Galatians 5:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Notice his caution here also. He did not say, "I do not perform circumcision," but, "I do not preach it." That is, "I do not teach men to believe in this way."

"You must not take my action as the confirmation of dogmas. I did indeed circumcise, but I did not preach circumcision."

"Then the stumbling block of the Cross has ceased." This means: "If what you say is true, then the barrier and hostility that divide us have been destroyed."

The Jews were offended not so much by the Cross as by the teaching that they should not follow the ancestral customs. When they brought Stephen before the council, they did not say that he honored the Crucified One.

Rather, they said that he spoke blasphemous words against this place and the holy Law (Acts 6:13). They accused Jesus Himself of destroying the Law (Jn 5:16).

Therefore Paul says: "If we allow circumcision, then your struggle against us has ceased. There is no longer any hostility against the Cross and the preaching. But if we are put to death daily, why are we accused of this?"

"Hands were laid on me precisely because I brought an uncircumcised man into the temple. Am I then so senseless," he says, "that, while allowing circumcision, I would decide to suffer such evil entirely in vain?"

"Would I also give such an offense to the Cross? You yourselves see that they are hostile to us for nothing so much as for circumcision. Was I then so senseless as to subject myself to affliction without any cause, and lead others into offense?"

He called this the stumbling block of the Cross because the teaching of the Cross also commands the abandonment of the ancestral customs. This command especially offended the Jews and served as an obstacle to receiving the Cross.

He did not say, "if I have performed circumcision," but, "if I preach circumcision." The one who preaches teaches that it must always be done, as something unconditionally excellent.

But the one who does something for particular purposes carries it out not because it is unconditionally good, but because it is useful in that case.

"Then the stumbling block of the Cross has ceased." If I preached circumcision, there would be no stumbling block that the Cross produces among the Jews.

They are offended by the preaching of the Cross and do not receive it for no other reason than that by it circumcision and the Law are abolished.

Likewise, if I preached circumcision, the hostility of the Jews toward the Cross would cease and disappear, together with the stumbling block that it arouses in them.

"Paul himself, who taught you otherwise than the truth requires, circumcised Timothy. Compelled by the truth, he was often a Jew to the Jews."

Wishing to remove such an opinion from the thoughts of the Galatians, Paul now says: "But I, brethren, if I preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted even now?"

He says: "All the hatred of the Jews against me, and the fury with which they rage against me, arise from no other cause than this. I teach the Gentiles that they must not be circumcised or observe the excessive and now abolished yoke of the Law."

"Since I suffer persecutions, it is clear that I do not preach the circumcision which I destroy. I suffer persecutions from the Jews not so much because I preach the Crucified One."

"Nor is it simply because I say that Jesus is the Christ, that is, the Anointed One, the Messiah, Whom the prophets also foretold. Rather, it is because, according to my preaching, the Law has now been fulfilled."

That the Cross is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles was shown by our Lord Himself. He is called a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense (Mt 21:44; Lk 20:18).

I think this is for no other reason than that the preaching of the Gospel, as it were, rushed upon its hearers under full sail. It immediately struck against the Cross and could not move freely onward.

But this Cross, which is a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles, is for us who believe the power and wisdom of God. For Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:24).

Thus, because He is called foolishness, the foolishness of God was wiser than men. And because He was a stumbling block and weakness, the weakness of God was stronger than men.

But since, he says, the stumbling block of the Cross of Christ still remains, I still suffer persecutions. I would not have to suffer them if there were no stumbling block.

Therefore some spread rumors in vain that I preach circumcision, for my opposition to it is why I endure persecution.

If I, the Apostle says to his misled disciples, still preached circumcision, that is, if I considered obligation to the Law necessary, then the stumbling block concerning the Crucified One would be destroyed for my persecutors.

Then, of course, they would cease persecuting me. But you know that I do not preach this, and that the Jews persecute me most fiercely of all.

St. John Chrysostom says: "He did not say, 'you understand,' but, 'you will understand,' that is, you will be corrected. How do we know this? Again, he did not say, 'I know,' but, 'I trust God,' he says. With firm hope he calls upon His help for your correction."

"He spoke with boldness, and did not simply say, 'I have hope concerning you,' but added, 'in the Lord.' It is as though he said: I know my disciples. I know how easily you can be corrected."

