The Lord’s Blindingly Bright Vision as Seen by Paul

“So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”  

So said Apostle Paul (at Gal. 3:26-28) in his letter to the churches of Galatia, a Roman province southeast of modern Istanbul, Turkey. See map. In Galatian churches, a mix of cultures resulted in disputes and division. Some from Jewish backgrounds there thought they should adhere to their traditional religious practices, including by circumcising males (as mandated by God’s covenant with Abraham and Mosaic law), and by refusing to associate with non-Jews. When known as Saul, Paul himself had once vigorously attempted to purge Jewish communities of persons who had come to believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. Ac. 8:1, 3. 

On his way to prosecute just such believers, the risen Christ appeared to Saul (as depicted in the accompanying painting of 1690 by Luca Giordano). Ac. 9:1-9. Saul’s worldview once had followed traditional dichotomies of ethnicity, bondage status and gender. But his blinding encounter with Jesus and God-provided instruction, see Gal. 1:16, transformed Saul’s religious beliefs and the very course of his life.  

Specifically, as Apostle Paul, he grasped God’s intention to change these three traditional barriers in new faith communities. First, Paul “opposed” even Apostle Peter - “to his face”- when Peter ceased to fellowship with Gentiles. Gal. 2:11. Likewise, when others taught that Jesus’ followers should continue to practice male circumcision as the marker of inclusion among God’s people, Paul “refused to give in to them” and insisted that circumcision meant nothing. Gal. 2:5, 6:15. Second, Paul urged Philemon to welcome back his slave Onesimus (probably a runaway who later accepted Jesus as Lord). Philemon should see Onesimus “no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” Phl 16. Third, Paul repeatedly identified women as having significant roles in Christian communities: “benefactor” and “servant” (rendered as “deacon” in recent prominent English translations, including the NIV and NRSV) (Phoebe); “co-worker” (Priscilla); fellow prisoner and messenger (Junia);“hard” workers (Mary, Tryphena, Tryphosa and Persis), Ro. 16:1-3, 6-7, 12; persons who “contended at [his] side in the cause of the gospel” (Euodia and Syntyche), Phil. 4:2-3; congregational meeting place provider (Priscilla, Nympha), Ro. 16:4-5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:15. 

In short, from his divine encounters, Paul saw that God wanted a Christian community defined not by societal boundaries of ethnicity, bondage status and gender. Instead, as Gal. 3:26-28 shows, this community would consist of those who trusted in Jesus (and so had faith) and through baptism were spiritually clothed with his righteousness. This passage is among the lectionary passages for June 22, a Sunday on which I’ll preach. Between now and then, I encourage you to prayerfully reflect on what the verses quoted meant to the Galatians and how they apply to us.