Monday 08 October 2012

Background

To understand why Paul is so "perplexed" (v. 20) we need toremind ourselves why Paul was writing to the Galatian churches. ForPaul, the core of his 'gospel' (the good news about Jesus) was thatthe life, death and resurrection of Jesus had shown beyond alldoubt that he was the Jewish messiah ('Christ'), and that byraising him from the dead God had declared him to be 'Lord' as well- the ultimate authority, above even the Roman emperor. Even morethan that, in Jesus, God had begun a new act of creation which wasrevealed in the transformed lives of his followers, the new peopleof God. And, crucially, this embraced Jews and non-Jews (Gentiles)on equal terms. Jewishness (especially diet and male circumcision)was no longer the identifying mark of God's people. For Paul, thismeant that faith in Christ was all that mattered. So, althoughstill a faithful Jew in many respects, amongst Gentiles he laid hisJewishness aside, to remove any barriers to friendship andfellowship.

This was the message Paul had brought to the Galatians, incircumstances related, it seems, to his ill-health - possibly hisrecurring eyesight problems (verses 13-15 and also 6:11). But, since his first visit, Paul'senemies, Jewish Christians from the church in Jerusalem, had beenthere too, trying to turn the Galatian gentile Christians againstPaul by telling them that he was wrong, and that if they wanted tofollow Christ they should adopt Jewish dietary rules and, for themen, circumcision. Faith in Christ was not enough. No wonder Paulwas furious, for this undermined the very heart of his gospel anddrove a wedge between Jewish and gentile Christ-followers, andbetween him and the Galatian church. So he urged them to "become asI am", and to reject this other, 'Jewish' gospel and to see it as atravesty of the truth.

Paul was driven, not just by his passion for the gospel, but bycompassion for the Galatian gentile Christ-followers, his "littlechildren" (v. 19) in Christ of whom he was clearly very fond. But,like many parents, he was confused and annoyed by the way that theyseemed so easily impressed by those who, in fact, wanted to excludethem from fellowship.

To Ponder

• While 'Jewish Christianity' faded from view by the end of thefirst century, the tendency to insist that 'faith in Christ' is notenough is still with us in many churches. What kind of things getadded to the list of membership requirements? Why?

• Paul urged the Galatian Christ-followers to "become as I am".Who are your Christian role models?

• In the context of Christian faith and the church, what makesyou angry? Why? If you were Paul, what kind of response might youexpect today?