Commentary on Galatians (10)
GALATIANS 2:1-10
Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain. Yet not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might remain with you.
As for those who seemed to be important – whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance – those men added nothing to my message. On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as Peter had been to the Jews. For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Peter and John, those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
Things get really interesting with this passage. From it we can derive much about ecclesiastical politics in relation to the defense of the gospel. For this reason, it ought to receive ample attention in a program of ministry training. The purpose of this commentary prevents us from pointing out many of the details worthy of discussion on this subject. The passage presents a number of interpretive difficulties in itself, and to push any one of the alternatives very far would take us beyond exposition into speculation. The main points are clear as usual, and what follows will ensure that we grasp them, if nothing else.
Paul has been narrating an account of his life that very likely counters the Judaizers' accusations and misrepresentations. In the previous passage (1:13-24), he recalled his condition prior to conversion and how God consecrated and transformed him, having revealed Christ to him and called him to preach the gospel. By the time he met the apostles, his theology and ministry were already established, so that as far as anything that has to do with this controversy is concerned, he was directly called by God and taught by Christ, and he owed nothing to Jerusalem. Paul continues his story and sets the record straight. Building on the previous verses, he describes another visit to Jerusalem. While maintaining his independence, he now shows that the other apostles are in agreement with him.
Verse 1 states that he was accompanied by Barnabas and Titus on this visit. Acts does not mention Titus at all, but it mentions two visits that Paul undertook with Barnabas (Acts 11:27-30; 15:1-4). The first was to bring relief for the famine predicted by Agabus, and the second was the council at Jerusalem. It is assumed that this one in Galatians is to be identified with either one or the other. While many conclude that the event overlaps with the Jerusalem council, this is not without its difficulties, so that there are those who favor the alternative.11
If Galatians 1:18 corresponds to Acts 9:26-27, and if Galatians 2:1 describes the very next visit, then it would be referring to the one in Acts 11. However, the word "again" does not require this conclusion, but could refer to a third or fourth visit since Paul's conversion, or to the second one that is of any relevance to the controversy. That is, if the visit in Galatians 2 overlaps with the council of Acts 15, then the visit in Acts 11 has been omitted because it is considered irrelevant in this context. The answer somewhat affects a precise understanding of our passage, and also 2:11-14, but Paul's intent is clear enough so that uncertainty on this issue does not paralyze exposition.
The visit occurred fourteen years later. By now it was certainly too late for anyone to claim that Paul owed his theology and ministry to any human influence or authority, since they were even more established and inflexible. He had long become a major force for the Christian movement in his own right, that is, by the grace of God at work through him. The only thing that remained for the apostles to do was to either accept or reject his theology and ministry.
NOTES
11 Ronald Y. K. Fung, The Epistle to the Galatians (William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), p. 9-28, and 86.