday.

 

Luke has a sense of humor. It's just that first century humor is different from twenty-first century humor. 

Please read Acts 14:8-20.

In Lystra Paul and Barnabas get as opposite a reaction as possible from what they have gotten in previous ventures. Paul performs a healing of a crippled man. The people of Lystra are speakers of the Lyaconian language. Greek is their second language. Being worshippers of Greek gods, they think Paul and Barnabas must be gods. Paul and Barnabas, not speaking Lyaconiun, appear unsure at first of what is going on. As the people of Lystra proclaim Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes, and as they start bringing them sacrifices, Paul and Barnabas begin to catch on. Then a priest of Zeus brings sacrifices from his temple to offer to Paul/Hermes and Barnabas/Zeus. No, Lystra folks, you've got this all wrong. Jesus is God. We are just men. 

I think this whole scene could be played on stage or screen as slapstick comedy. Shakespeare loved this kind of thing. I Love Lucy loved this sort of thing. The hysterical chaos of it all. Paul and Barnabas are rock stars (whom we sometimes treat as gods). Rumor spread as fast as Twitter. Everybody rushes to see these gods. The crowds are loud. It's hard for Paul to get their attention. It takes Paul's and Barnabas's tearing their clothes and speaking loudly for them to get the crowd to listen.

Paul's speech is a precursor of a longer speech he will give in Athens. He speaks in Greek. It's second language for the crowd. Some of them understand better than others. Crowds tend to hear what they want to hear. Paul preachers to them a natural theology, that God is creator of the goodness of nature all around them. He doesn't quite get to sin and forgiveness, the death and resurrection of Jesus. The crowds still want to worship Paul and Barnabas.

Jews coming from Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium arrive and quickly turn the crowds against Paul and Barnabas. They stone Paul and throw him out of the city, thinking he is dead. Some "disciples," apparently people of Lystra who have been converted, in one way or another, by Paul's message, surround Paul and protect him. Paul and Barnabas move on.

Luke oversizes his portrayals here. The people of Lystra are an ignorant and foolish mob, misunderstanding at every point, capable of about-face in their thinking in a flash. The Jews are out to get Paul, seeing him and the new faith he represents as a serious danger. 

Many scholars see vv. 19 and 20 as evidence of an anti-Jewish bias on the part of Luke. Most scholars, but not I, see Luke as being a gentile. To me Luke's bias is the bias of an insider. Here's an analogy. I'm not sure whether its apt. I am a Christian. I am not an Evangelical. I will admit a  certain bias I have against some Evangelicals, but it's an insider bias.  I disagree with them on just about everything, but we are all one in belief in Christ. 

Some have seen it a historically not feasible that these Jews would follow Paul and Barnabas close to 100 miles in order to run them out of another town. But isn't this exactly what the pre-Christian Paul did, going from Antioch to Jerusalem to Damascus in order to persecute Christians. 

On to Derbe in our next Acts study.

Faithfully,

Christian