Galatians Journal: Chapter 2, verse 7

Galatians 2:7: “On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews.”

First off, here is support for the premise that Paul is not referring to the leaders/authorities of the Church (e.g. Peter, James, and the other Apostles) in his criticism of “those who seemed to be important” which we discussed in the previous verse –

“they saw” They needed to recognize Paul’s ministry in the same light as Peter’s, that Peter was already the apostle to the Jews. In the context of Paul’s reference, Peter would not have needed to make a realization about his own ministry. Paul was referring to others – the Judiazers.

This comparison/contrast between Paul and Peter as having opposite commissions – Jew and Gentile – serves to support the notion that Paul is speaking either about the Judiazers, or, more likely about the collective decision of the entire council. If we look at Acts 15, its hard to place the concept of what is traditionally referred to as the “Council at Jerusalem” in the context of Galatians. What is really going on here?

Acts 15 states that the Judiazers had attempted to teach their heresy at Antioch – Paul’s home base church. Paul and Barnabas came into sharp disagreement with these men. The local church at Antioch appointed Paul, Barnabas, and others as a delegation to meet with the leaders at Jerusalem. It is unclear whether the Acts 15 Council was called specifically for this purpose, or was some other type of gathering (an annual “convention?” a meeting in conjunction with one of the major Jewish festivals?) where Paul and Barnabas happened to raise the issue.

Regardless, God knew what he was doing, and had a plan. Acts 15 reads like Paul and Barnabas were sort of “on tour,” sharing the concept of their ministry to the Gentiles and the victories and “good news” they had experienced in reaching out to the Gentile world. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were welcomed with open arms by not only the leaders and apostles, but by the entire church there (Acts 15:4). Paul’s ministry was evidently favorably received by most of the believers in Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, Galatians 2:2 shows that Paul went with a personal agenda, revealed by the Holy Spirit. In this, Paul was told by God to submit his ministry to the church elders/apostles – privately. Verse 3 reveals that the apostles affirmed Paul’s work. But then, if the Galatians 2 visit took place at the same time as the Acts 15 visit, Acts 15:5 goes on to show that a second public debate ensued. Acts 15:6 states that the elders met “to consider the question.” Peter then publicly affirmed Paul’s mission. Acts 15:12 – “the whole assembly became silent” as Paul and Barnabas spoke. If there is a connection with Galatians 2:7, this is it – the “they saw” was the entire Council. The Church at large, in Jerusalem, came to accept that there was a ministry to the Gentiles.

But did they like it? And did they, or could they overcome past prejudice and offense and accept the Gentiles as equals and “full brothers?” The footnotes here in v. 7 reveal that the original text uses the word “uncircumcised” when Paul refers to the Gentiles, and “circumcised” when he refers to the Jews. I believe Paul knew that even with the favorable result of the Council, the underlying attitude of the Jews was still one of prejudice – well, at least with some of them. You can almost feel it drip from Paul’s words here – the Judiazers had been silenced at the Council and begrudgingly accepted that Paul had a ministry to the “uncircumcised.” But the implications were, well, “they’re still not as good as we are.” Its very subtle, but its there. This is, of course, one of the major issues facing the church in America, and here in the Chicago area today. We can accept the fact that God is moving among the churches of other races, or different traditions than our own, but deep down, we believe they’re not as good as we are, no quite equals. Thus, the heresy Paul is fighting against in the Galatian churches is alive and well today, in perhaps (at least for us) a more subtle, but no less insidious form.