Paul is kind of chastising the Galatian church for falling away from faith, into religious rites and rituals by the time he starts chapter three:
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? (3:1)
This made me stop.
Jesus was clearly portrayed among them as crucified?
Pick this apart with me.
A portrayal is a representation by an artist, of someone else, who may or may not be present when the representation is seen. An actor portrays a character. A painter captures a likeness on canvas and we call it a portrait. You can become familiar with, and even learn about, someone you have never met through a portrayal of him.
Paul says this portrayal was clear. Clear enough that now, after they’ve abandoned Jesus to a degree, Paul can be incredulous that they would have done so, because they clearly understood and knew Jesus – even though they’d never met Him in person.
Paul portrayed Jesus “among them,” not for or before them, not on a stage or from a pulpit. He was with them, among them, being Jesus to them.
And then, “as crucified.” They’d seen crucifixions before, so it wasn’t that they didn’t understand how Jesus died. It was His death, though, that bought our salvation, our healing, our deliverance, and our peace.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:5-6)
Paul’s portrayal of Jesus, his ministry among the people of Galatia, unquestionably demonstrated that freedom, peace, healing, and righteousness before God is available in Christ because of His sacrifice on the cross.
That’s amazing to me. How did he do that? What does that look like, in the dirt, day after day?
Even with an ailment of his own. The next chapter reveals that Paul had an issue with his eye/eyes, and that’s why he came to Galatia in the first place. But still – despite what must have been an annoyance at best, and a painful handicap at worst – Paul demonstrated the peace and freedom and servant leadership of Jesus.
Amazing