"Yet I hope for this through the Lord, Who desires no one's destruction. Through Him I also hope in you, who can easily return to your former state. But at the same time he persuades them to bring their own zeal. It is impossible to receive anything from God if we bring nothing from our side."

"St. Paul urges them to rise up from two sides: by hope in them, and by threat or prediction of punishment for the agitators. He did not simply say, 'he who troubles,' but strengthened the expression by adding, 'whoever he may be.'"

"Since people said of the Apostle himself that he observed Jewish rites and preached uncircumcision hypocritically, see how he showed himself free from this slander, calling them themselves as witnesses. You yourselves know, he says, that the cause of the persecutions against me was that I taught men to leave the Law."

"If I preached circumcision, why would they persecute me? What then? Did I not preach circumcision? Did I not circumcise Timothy? I did. How then does he say, 'I do not preach it'? Note his caution here also. He did not say, 'I do not perform circumcision,' but, 'I do not preach it,' that is, I do not teach men to believe in this way."

Concerning the Apostle's desire for the cutting off of the false teachers, Bishop Theophan says: "One cannot fail to see here the law of life in the body of the Church: to reject and cast out those who do not obey the truth and teach contrary to it."

But if they revile him, dishonor him, and pursue him everywhere, then this is a clear sign. The teaching he has set forth, that the power of circumcision and the Law has ceased, and that they are no longer necessary for believers, is the constant and universal subject of his preaching.

After hearing slanders against Saint Paul, the Galatians could be perplexed: What is the Apostle doing? But after reading his question, they had to exclaim: Indeed, it is so. What, then, have those people been telling us? They were deceiving us.

How great is the Apostle's wisdom. He does not send them to make inquiries by tracing the steps of his preaching. By one obvious fact he calms their minds, disturbed by accusations against him.

Saint Chrysostom says on this passage: "Since they said of him that he often observes Jewish rites himself and preaches uncircumcision hypocritically, see how he showed himself pure of this slander by calling them themselves as witnesses. You yourselves know, he says, that the cause of the persecutions against me was that I taught men to abandon the Law. If I preached circumcision, why would I still be persecuted? The Judaizers can accuse me of nothing else besides this. If I allowed them to believe according to the customs of their fathers, neither those of them who believed nor those who did not believe would plot against me, since I would reject nothing of their customs. What then? Did he not preach circumcision? Did he not circumcise Timothy? He did circumcise him. How, then, does he say, 'I do not preach it'? Notice his prudence here too. He did not say, 'I do not perform circumcision,' but, 'I do not preach it,' that is, I do not teach men to believe thus. You must not take my action as confirmation of dogmas, he says. For although I circumcised Timothy, I did not preach circumcision."

"Then the offense of the Cross has been abolished." If it were so, if I preached circumcision, then the Cross would not present an offense to the Jews. Circumcision is so dear to them that, if I did not touch it, they would see no offense in the Cross. But now they see one because the Cross drives out circumcision and the whole Law.

Ambrosiaster writes: "The preaching of the Cross was an offense to the Jews because by it the Sabbath and circumcision were abolished. If it admitted circumcision, there would be no offense, and the Jews would be at peace with us. Of the Savior they also said, 'This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath'" (cf. Jn 9:16).

Saint Chrysostom expounds the same at greater length: "If what you say is true, then the barrier and hostility dividing us have been destroyed. For the Jews are not so much offended by the Cross as by the teaching that one must not follow the customs of the fathers. When they brought Stephen into the Sanhedrin, they did not say that he honored the Crucified One, but that he spoke against this holy place and the Law (cf. Acts 6:13). They accused the Lord Jesus Himself because He supposedly destroyed the Law (cf. Jn 5:18). Therefore Paul says: if we allow circumcision, then your struggle with us has ceased. There is no more hostility against the Cross and the preaching. But if we are killed daily, is this without any reason? You yourselves see that they are hostile to us for nothing so much as for circumcision. Was I so foolish as to subject myself to affliction and lead others into offense without any reason? He said, 'the offense of the Cross,' because the teaching of the Cross commands men to abandon the customs of the fathers. This chiefly offended the Jews and kept them from accepting the Cross."