Acts 14

In Acts 14, Paul and Barnabas are traveling and spreading the news of Jesus.

Two things about this chapter one to point out, the other was something I learned while reading my archaeological study Bible.  

You'll notice during Paul's missionary trips that he usually goes to the local synagogue first when he comes to a new city.  When he's met with opposition, he turns to the Gentiles.  He always gives his people, the Jews, a chance to listen to him and believe.

In Acts 14:11 Paul had just cured a man who had been lame from birth.  "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 he was the chief speaker.  The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them."  Acts 14:11-13    

Now obviously, Paul and Barnabas stopped this, but there was a reason the people had this reaction.  There is a legend that "Zeus and Hermes once visited the Phrygian hill country disguised as ordinary men. They were turned away from a thousand homes but finally were welcomed into the humble abode of an elderly couple.  The gods turned that house into a temple and destroyed the houses of all who had rejected them."  

I love when pieces of information come together, whether it be from different parts of the Bible or other sources, that make things start to click so I can see the times and activities of the Bible in the big picture.  It's amazing.  But maybe it's just me.