Stigmata

Galatians: A Study of Christian Freedom

Lesson 23: Stigmata                       Galatians 6:17-18

We began the study of Galatians several months ago.  This is the twenty-third lesson from the letter that outlines the foundations of the gospel of grace.  I hope you come away understanding why Paul was so passionate about the situation in the churches he cared about.  And aware of why we need to keep the fundamentals of the gospel at the center of our message, especially since legalism is still a threat to our churches

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In these closing verses of Galatians, Paul used a word with an interesting place in the Christian tradition.  The word translated as “marks” gives us the word “stigmata.”  In Christian history the word has come to refer to marks  spontaneously appearing on the hands, feet, or backs of some individuals.  These “stigmata” make it seem as if that person has suffered crucifixion.  While the stigmata are often intensely painful, there is no record of the wounds becoming septic.

Those so afflicted (or blessed) are thought to be persons of great piety, though not necessarily meriting formal elevation to sainthood.  The Roman Catholic Church has recorded some 600 such cases.   St Francis was among the first of these stigmatics. 

Although the stigmata to which Paul refers were not invisible, the apostle would certainly argue that every Christian bears such marks.

¹⁷ From now on, let no one make trouble for me;

Several times in the movie Forrest Gump, the title character says, “That’s all I have to say about that.”  Paul’s final comment also suggests he has said what he intended to say and intends to say no more. 

Two Messianic-Jewish translations use the word tzoros for “troubles” in their rendering of this verse.  It’s a Hebrew term used for intense trial and stress.  The problems in the Galatian churches were no minor matters; they weighed heavily on Paul.  We can imagine them causing him sleepless nights and great worry.  He was profoundly distressed because they had abandoned the gospel of grace for that which was no gospel. 

This distress led him to write his passionate letter to the Christians there. 

Now he says, “Enough.” 

On the one hand, Paul could say “Enough” because he had thoroughly refuted the false teachers. 

 He had refuted their claims by showing he was an apostle appointed by Jesus Himself to proclaim the gospel of grace.

 He had refuted their claims by showing how the gospel of grace is the only “gospel” (“good news”) that works in the face of our profound sinfulness.

 He had refuted their claims by showing how the gospel of grace was foreshadowed by God’s dealing with Abraham.

 He had refuted their claims by showing how the gospel of grace best honors what Christ accomplished on the cross.

He had refuted their claims by showing how the gospel of grace brings the Spirit into our lives to transform us.

Then, too, Paul could say “Enough” by pointing to more personal evidence.

for I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body.

This is a statement that demands we adopt Paul’s perspective.

His opponents were motivated by the desire to make things easier for themselves.  So, they promoted circumcision to deflect the hostility of those within the Jewish establishment seeking to silence Paul and others who shared his message.  His opponents pointed to their bodies and to the bodies of their Gentile converts as evidence of their commitment.

In response, Paul pointed to his own body.  What did he see?  He saw scars from beatings and  abuse at the hands of his persecutors.  Although this may have been early in his career, he seems to have already experienced physical reprisal for his preaching the gospel of grace.  Within a few weeks of his conversion, there were plots to kill him.  This was when he had to be lowered over the walls of Damascus in a basket to escape the plot.  In Lystra, the maddened crowd actually stoned him, leaving him for dead; but he revived.  The text doesn’t make clear if this was a miraculous recovery or the result of an inept attempt at execution. 

That alone would have left scars but there were other incidents not recorded in Acts.  In Second Corinthians 11, Paul speaks of being imprisoned and receiving “severe beatings.” He writes, “Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with a rod.  Once I received a stoning.”  We can’t put a date on each of these occurrences but keep in mind Paul ministered for several “silent” years after his conversion and before appearing again in the Acts narrative.  The Corinthian list indicates he had been physical beaten by both Jews and Gentiles.  Some of these experiences would have occurred before he wrote the Galatians.

From Paul’s perspective, the scars he bore were “the marks of Jesus.”  Whereas the circumcisions of which his opponents were so proud were signs of compromise, Paul’s scars were evidence of faithfulness.  While some think Paul was describing his scars as “the marks of Jesus” to confirm his being crucified with Christ, I think there might be an additional idea.

Some translations render the term “marks” figuratively as “brands” or “tattoos.”  The words picture two different situations.  If Paul had in mind branding, he was referring to the marks some slaves received to show ownership.  The slaves would have received their brands unwillingly; Paul received his willingly; he gladly saw himself as Jesus’ servant.  To those of us in the twenty-first century, Paul would say, “You, too, belong to Jesus.”

