Galatians 4:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

NIV: and even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.

NASB: and you did not despise that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, nor express contempt, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.

CSB: You did not despise or reject me though my physical condition was a trial for you. On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself.

NLT: But even though my condition tempted you to reject me, you did not despise me or turn me away. No, you took me in and cared for me as though I were an angel from God or even Christ Jesus himself.

KJV: And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

NKJV: And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.

Paul is reminding his Galatian readers about how they came to know each other. More specifically, he is reminding them about their own kindness to him during a difficult time in his life and how they received him and the gospel of Jesus with honor. That, in turn, is part of his continuing encouragement to them: that they would rely solely on faith in Christ, and not on rituals or other works for their salvation.

Paul was sick when he first came to the Galatians. It may have been a flare-up of a chronic "bodily ailment" that afflicted him for much of his life. In 2 Corinthians 12, he describes having a Satan-sent, harassing "thorn in the flesh" allowed by God to keep him from becoming conceited because of all that God had revealed to him (2 Corinthians 12:7). Some scholars speculate that this "thorn" took the form of physical illness. Tradition suggests he struggled with a visual impairment.

Or, perhaps the illness Paul's refers to here was simply a disease that came and then went away. We don't know. In any case, Paul describes his condition as a trial or burden for the Galatians. Perhaps he required medical care from them or maybe it made him physically unappealing. Again, we don't know.

We do know that Paul saw this illness as something that could have made him look weak in the eyes of the Galatians. People often attempt to hide an illness because of a fear of appearing weak. In this era, it was even worse. Many people assumed illness to be the punishment of God or the gods for great wrongdoing. It marked a person as rejected by deity or guilty of great evil.

That's not how the Galatians responded to Paul, however. They did not scorn or despise him. Just the opposite, they received Paul as if he were an angel or Christ Himself. They likely did not believe he was either, but they so valued his message about faith in Jesus that they refused to allow his illness to keep them from honoring him.

Galatians 4:8–20 reveals that the Galatian Christians have already begun legalistically following the law of Moses, by observing special days. Why would they want to go back to slavery by following the law to be justified by God, Paul asks? Why have they gone from blessing him and trusting in Christ to rejecting him for telling the truth? The false teachers are only using them to bring glory to themselves, Paul insists. Paul is in anguish for them as a mother in childbirth. He longs to see Christ formed in them.

In this chapter, Paul uses three new methods to teach his Galatian readers an important lesson. It is futile to follow the law of Moses in order to be made right before God, since justification comes only by faith in Christ. First, Paul shows that the arrival of Christ made it possible for all people to become God's children through faith in Him. Next, Paul makes a more personal appeal, asking what has changed to cause the Galatians to turn on Paul's teaching of the gospel. Finally, Paul builds an allegory from Scripture, illustrating the difference between being born into slavery and being born into the promise by faith in Christ.

Galatians 3 ends with Paul stating, once more, that those who are in Christ are Abraham's offspring, just as He is, making us heirs along with Him. Galatians 4 continues that idea, showing how Christ's arrival signaled the moment all people could receive the inheritance with Him and be adopted as God's children. Paul makes his appeal personal, asking why the Galatians moved from blessing him to rejecting the message of Christ. The chapter ends with Paul's allegory about the difference between being born into slavery under the law and being born into freedom by the power of the Spirit through faith in Christ. Chapter 5 will continue by expanding on the freedom we have in Christ.

Galatians is sometimes called “a short Romans” for its similar themes of justification and sanctification through faith. A group of Christians known as “Judaizers” were preaching a gospel of legalism, rather than grace. Paul’s main purpose in writing the letter to the Galatians was to reiterate the true nature of the gospel: we are justified (made righteous) and sanctified (made more Christlike) through our faith in Jesus Christ alone. This letter was probably written shortly before the church elders in Jerusalem issued their official refutation of the Judaizers, commonly called the Jerusalem Council.