7th February, 2010

BRUCE C. WEARNE

Read Galatians 2: 1-21

Paul explains to his Galatian readers how the mission to the Gentiles, of which they were the fruit, came about and how it was endorsed in Jerusalem by James, the brother of Jesus, and the other apostles. At that point, there had been a definitive endorsement of the work of Paul and Barnabas by Peter (Cephas) (Acts 15: 6-11).

THE ROCK: Statue of Peter at the Vatican, PICTURE:Robert Aichinger (www.sxc.hu) "Peter is the Greek equivalent (of Cephas) and means "rock". This was a prophecy fulfilled when Peter became known by that name to believing Jews and Gentiles. And this also related to Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 16: 13-20) which Jesus identified as the stone (petra) on which He would build His church."

Here, Paul refers to Peter and Cephas; clearly it is one and the same person. So, why does he do that?

Cephas is the Aramaic name by which Jesus had said Peter would be known. We might say it is the name by which his Jewish fellows knew him. Jesus had said to him, "So you are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas" (John 1: 42). Peter is the Greek equivalent and means "rock". This was a prophecy fulfilled when Peter became known by that name to believing Jews and Gentiles. And this also related to Peter's confession of Jesus as Messiah (Matthew 16: 13-20) which Jesus identified as the stone (petra) on which He would build His church.

This is all significant. It helps us see what Paul is getting at when he used stage terms to accuse Peter of play-acting (verse 13 - upokrisei). Paul accused Cephas of "playing" a double game, playing to two audiences, acting out two parts.

The work among the Gentiles was not the initiative of Paul and Barnabas. It arose at Antioch, when Paul and Barnabas were set aside by the Holy Spirit to do that work. And then, when they reported to Jerusalem about the work they had undertaken, they were "given the right hand of fellowship" by James and the others.

This then leads us to the matters referred to in verses 11 to 14. What Paul writes here about Jews and Gentiles receiving right standing before God is completely consistent with Luke's account of Peter's declaration that they must not "put God to the test by yoking Gentile disciples with a burden that neither themselves nor all their Jewish ancestors had been able to carry!" (Acts 15: 10).

Indeed, that is why we shouldn't too quickly assume that Paul here is, once again, and from a Galatian context, confronting a salvation-by-works recidivistic back-slider - that hermeneutic understates this affirmation made when the Jerusalem church had given thanks to the Lord for allowing Gentiles to believe in the Messiah Jesus. After all, it is also by grace that Jewish disciples come to faith: "But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will" (Acts 15: 11).

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