Paul Heals the Lame Man at Lystra #46

The healing of the lame man at Lystra takes place on Paul’s first missionary journey, in a small city in what is now central Turkey. A man who had never walked listens to Paul preach, is told to stand, and leaps up. The crowd concludes that the gods have come down in human form, and Paul and Barnabas have to stop them from offering sacrifices. The story is in Acts 14.

The Account

At Lystra, Luke describes a man sitting there who is lame from birth and has never walked (Acts 14:8). He listens as Paul speaks. Paul looks intently at him, sees that he has faith to be made well, and says in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” The man sprang up and began walking (Acts 14:9-10).

The crowds, seeing what Paul has done, shout in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” They call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because Paul was the chief speaker (Acts 14:11-12). The priest of the temple of Zeus, whose shrine was at the entrance to the city, brings oxen and garlands to the gates and prepares to offer sacrifice with the crowds (Acts 14:13). When Paul and Barnabas hear this, they tear their garments and rush into the crowd, crying out, “Men, why are you doing this? We also are men, of like nature with you,” and telling them to turn from these vain things to the living God who made heaven and earth and sea (Acts 14:14-15). They point to the God who gives rain and fruitful seasons, and even so they barely restrain the crowd from sacrificing (Acts 14:16-18).

Jews arrive from Antioch and Iconium and win over the crowd, and they stone Paul and drag him out of the city, supposing him dead. When the disciples gather around him, he gets up and goes back into the city, and the next day leaves with Barnabas for Derbe (Acts 14:19-20).

Setting and Context

Lystra was a Roman colony in Lycaonia with no mentioned Jewish synagogue, which explains why the crowd speaks in a local language and responds in pagan terms. Some commentators point to a well-known Greek and Roman story, told by Ovid, in which Zeus and Hermes visit a nearby region of Phrygia in disguise, as a reason the crowd was ready to believe. The healing closely parallels Peter’s healing of the man lame from birth in Acts 3, which many readers see as intentional on Luke’s part, showing that Paul’s ministry has the same character as Peter’s. Paul later recalls his sufferings at Lystra (2 Timothy 3:11).

What It Reveals

The most notable feature is the apostles’ reaction. Where others might accept honor, they insist on the difference between the Creator and human messengers. Their speech is the first example in Acts of a message to a non-Jewish audience without scriptural background, and it begins with God as creator rather than the history of Israel. Christian traditions read the account as a model of humility and of speaking the gospel in terms the audience can understand, and as a reminder that a miracle may be misinterpreted if not accompanied by clear teaching.