Chapter 14 – FAMILIA MUNDIAL
1 [8-18] In an effort to convince his hearers that the divine power works through his word, Paul cures the cripple. However, the pagan tradition of the occasional appearance of gods among human beings leads the people astray in interpreting the miracle. The incident reveals the cultural difficulties with which the church had to cope. Note the similarity of the miracle worked here by Paul to the one performed by Peter in ⇒ Acts 3:2-10.
2 [12] Zeus . . . Hermes: in Greek religion, Zeus was the chief of the Olympian gods, the «father of gods and men»; Hermes was a son of Zeus and was usually identified as the herald and messenger of the gods.
3 [14] Tore their garments: a gesture of protest.
4 [15-17] This is the first speech of Paul to Gentiles recorded by Luke in Acts (cf ⇒ Acts 17:22-31). Rather than showing how Christianity is the logical outgrowth of Judaism, as he does in speeches before Jews, Luke says that God excuses past Gentile ignorance and then presents a natural theology arguing for the recognition of God’s existence and presence through his activity in natural phenomena.
5 [23] They appointed presbyters: the communities are given their own religious leaders by the traveling missionaries. The structure in these churches is patterned on the model of the Jerusalem community (⇒ Acts 11:30; ⇒ 15:2, 5, ⇒ 22; ⇒ 21:18).