Not Without Witness (Acts 14:17)

 

Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Psalms 1; 2

1 Samuel 22:6-23

Acts 14:8-18

Observance: Coming Of The Light, first missionaries to the Torres Strait (1871)

Not Without Witness (Acts 14:17)

[Paul and Barnabas said to the crowds] “Yet God did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.”

I must admit that it is difficult to try and figure out what the ancient pagans thought about their false gods. When reading through the ancient epics, the way the gods are described makes it almost sound like they are poetic devices used to describe human activity. For example, during a great battle, Ares the god of war might appear in the form of a certain human warrior. Is this to say that they actually believed Ares came down and shape-shifted into this person everyone knew? Where was that person when Ares was around – were there two of them walking around the battlefield? Or was it more that this particular person was filled with an extra amount of martial prowess and bloodthirstiness, and so was described as being Ares for dramatic effect?

The crowds at Lystra did a similar thing with Paul and Barnabas. Paul spoke of heavenly things, and so they called him Hermes, messenger of the gods. And because of the miraculous healing, Barnabas they called Zeus, because such an impossible marvel could only be done by the king of Olympus. Did the locals actually believe in such deities, or was this just how they described the world around them? And the animals brought out for sacrifice – this may have been a religious ritual understood in a similar way to, say, holy communion or baptism. Or it may have been just as cultural as spiritual; a way for the crowds to communicate their respect for people with such exceptional, god-like qualities.

Either way, Paul and Barnabas are desperate for the crowds to understand that there is, in fact, a real God. A living God, not a dead god like in their ancient legends. He is a Creator, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. Where the Greeks looked at the world and humanity and derived a world view that tried to explain things from the bottom up, the apostles were preaching a world view that starts at the top. It is almost as if they are saying to the Greeks to raise their expectations. We do not live in a world of normal things, of incremental increases from the plants to insects to animals to people to gods; we live in a supernatural world spoken into and held in being by an infinite, living creator God. Repent, or, turn away from vain things. Look up. Raise your expectations. See how gloriously greater than anything else the Creator God is; and trust in his Son for the forgiveness of sins. It is not as if he has hidden himself away from us; even rain, food and gladness point to his existence and his love for us.

What arbitrary limitations might you have placed on God, without even realising? What more of the cross of Jesus Christ might you have yet to discover?

God of the heavens, who upholds all things by the power of your word: lift the eyes of our hearts towards the heavenly places, that we may always be open to learning more of your infinite goodness and might.