"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?"
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If I were a believer living in Galatia, and found out that there was a letter from Paul, I would have been excited and looked for someone who had heard it publicly read or better yet, had read it themselves... but then as I heard it for myself, I might have prayed this prayer...
"Father, I have been grateful for Paul's ministry to my family and friends. He was an Apostle to me, and I thought that the miracles You performed through him were signs that You approved of his life and teachings. And I was not aware that I had done anything that he would have objected to. I mean, when those people came to us and started talking about the Laws of Moses, and how Jesus was a Jew, and that if I really wanted to be like Him, I would need to study Moses' like Jesus did, and start keeping the Sabbath and some of the other things that Moses' emphasized..."
(I know that at this point I am guessing how it was, but since the people who were deceiving the Galatians were passing themselves off as true believers in Jesus, I think it was likely that they were more subtle than belligerent in their efforts.)
Lord, by this point in Paul's letter I would really have been confused, and now I would be insulted...
"If he is an apostle, why would He break Jesus' prohibition against calling people "fools?" And what does he mean "bewitched?" I was just trying to do what I thought was best. I have always been a gentile, and don't know anything about Moses, and when these people came who said they understood all of this and wanted to help, I didn't think there would be any harm in listening to another point of view. So Paul thinks I am foolish and under a spell just because I was curious about Moses? Why wouldn't I be interested in Moses? Wasn't he the greatest leader the Jews ever had? Didn't God do his greatest miracles through him? I just don't understand why Paul is calling me names and insulting my intelligence. Father, please open my eyes to understand. I don't see anything wrong with what these other people are saying, but I don't want Paul to be mad at me. And I know that some people consider Paul and his letters to have some sort of direct authority from Jesus. So, if Paul is right, then I must really have a problem, and I might somehow be blinded. I can't take this. Please explain this to me."
"Yes, I was there when they did that re-enactment of Jesus' crucifixion. Yes, I remember them quoting the Prophet Isaiah when he said that the Anointed One would suffer for my sins. And I remember what Paul said about all of that. Now Paul is saying that since I starting tying to keep the Mosaic calender and dietary laws, that I have nullified God's Grace and treated Jesus' death as if it were unnecessary. Lord, what if he is right? How could this be? I was only trying to be a little more holy. Have I ruined everything? No way did I ever intend to offend Jesus or minimize His sufferings. What do I do now?"
The answer to that question is at the heart of what Paul's letter to the Galatians is all about. And the answer is the same for that imaginary Galatian as it is for us today. The only difference is that in AD52 it was Moses' Laws they had become enslaved to. Today it is much harder for us to know exactly what kind of slaves we really are. We must not allow ourselves to ever be enslaved by anything except Jesus Himself by His Spirit. NO legalism of any kind. Even a legalistic commitment to our own good intentions denies Jesus' Lordship over our lives.
If Paul had spoken at my church this week, would he have said "You foolish Sanfordites, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?" Maybe.
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Thank You for giving me a few minutes of your time. Galatians is a unique letter. It will take some time to get into Paul's mind, and from there to understand what God has chosen to reveal through the disaster that the congregation at Galatia was experiencing.
The effect of these Meditations will be cumulative, and the real benefit may have nothing to do with what I have written. I believe that the discipline of having a brief daily conversation with God about the meaning of a variety of Bible passages over a period of a few weeks, even if you come to some very different conclusions, will still be a wonderful and enlightening experience for you. At DeadRight.net, under the Yellow Pages, is some background info about Galatians. If you missed an earlier Meditation, you can still read it at DeadRight.net by going to the homepage, clicking on Newsletter, and clicking on "browse previous newsletters."