The disciples, Peter and John, walked to the Temple one day at three in the afternoon, the hour of prayer, which was that time of day when the Temple was most tightly jammed with unsaved Jews. While Peter and John climbed the steps of the Temple mount and approached the outer court, Silas sat at the gate with a cup, begging for alms. "He kept his eye out for Peter and John; and when he saw them about to enter the Temple, he asked them for money" (Acts 3:2-3).

Peter and John looked straight at him, and Peter shouted, "Look at us! .... Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have, is yours: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth – Get up and walk!" (Acts 3:4)

Silas felt new strength come throbbing into his feet and ankles. He stood up. He walked. He pranced. He did a little jig, with his hands on his hips and his elbows out.

Then he went with Peter and John into the Temple, still walking and leaping, and praising God. And when all the people saw him walking around, and heard him pay God compliments, they recognized him as the very same man who had sat begging at the Temple gate, and they were filled with curiosity and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:5-10)

When Paul heard about this miracle, he asked Simon Peter for lessons how to cure paraplegics. Peter was not overly fond of Paul, but he graciously taught his rival apostle, in three easy steps, how to do it (Acts 3:13).

Paul next bumped into his old friend, Silas, in the Lycaonian city of Lystra, on his famous first missionary journey. Paul and his other Christian friend, Barnabas, marched boldly to the Lystra tabernacle, where Paul intended to deliver a fiery sermon against the Lycaonian Jews – when whom should they meet but Silas of Jerusalem, sitting on the steps of the tabernacle, with a cup in his hand, begging for alms! That's because Silas in the interim (Acts 4-13) had suffered a tragic relapse: the crippling disease had returned to his legs.

Paul looked directly at Silas, and saw that he had enough faith to be healed, so he called out, "You! Stand up on your feet!" (Acts 14:8-9).

Strength came throbbing back into Silas's legs. He jumped to his feet. He walked. He pranced. He did a little jig, with his hands on his hips and his elbows out (Acts 14:10).

Saint Paul! what a knucklehead! This was his first unassisted miracle – no holy hankies, this time; no holy Paul aprons; and no Simon Peter – yet he had forgotten the first rule of the miracle business, which is this:

Rule 1. Whenever you heal someone, say that you have done it "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghost," or "in the name of the Lord," or "in the name of Jesus," so that God's fame may be magnified.

Simon Peter had told him: If you are among superstitious people, you can omit to say "and of the holy Ghost" so as not to frighten them. But no minister who knows what he's doing will ever forget to say "in the name of the Father" or "in the name of Jesus." If you forget to say that, you may as well slit your own throat before sundown. Nothing makes God more impatient with His own team than when power goes out from Him to help some basket-case or other, and the miracle-worker neglects to give credit where credit is due.

Now when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted, in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called "Zeus," and Paul, they called "Hermes" because Paul was the chief speaker. Then, behold, the Priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, because he and the crowd wished to offer sacrifices unto Paul and Barnabas. (Acts 14:11-14)

When Paul realised his mistake, he let slip with a few words of self-reproach. He knew the rules. And he knew he was in deep trouble with Jesus. He began to sweat, as when he first heard the Voice on the road to Damascus.

Barnabas was not overly concerned about all of that, but he was deeply troubled by these people who had put him upon their shoulders and were parading him about the streets of Lystra, calling him "Zeus." Barnabas may have been a Jewish Christian and a missionary, but he was no idiot. He knew that Zeus is the Greek god who was notorious for having sex with rosy-cheeked pubescent boys (e.g., Ganymede) which is something that the Greeks themselves always enjoyed quite a bit. Which worried Barnabas, quite a bit.

– L.

(To be continued!)