Saturday, August 8, 2009

Galatians Journal: Chapter 2, verse 11

Galatians 2:11 “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.”

After the Galatians 2/Acts 11:27 visit Paul paid to Jerusalem, Peter later comes to Antioch, which was Paul’s home base during his missionary period. Where this fits into the time line is unclear, but while it follows the “famine visit,” it probably is after the Acts 15 Council as well. Paul’s righteous sarcasm is evident here. He refers to Peter by his Greek name, “Cephas,” rather then as Peter – implying a connection to his Galatians constituents, and to contrast with Peter’s sense of Jewish superiority here. Paul states he opposed Peter “to his face;” confronted him head-on – directly, because he was “clearly in the wrong” about this issue. (As an aside, it would also indicate an obligation to confront leaders when they are “clearly in the wrong,” But we need to be careful – the word is “clearly.” Here, Peter was acting in a way that clearly went against God’s word, and the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit to Paul that had been confirmed by Peter himself! This was much more than a difference of opinion! Some might also find some fault here with Paul in him not following the admonition of Jesus in Matthew 18:15-17, that is, to take matters of offense to a brother privately first. But Paul had already taken care of this -- the whole Acts 11:27 visit described in Galatians 2 had been a "private" meeting on this very issue, and was settled. As noted in the previous parenthetical, it had also been settled in a way where Peter had confirmed Paul in his ministry and purpose. Paul really had no choice here but to confront Peter openly.

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