NOTES for Act 14:11-13

The episode in Lystra clearly shows the main danger the Church would have to face when its Jewish component, if it did not disappear entirely, became hardly noticeable. This would happen much later, of course, but the first signs of future problems, as we can see, appeared already in early Christian times. The essence of the problem, to put it briefly, came down to the recent pagans' violation of the second commandment of the Decalogue. Or to constant attempts to violate it, which eventually became an unhealthy spiritual tendency in the Church. And the question is not at all something malicious: the second commandment was violated from the best motives. But a violation remained a violation, and the result was the loss of God, the loss of God's presence in the life of individual people and sometimes of whole communities.

In Lystra everything was still very naive and obvious in its naivete, but the essence of the problem was marked out quite clearly. The logic is simple: they heal, therefore they are gods. Pagans were not entirely without spiritual experience, though it was very specific. They fully allowed for appearances of gods. And the form of these gods during their appearance could be the most unexpected. But most often they appeared in human form. Nothing prevents a pagan from seeing a god in the person through whom God's power acts.

Here it is precisely the logic of a pagan who in principle believes in the One, being sure that all gods and spirits are manifestations of His power. And a person can be a manifestation and embodiment of the power of the One. Or of one of the other gods. In this sense a person can be both Zeus and Hermes. It would seem that this is purely pagan naivete. But then we would have to admit that there was enough of it among the people of God too, certainly before the Babylonian exile. The story with the golden calf can be considered archetypal. And this very calf was not at all considered a pagan god, some Egyptian Apis.

They saw in it the God of Moses, the very God who led the people out of Egypt. A symbol? Yes. But one pointing not to Yahweh, but still to Apis: the image has too many associations with Apis, and none with Yahweh. The symbol screened God from view. A simple symbol. What then can be said about a real theophany? About an appearance of God's power? Such an appearance easily and simply screens God from view. Paradoxically, it turns out that fallen man in the fallen world is most easily led away from God precisely by theophany.

By an appearance of God's power. It is enough merely to tear one's gaze away from God and shift it to the effects caused by the action of this power. From Him Himself to the miracles, healings, and resurrections He performs. It is no accident that Jesus always refused "custom-ordered" miracles. And if God's power acts through a person, then seeing a god in that person is the easiest thing in the world. But this becomes a violation of the second commandment: here there is precisely a sacred image which people begin to worship instead of God. Of course, in the history of the Church all this will not be as naive as it was then in Lystra.

But in essence it is often the same, though outwardly more pious. Which saint helps in this or that case? And which icon heals from illness? We should not deceive ourselves: when we frame the question this way, we differ little from those inhabitants of Lystra who took the apostles for Zeus and Hermes. Because only God helps; who assists Him in this and what He uses for such help is of no significance. Otherwise the world for us will be full of gods, but there will be no place in it for God. Nor in our life either.