Day 331 - Acts 15, Galatians 1

How can he say in his letter to the Galatians, “I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before me, nor did I move”? [Gal 1:17.] We suggest this: in the first place because he had not gone up spontaneously but had been sent by others; and in the second place because he did not come in order to learn something [Gal 1:18.] but to persuade others. Indeed, from the beginning he held that opinion that the apostles approved later, namely, that it was not necessary to circumcise. Until that day, however, it had seemed to them that [Paul] was not worthy of faith, but they rather listened more to those who lived in Jerusalem. So [Paul] went up, not in order to gain what he had been ignorant of before but in order to persuade his opponents because those who were in Jerusalem agreed with them. He had recognized from the start what had to be done and needed no teacher. And he had a clear and sure idea, beyond any discussion, of what the apostles would have decreed after a long discussion. Since it had seemed opportune to the brothers that he might learn something about them, he went up not for himself but for them. Even though he says, “I did not go up,” we can explain that. He did not go up at the beginning of his preaching or in order to learn. And he means both these things when he says, “I did not go immediately in flesh and blood.” He did not simply say, “I did not go” but “I did not go immediately.”—St John Chrysostom