Galatians 1:11-17
Dear friends, I solemnly swear that the way to heaven that I preach is not based on some mere human whim or dream. For my message comes from no less a person than Jesus Christ himself, who told me what to say. No one else has taught me. You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I went after the Christians mercilessly, hunting them down and doing my best to get rid of them all. I was one of the most religious Jews of my own age in the whole country and tried as hard as I possibly could to follow all the old, traditional rules of my religion. But then something happened! For even before I was born, God had chosen me to be his and called me—what kindness and grace—to reveal his Son within me so that I could go to the Gentiles and show them the Good News about Jesus. When all this happened to me I didn’t go at once and talk it over with anyone else; I didn’t go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. No, I went away into the deserts of Arabia and then came back to the city of Damascus. Galatians 1:11-17 (TLB)
Paul grew up in an established religion, Judaism, surrounded by role models. Theologian N.T. Wright says it well in his commentary, “Long before football stars and rock musicians, Jewish boys like Paul had their minds fed with tales of the Jewish heroes of long ago, the prophets and martyrs who had lived and died fearlessly for their God and his law. Paul describes himself as one of those who were strictest and keenest in their adherence to and their application of, the ancestral traditions, that is, the detailed discussions as to how precisely the law of Moses should be applied in day-to-day living. He was, in other words, a Pharisee, and a strict one at that.” (Paul for Everyone, Galatians and Thessalonians by N.T. Wright p. 8)
As a Pharisee and devout Jew, Paul was on a mission to destroy the followers of Jesus until, on his way to Damascus, he was struck down and Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah. What’s more, Paul is not just to line up with his Jewish brothers and sisters who worship Christ, but he is to go to all the pagan nations he has been persecuting and tell them that God loves them just as much as God loves the children of Israel.
What it tells us in Galatians, that it doesn’t tell us in Paul’s conversion story in Acts, is that after he goes on to Damascus, he doesn’t continue to Jerusalem but first goes to Arabia and afterward returns to Damascus and then on to Jerusalem. Scholars estimate he was in Arabia for 3 years. Paul had a few things to sort out.
Perhaps we too have a few things to sort out. Christianity exists because there was first Judaism. Paul was a product of the Jewish faith. He was following the laws his ancestors had developed from their relationship with God. But then there is Jesus. Jesus who turns the laws upside down by changing the focus from obeying the law to living out the law with grace and love. Jesus who loved people outside of his group. People who were rejected by others – like lepers, Samaritans, the woman at the well, tax collectors . . . Democrats, Republicans, immigrants, trans people, Israelis, Palestinians . . .
God loves all people by loving each and every one of us. Let that love begin with you. Let that love begin with me. Amen.
Questions for Reflection:
- In today’s verses, Paul tells about a life transformed by Christ. How has knowing Jesus changed you?
- What is the hardest part about loving all people? Who could you talk to about it? (Jesus is a good answer, but also, who might you know who Jesus could speak through)
Prayer:
I pray that I will always see the possibility for good in every person, just as Christ saw it in Paul. And I pray that all people come to know the boundless love, grace, and transforming power of Jesus Christ. Amen
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