Galatians 2:13 – And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy. NKJV
It’s the second chapter of Galatians, and Paul has been defending the gospel of grace. He shares how he came to be an apostle, the places he visited after coming to the faith, and how he even spent 15 days with Peter, the apostle to the Jews. And now we find him calling Peter a hypocrite.
Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.
Galatians 2:11-12 NKJV
Peter had visited Antioch. While he was there, he enjoyed the fellowship of the brethren, eating and drinking with them. However, when James sent some Jewish brothers to visit them and see how things were going, Peter removed himself from the Gentile brothers. To make matters worse, Barnabas also removed himself from the midst of the Gentiles, and some of the others did also.
And the rest of the Jews also played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.
Galatains 2:13 NKJV
In the Greek translation of the Bible, the word for hypocrite is hypokrisis. This word is more accurately translated as dissimulation. But it’s the picture of the word that is most interesting. The word conveys a picture of an actor on a stage playing a part. Pretending. So when Paul uses this word in relation to what Peter, Barnabas, and the other disciples have done, he is implying that they are playing a part. Which, in essence, is a problem.
Paul is looking at what is going on, and he is disappointed to see Peter remove himself from among the Gentiles. But when the others do it, he is incensed, because he realizes that hypocrisy is contagious. When one person acts in a way that is bad for the body of Christ, if no one says anything, everyone thinks it’s okay. And then they repeat the behavior.
For example, the first time I got a message saying that Democrats were evil, I was appalled that someone would actually write that about other Americans. But then other Americans began to say it, and it is now an acceptable thing to say in our society. Pretense is overrated because if the people hearing it don’t know that it is pretense, it can become a fabric of our daily lives, and it can become dangerous.
So, the first thing Paul does is to confront Peter face-to-face. The passage gives the impression that they are all still gathered in the meeting place, Gentile believers on one side and Jewish believers on the other. And Paul says to Peter,
“If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?
Galatians 2:14 NKJV
Paul points out to Peter that he was just fine living in the manner of Gentiles before the Jewish brothers came from James. So, why was he all of a sudden acting like the Gentiles had to live like Jews when he wasn’t even doing it?
Then Paul points out the fact that Peter has set aside the grace of God for the purpose of identifying himself with the Jews.
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Galatians 2:16 NKJV
When Paul said, “even we have believed in Christ Jesus”, he was stating that he understood, and Peter understood that their salvation was in Jesus, not in the works of the flesh. He was reminding Peter that salvation came through the grace of God, not through anything that he, or Peter, or Barnabas, or any of the other Jews had done. And what is so interesting to me about this is that Peter had received a direct message from God about the Gentiles in Acts 10.
If you will recall with me that in Acts 10, God placed Peter in a trance. While Peter was in this trance, three times God let down a sheet with unclean animals in it and told him to kill and eat. Three times Peter said no to the Lord because he had never eaten unclean meat from unclean animals. Three times God told him to not call unclean what God had cleansed. Then immediately after that, the men from Cornelius’ house showed up and asked for Peter, which God told Peter to go. When Peter got to Cornelius’ house, a Gentile, he said,
“In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him.
Acts 10:34-35 NKJV
While Peter was sharing with the family of Cornelius, the Bible says that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues. Peter and his entourage saw that God saves whoever believes in Him, and they baptized Cornelius and his household. And later, when Peter was called on the carpet by his Jewish brothers, Peter said:
If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”
Acts 11:17 NKJV
Therefore, Peter not only understood that he was being unfair to the Gentiles, but he also understood that his stepping away from them was stepping away from the very grace that he had defended.
It is never okay to set aside the grace of God. It is never okay to say at any point in our Christian walk with God that His grace was not sufficient. His grace is sufficient for our every sin and our every need. When Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, He did it for all of us. It doesn’t matter what color we are, what political party we bend towards, or how much money we may have. Grace is grace! And if it was grace for one person, it’s grace for every person who believes it!
Paul is saddened by this turn of events. They were having a great time, and Peter had to spoil it. He got up from the table and went over to the newly arrived Jews. Then the other Jews got up, and finally Barnabas got up. Can you imagine what this must have looked like? Can you imagine how the atmosphere must have changed because of this separation that took place?
And what about Paul and Peter’s relationship? Do you think Paul was happy that he had to address this situation? Do you think Peter felt good about this public dressing down? I would say Paul may not have wanted to publicly address this issue, but he knew that he had to. What Peter did was wrong! And then it caused others to follow suit! That was just plain wrong.
Maybe you have been in a position where you “pretended” to be something that you weren’t for whatever reason. Or maybe you have witnessed something that you knew was wrong, but you didn’t say anything. Pretending is overrated. If you are not on a stage performing for others, it probably doesn’t need to be a part of your life. In my next post, I’ll explain what else was wrong with this picture. Wonderful Jesus!
Wonderful Jesus! 