Once again, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:
7You were running well. Who cut in [on] you to not be
obeying the truth? 8This persuasion [is] not out of the One calling
you. 9‘A little leaven leavens the whole lump’. 10I am
persuaded concerning you in the Lord that you will think nothing differently
but the one troubling you, whoever he is, will bear the judgment. 11But,
brethren, if I am yet preaching circumcision, why am I yet being persecuted? Consequently
the scandal of the Cross is negated. 12O that the ones opposing you
would castrate themselves!
In my last three posts I looked at verses 7-10. I have one
last thought I’d like to record before moving on.
In verse 11, Paul says, “But,
brethren, if I am yet preaching circumcision, why am I yet being persecuted? Consequently
the scandal of the Cross is negated.” First
of all, the question that crosses my mind is, “Who said you were?” Nowhere in
the book has there been any intimation that Paul preaches circumcision. In
fact, I would have assumed the opposite situation, that the Judaizers were
demeaning Paul to the Galatians precisely because he did not preach circumcision. I think this is one of those cases where
we simply have to remember we are reading someone else’s mail. The Scriptures
were written “for our admonition” but, on the other hand, they were written by
people to people in another time and place and sometimes we simply are not
privy to everything that was going on. Not a biggee to me, just something that occasionally
has to be acknowledged by serious exegetes – that there are a few places where
we simply don’t know what was going on.
But what interests me here is the idea of the “scandal of
the Cross.”
In I Cor 1:23, Paul says the Cross is “to the Jews a
stumbling block.” Matthew Henry comments, “That
which they were most offended at in Christianity was, that thereby circumcision,
and the whole frame of the legal administration, were set aside, as no longer
in force. This raised their greatest outcries against it, and stirred them up
to oppose and persecute the professors of it.”
The scandal of the Cross is, in one sense its exclusivity.
It brokes no competition. Whatever else one may propose, “It cannot be both.”
The Jews could have probably born the preaching of grace if only they could
bring along their works; but when someone (Paul) makes it clear that the Cross –
grace – means that all their beloved and precious rites and traditions are
worthless, their anger knows no limit – they’ll even crucify their Messiah over
it!
People today are no different. I remember hearing once about
a creationist and evolutionist who got to debating in a group. As the
creationist calmly presented the scientific facts, the evolutionist, who had no
defensible answers, grew more and more angry. Finally one of the evolutionsist’s
friends commented to him, “Seems to me he’s messing with your religion.”
So it is. People, religious or not, get very angry if you “mess
with their religion.” And again, I think that is what creates the “scandal of
the Cross,” its exclusivity. Jesus said, “I am the way … no one comes to the
Father but by Me.” The way. No one.
It is the whole theme of this book but worth pointing out
again that legalism is a case in point. The Judaizers would apparently say, “It
is okay to believe in this Jesus thing and all of that … as long as you keep
our rules.” But when the response is, “No, Jesus means your rules are
worthless,” then the fangs and claws come out. It’s “messing with their
religion.” And I would suggest therein we see the problem – their rules are their religion!
Only a sincere and complete acceptance of grace can deliver
us from this dread business of someone “messing with our religion.” Grace
strips away all of the externals and leaves me with nothing but a real relationship
with God (or not). I would suggest that only from the platform of grace can we
really live a life of unconditional love to our neighbors, a life where their
offenses, their practices, even their “religion,” doesn’t “threaten” us.
I have said for years if Jesus were to have waited and come
today, it is the fundamentalist church in America that would crucify Him. It is
a sad reality that, while they supposedly “preach Christ” and think they are
the champions of the Scriptures, yet, like the Pharisees of old, the practice
of their religion is their vast array of rules, and as a result, they will ostracize
and castigate anyone who would claim Christ yet not keep those precious rules. Rest
assured they would even crucify their Messiah!
I sincerely hope that the “scandal of the Cross” is not a scandal
in my heart. I hope I have sincerely put away all the competitors my evil heart
endears, that my “religion” (if you can even call it that) is truly Christ and
Him alone. I guess God help me to see where things are otherwise. May real
grace in my heart help someone else to see past the “scandal” and may I bear it
patiently when the scandal brings out the fangs and claws in others.
God help us.
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