Tuesday/5/16/17
Two of the most interesting
aspects of today’s first reading are first, the way the people of Lystra stoned
Paul, leaving him for dead; and secondly, the way Paul and Barnabas appointed presbyters.
The people stoned Paul leaving him for dead. While they left Paul only seeming
to be dead, they had kept stoning Stephen
until they were sure of it.
If you were going to
make a film of their stoning , how many people would you have throwing the
stones, and where on their bodies and heads would you have the stones wounding Paul
and killing Stephen?
Another interesting part of that first reading is the way Paul
and Barnabas, after making converts in Derbe, Lystra and Iconioium, retraced
their steps, appointing presbyteros in
each place.
While our Catholic Bible translates presbyteros as presbyters,
other Bibles translate it as “elders.” However, there is a good argument for
translating it as “priests.” If you look up the word “priest” in Webster, you
will see that it is a contraction of the Greek word Presbyter. So. our ancestors saw them as the same.
The word presbyter has an interesting derivation. The byt was the Indo-European word for an ox. So a
presbyter is a lead ox. Priests should be out in front pulling the load ,
instead of sitting on the coach, cracking the whip.
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