Galatians Two (part one)
Paul is in the middle of telling his personal history, which
demonstrates the impossibility of receiving his apostolic gospel message from
any human source, especially from the apostles or other leaders (together
viewed as “pillars”) of the Jerusalem church.
There is a conflict raging, and the issue may pit Paul against
Jerusalem. That would put Paul at a
disadvantage, first, because Paul was not one of the Twelve apostles who walked
with Jesus during the incredible three years of His messianic ministry. Paul will deny this inferiority on the
grounds that his gospel, no less than that preached by any of the Twelve, was
sourced directly from the Lord by means of revelation. A second disadvantage might come against Paul
if any can successfully demonstrate that Paul gets his message or his authority
from Jerusalem. In such case, Paul would
be obligated, if there is some discrepancy, to go back to Jerusalem and to
concede to them. As we enter Chapter
Two, Paul has demonstrated that his time in Jerusalem totals 15 days over 17
years, that he met only with Peter (Cephas) and James (the brother of Jesus),
and that he had been working his gospel message in active ministry before any
of this.
Now, 14 years after the first visit, Paul makes a second to
Jerusalem. He takes with him Barnabas
and a Gentile (uncircumcised) Christian named Titus. Barnabas is important because he had been an
emissary from Jerusalem to Antioch, where he was sent to investigate the mixing
of Gentiles and Jews in Christian fellowship.
And, it was Barnabas who sought-out Paul and brought him to
Antioch. Titus is even more
important. As an uncircumcised Gentile
Christian, he is a living example of the result one might expect after Paul’s
gospel message is preached. He is “Exhibit
A” for the case that Paul wants to present at a meeting with the top-tier
authority in the church established by Jesus.
Paul attends this meeting in response to a revelation. This would seem to be the episodic sort of
direction that Paul sometimes received, and not the revelation (mentioned in
1:12) that first brought to Paul the message that he was to preach. It is important to note that, in this
meeting, Jerusalem is not dictating to Paul and looking to see how he measures
up. He is the one presenting to “those
who were of reputation.” The authority
of the Jerusalem leaders was recognized within the church, but Paul is
positioning himself to discount that authority if it should deny the validity
of his gospel. Paul knows its source,
and thus its validity. Any discrediting
of his gospel thus implies a fault in the critic(s), even if they possess
uncontested authority from people.
Still, Paul is worried at the possibility, past or present, of “running
in vain.” This should not be understood
as if Paul were toying with the possibility, after all, that his gospel message
might have been flawed. Rather, Paul
understands that those who are potential opponents in this conflict are his
brothers. They belong to the same
team. And should a rift between them be
indicated, it would mean the team members were working against rather than
working with each other. This would have
meant “running in vain.”
The outcome of the meeting is that Titus leaves just as he arrived—uncircumcised
Christian. The Jerusalem leadership did
not compel him to go under the knife to keep his status as an insider to the
Christian community. He was accepted, as
is! This, in itself, is a demonstration
that Paul’s gospel has been validated, not faulted, by the top authority in
Jerusalem. However, a third group
attended this meeting. Besides Paul’s
company and the Jerusalem leaders, there is a group of “false brothers” who
were brought in to “spy out the freedom to be had in Christ Jesus.” It looks suspiciously as though the meeting
has been sabotaged, that someone has set Paul up for a confrontation. My guess is that the instigator here was
James. He is identified in 2:12 as the
one who sent a delegation to Antioch, and Paul would have also considered them
to be false Christians. In fact, they
seem to be the ones targeted by the curse attached to preaching a “different
gospel” in 1:6-9. They are Jewish
Christians who, since they believe the Law/Torah is still the identifying
center for the true people of God, believe that compliance with the “old covenant”
is binding upon Christians, even if they happen to be Gentiles. And compliance was bound up primarily in
three “works of the Law”: circumcision,
kosher food requirements, and keeping Sabbath.
Paul resisted their pressure and saw it as a threat to the truth of
the gospel. It is important to attend to
the issues of “slavery” and “freedom/liberty” that first surface here, for they
begin a theme that flows through the letter.
Having just emerged with Titus intact, Paul refuses to credit Jerusalem
with making any improvements on what Paul brought to the table. The quality of his gospel was there without
their help. In fact, their esteem and
prestige (in the eyes of people) offered nothing to Paul; nor to God! Literally, Paul says that “God does not receive
a man’s face.” Recall in 1:22 that Paul
declared himself to be “unknown by face” to the Judean churches. And watch in 2:11, where Paul will oppose
Peter “to his face.” These face
references are an interesting window to the culture in which this conflict
takes place.
In spite of the interference of the false Christians, who would
impose Jewish law on non-Jews, there is no rift between Paul’s side and the
Jerusalem side. However, they jointly
agree to divide their labors in ministry into separate spheres of
responsibility. Paul will attend to
Gentiles (the uncircumcised); Peter will focus on evangelizing Jews (the
circumcised). Both ministry endeavors
advanced the purpose of the same Lord. The
team was intact, and working cooperatively for shared goals. The cap on the validation of Paul’s gospel
came when, as the meeting concluded, Paul and Barnabas were extended “the right
hand of fellowship” from Jerusalem. The
only additional burden placed on Paul (and it involved not the slightest
tweaking of his gospel) was that he attend to the poor. Paul complied gladly, and his fundraising
within his Gentile churches would bring famine relief back to Jerusalem.
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