If Paul had in mind “tattoos,” he was probably thinking of the practice of members of some religious groups to have themselves tattooed to show their devotion to the group. 

In either case, he had in mind a freely chosen “belonging” to Jesus.  Belonging to Jesus certainly meant celebrating Jesus’ cross—the focal point of the great work he did.  The cross was not to something to be ashamed of or denied.  It was the God-appointed means of dealing with our sins.  Failing to appreciate the cross was to fail to appreciate the mission of Jesus.

Belonging to Jesus meant Paul would neither attempt to escape the challenges involved in serving him or condone that which would dishonor him.  The false teachers who threatened the Galatians and harassed Paul were doing both.

Calling people to the grace-way of salvation is hard; calling people to the law-way of salvation is “easy.”  Those who proclaim a law-way of salvation do not run the risk of implying that we must depend totally upon God’s grace, that our efforts cannot earn God’s favor.  People like to hear they can improve their standing with God.  Ironically, the law-way is easy to hear but hard to live.  It is hard because returning to a rule-based, law-way to salvation (whether Jewish or pagan) would have the same result—spiritual slavery.  It involves asking people to do what they cannot do.  But that is often lost sight of because proclaiming and embracing the law-way of salvation is so easy.  Easy, because it is flattering; hard, because when it comes to holiness there is nothing about us to flatter.

The marks Paul bore on his body were evidence he remained faithful to the more challenging task; he had continued to proclaim the grace-way of salvation. 

At the same time, Paul would not follow the example of the Judaizers because their message dishonored Jesus, to whom Paul was so devoted.  Earlier he had made it clear: Suggesting we may actually earn salvation through self-effort has shocking implications.  If we could behave our way to salvation, “Christ died for nothing.”  The cross was unnecessary; Christ’s suffering was a tragic mistake, a travesty.  Paul, a marked man, endured suffering rather than change his message and diminish what Jesus had accomplished. 

So, Paul unquestionably committed to the gospel of grace, says, “Enough, that’s all I have to say about that.”  He will say no more because his life backs up his message. 

But like any good preacher, he has one more thing to say.

¹⁸ May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen. ^_

If Galatians was Paul’s first letter, this final benediction is important because it looks ahead to the benedictions he will add to his other letters.  Almost every one of shows “grace” to be Paul’s great desire for the scattered congregations.  That being so we have to resist the temptation to say too much about his using the word in his benediction for the Galatian churches; yet we also have to avoid saying too little.

Paul began the body of this letter with, “Grace to you.”  So, he begins and ends on a note of grace.

Certainly we can explain why Paul would end Galatians on a note of grace, but why all those other letters.

Paul was aware we all need grace (he used the plural “brothers,” which in Greek would mean “brothers and sisters,” in this setting); every one of us needs grace at the deepest level of our being.   “With your spirit,” Paul says, or as one paraphrase puts it, may this grace “be deeply and personally yours.”

We need grace to keep us from despair when we fail, when we do those things we ought not to do and leave undone those things we ought to do

We need grace to keep us from judging when others fail, when, like us, they fail to live up to the goal of Christlikeness.

We need grace as a church to see what God sees in the flawed “saints” who share the pews with us; and the flawed “saints” who share the pews with them.

We need grace because legalism is alive and well in our churches and; no matter how often we sing “oh to grace, how great a debtor,” we will forget.

Conclusion:

The word Paul used, translated as “marks,” gives us two English words.  First, it is the root of “stigmata,” a term usually associated with Christians known for their holiness.  Even though the physical stigmata (the signs of crucifixion) were psychosomatic in origin, the Christians who experienced these signs were usually models of Christian devotion.  They were admired in their day and now.

Yet, as you’ve already guessed, the word Paul used also gives us “stigma.”  You know it is a matter of disgrace to bear a stigma. 

The stigmata Paul bore showed his commitment to the message of grace.  Centuries of Christians have admired him for that commitment.  Today, Christians are often stigmatized for their commitment.  They are anything but admired.  

While millions of Christians around the world face physical persecution, Western Christians often face psychological and social pressure for their faith.  They are “marked” as bigoted, arrogant, and sometimes ignorant.

Those marks are different from the ones Paul bore.  But those Christians who remain faithful in the face of such pressure, also bear the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.