Verse I Didn't Get (VIDG) #2

It's been an incredible month or so - settling into a new role, learning a whole heap of new things, and getting to know new people. I really love the challenge of learning in all aspects - new skills, new languages, new songs, and new insights into God's word. I guess I have been blessed enormously with opportunities in each of these areas.

Just today, our minister delivered an insightful sermon on Luke 16:1-13. It's a really difficult parable to understand in some ways - the way Luke writes it leaves it well open to interpretation (about the specifics, anyhow). Nevertheless, the message is clear - be wise as a steward of the things given to you in this life (things that won't last), and use these blessings with a view to gaining an eternal dwelling. We are to use our wealth, health, skills, opportunities - all the things that have been entrusted to us (they are not ours by right!) - in order to make friends, i.e. we are to be charitable with them.

We are left with a profound sense of thankfulness when we realise that we are not really owners, but stewards of God's blessings towards us!

Anyhow - onto the verse for the day (Galatians 3:13), which is quite separate from Ross's sermon. I've chosen this verse for this discussion, the second ever VIDG, because it is so multi-layered and interesting. There is a lot in it, but I will concentrate on a couple of key interest points only - it's by no means exhaustive, nor could it ever be in the scope of a single blog post! Nevertheless, I hope it will still be interesting, and maybe lead to a few "aha!" moments!

Galatians 3:13

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree"

This is mid-way through Paul's letter to the Galatians, a new church in the area of Galatia (whether this refers to Galatia proper, or the Roman province, it isn't entirely certain), which, in any sense, corresponds to part of modern-day Turkey. The people were Greek-speaking gentiles, without Jewish background. Paul describes the Galatians as a church that has been submissive, and easily led astray. From the gospel of salvation by unmerited grace, they had been led by certain influential identities to believe that salvation depends on works and merit. No doubt, this irked Paul considerably! This letter was sent largely to address this mistake, and set the Galatians right on their path once more.

Firstly, with relation to this verse, a few key words need to be pointed out. "Curse" (and forms of it) appears three times. And Christ "redeemed" us through this mechanism. And the "law" here is described as a mechanism, or tool, of cursing. How so? Lastly, I want to point out the word "tree" - it's full of so many layers of living parable that we shouldn't ignore it!

What is a "curse"? Or, perhaps more specifically, what is the "curse of the law"? The "law" is something that points back all the way to the early part of the Old Testament - the Pentateuch. This entire section can be described as the "law". The word can also be the constitutional legal system handed down to the Jews through Moses (although, pointedly, this verse comes from a letter to the Galatians, who were not Jews). The word "law" can also be used to describe a custom, principle, or norm. How then does the law bring about a "curse"? I venture that this goes back to Romans 7 - the Galatians no doubt understood through Paul about the role of the law in this same sense. Romans 7 describes the law as that which reveals our shortcomings, thus magnifying our shortcomings. It is like a spotlight shining on our blemishes and spots - it is not itself a bad thing, but it serves to reveal those things in us. Our sinfulness is therefore amplified, and thus the "curse of the law" is upon us.

Paul tells us of the work of Christ on the cross - redeeming us from this curse, by himself becoming a curse! Indeed, Paul names a reference to Deuteronomy 21:23 (paraphrased as "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree") - Jesus was nailed to the cross (of wood), and thus bore a curse. But this is far from the whole picture - Christ became a curse for us by fulfilling the law (for He is the only righteous being, the only one who has ever shown himself able to comply with God's exacting standards), and then suffering the punishment due us, i.e. death. Technically, this represents a substitutionary transaction, an atonement, whereby Christ (in taking our place) has made us righteous (i.e. in right standing with God). Praise be to God who engineered such sacrifice because He loves us!

I want to add a little adornment to this - by discussing the metaphor of Christ, the true Son of God, as a seed. You see, the equation of the cross with a tree seems a bit of a stretch at first - the cross is not really a "tree", and I don't think this is how we would have described it. I think the metaphor goes far deeper, and that Paul's equation of the cross with a tree is a deliberate one. Hanging from branches of trees are fruits containing seed. The word for "seed", or "offspring", is used quite abundantly by Paul in the following verses. Paul indeed goes on to equate Christ with the true "seed" or "offspring", to whom God had made a promise well before even the Mosaic law was given.

So, if Christ is a "seed", and dies, and falls to the ground, becoming buried, the seed then germinates and produces new life in abundance! God's promise is thus fulfilled - new life is given and proliferates through the action of faith in Christ's atoning death, and rising to new life! This reminds me of John 12:24, where Jesus says that, "unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." So then, we are a new creation, in Christ, who is the true seed by which we are given new birth, released from the curse, and granted new life! Praise God!