Monday, June 1, 2020

Ambrosiaster on Galatians 2:11

 

11But when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.

 

After agreeing in fellowship and on the honor of primacy, which they accorded one another by the grace of God, something happened which caused the apostles to fall out with each another, either by negligence or because of some mistake they made. This had nothing to do with themselves, but concerned the care of the church. Paul says that he opposed Peter to his face. What can this mean except that he contradicted him to his face? To which he added the reason: Because he stood condemned. He was condemned by the truth of the gospel, which he had done something against. Which of them would have dared to oppose Peter, the chief of the apostles, to whom the Lord had given the keys of the kingdom, except someone on his own level who could rely on his election to know that he was not inferior and could continually rebuke him for having done something without thinking properly about it? (Ambrosiaster, Commentaries on Galatians–Philemon [ed. Thomas C. Oden and Gerald L. Bray; trans. Gerald L. Bray; Ancient Christian Texts; Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic: An Imprint of InterVarsity Press, 2009], 12, emphasis added)