But when Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch…he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they (Jews) came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party.
Galatians 2:11-13
Galatia, a region under the Roman Empire’s control, was one of the many regions in which Paul ministered. In most cases, after he left the area, Judaizers, false teachers/preachers, came into the churches Paul planted and taught salvation through faith in Jesus plus obedience to the Mosaic law while denying Paul’s calling and integrity. Paul’s response to these wolves in sheep clothing was to defend his apostolic office and to prove that he and the other apostles preach the same gospel of grace, righteousness in God’s sight by faith in Christ alone. In our verses today, Paul writes of an episode in Antioch the false teachers had twisted to rebut Paul’s unity with the other apostles. First-century etiquette was for people to dine only with those whom they considered equals. But, the Judaizers told the Galatians that Peter refused to eat with Gentile believers to prove that the apostles regarded Gentile Christians as inferiors who did not keep Jewish customs. Paul, here, tells the full story, showing how on that occasion Peter acted contrary to his own convictions. The Mosaic Law does not say Jews may not eat with Gentiles, but many first-century Jews had corrupted the Law, forbidding the practice. Peter ignored this cultural taboo for a time and ate with Gentile Christians, but when “certain men came from James,” he began to eat only with Jewish Christians, influencing others with a Jewish background to do likewise. This act was Peter’s sin. Paul merely writes that these men came from the Jerusalem church where James was a leader and Paul does not tell us why. In that day, Judean nationalists agitated against Rome, like terrorists today. They persecuted Jews eager to embrace Gentile ways. James sent envoys to ask the leaders of the church in Antioch to be careful not to provoke these terrorists and cause trouble for the Jerusalem church. Peter went too far, and, by his deeds, implied that Jewish Christians have something that Gentile believers lack, that being the works of the Law. By such division, Peter denied grace, changing the Law from a way to show gratitude for salvation to a barrier between the Jew and Gentile people of God. Paul uses this situation to transition to explaining the doctrine of justification in later verses. Let us, at this point, consider how Peter’s failure proves that “we are nothing with all our gifts be they ever so great, except God assist us,” as Martin Luther wrote in his Commentary on Galatians. Peter, an Apostle of Christ, sinned when he divided the church of Christ, and so we must be ever conscious of our dependence on Christ lest we fall into error as well.
Source: S C Ball January 11, 2024
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