Giving a statement a context can make a world of difference to understanding it. The statement “it's going to rain” can mean a number of wildly different things to different people in different contexts. To an English family enjoying a picnic in the park, the statement becomes a frustrating harbinger of a spoilt day! To an east-African farmer experiencing a long season of drought, however, the phrase connotes a joyful relief – the crops are finally going to be able to grow!
Over the last few posts I've been focussing on placing individual passages from scripture inside the context of a story in order to appreciate their full meaning. Last time we looked at Isaiah 53. Today, we will be turning our attention to a well known verse in Galatians. Before we proceed I feel I should warn you that this particular interpretation may not be what you are used to, nor is it necessarily the correct one (I'm still working through that myself), but to me it seems to make sense of the verse in the larger context of scripture. Don't just accept this; see what you think and comment below!
Galatians 3:13 reads: “Christ redeems us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse on our behalf, because it is written: 'cursed is everyone who is hung upon a tree”.
Many of you will be familiar with this verse; It is generally understood as a neat statement about Christ bearing the curse of our sin. I agree 100% that Christ did bear our sin and redeem us, but is that what this verse is saying in context? I find this statement by Tom Wright on the matter very thought-provoking:
Michael Bird [an Australian New Testament Scholar] recounts his regular experience with his students, echoing mine over many years: when you ask people, 'Why did the Messiah become a curse for us?' the normal answer is something like, 'So that we might be freed from our sin and share fellowship with God to all eternity.' Paul's is radically different: 'So that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, and so that we (presumably Jews who believe in Jesus) might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.'
I remember the first time I read that statement and thinking “Oh yeah! That is what Paul says in the next verse!” Suddenly a phrase which I had always understood as a pithy statement of Christ taking our place as individuals on the cross took on a new dimension as it got put into the narrative context of scripture. Here's how I now see this passage working:
Paul explains in 3:10 that those who are “of the Law” (presumably Jews; the ESV's translation “all who rely on works of the law” to me is unsatisfactory) are under a curse in that they do not and cannot actually obey it. The Law which was given to enable Israel to bless the nations had become a curse through disobedience! The Law was no longer a source of blessing to those outside Israel, but a source of cursing upon Israel itself! How could the nations be blessed (as God had promised to Abraham) if Israel was not following the Law themselves?
Paul explains: Jesus, as Israel's representative (one aspect of Messiahship), became a curse on behalf of Israel, in order to remove the curse of the Law. The new people of God, who are not defined by works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus, are therefore no longer under the curse of the Law and it is therefore possible for the blessing promised to Abraham to flow through them (from Jesus) to the nations! The verse in this sense is not so much about Christ making a way for us to go to heaven, but rather about Christ lifting a curse which had been stopping his blessing flowing through Israel to the nations. The verse becomes about God's faithfulness to his promise!
Now please understand me. This does not mean that the Bible doesn't teach that Christ took our place on the cross; read 2 Corinthians 5:21! But that may not be what Paul was trying to get at when he wrote Galatians 3:13! I realise this may be quite a novel approach to this passage for many of you, so please comment and feedback your thoughts!
[Edited on 13/11/2011 at 9:10]
[Edited on 13/11/2011 at 9:10]
why is this novel ?
ReplyDeleteIt's not novel in one sense. Many people read this passage this way particularly those who have read some of Wright's stuff but in my experience most christians understand this to be a systematic statement about Christ dying for all sinners. Maybe novel is not the most helpful term, although it certainly would be for many. I think Wright's and Michael Bird's experiences of people's understanding of this verse are certainly the same as my experience.
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