Galatians 4.28-31
“Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. But just as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman.’ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.”
As we saw last week, Paul asserts that being a true descendant of Abraham is a matter of faith, not a matter of ethnicity. To paraphrase, Paul’s message is this: “If you are Jewish but you reject Jesus, then you are spiritually a descendant of Hagar, the slave woman. If you trust in Jesus, then spiritually you are a descendant of Sarah, the free woman.”
Without knowing it, the Judaizers were fulfilling what Genesis had predicted about the children of the slave woman Hagar. They were persecuting the children of the free woman Sarah, that is, all who trust in Christ.
Throughout their history, the Jews tended to be terribly self-centered. This caused them to misunderstand God’s purpose and plan for them. They had excessive ethnic pride in their relationship to Abraham and excessive spiritual pride in the Law of Moses. This produced a self-centered arrogance that rendered the Jews hard-hearted and blind to the true nature of the kingdom of God, and blind to the purpose for which God redeemed them and called them.
The Jews wrongly thought the kingdom of God on earth was about the physical nation of Israel. When Jesus the Messiah came, their ethnic arrogance and spiritual pride caused them to assume the Messiah would deliver them from the Romans. However, Jesus actually came to deliver them from sin, call them to himself, and then send them into the world as a redeemed community of transformed people who would proclaim and practice the good news of the kingdom.
This is a massively important spiritual lesson for all New Testament believers. It is essential that we understand the nature of the kingdom of God and the purpose for which God redeemed us and calls us. The Lord saves us to send us. He redeems us so that we can be a community of redeemed people who live and work in the world in a way that makes him known. He reconciles us to himself and transforms us: he transforms what we do, how we do it, and why.
We must be on guard against any form of self-centeredness or spiritual pride. Jesus warned the twelve disciples about this very thing:
“And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” …. And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant at James and John.
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:35-37,41-45)
Being Jewish, the twelve disciples knew the Messiah was destined to rule over Israel and the whole world. Being fallen men, they wanted the highest position possible as part of the Messiah’s chosen leadership group. Their pride distorted their vision and their goals. They misunderstood the nature of Jesus’ messianic ministry, they misunderstood in what way Jesus was bringing the kingdom, and they misunderstood their own role in Jesus’ kingdom ministry.
The twelves disciples argued over who was the greatest among them, and they argued who would have the highest position of power and authority during Jesus’ reign. Their mindset was pride and a desire for authority, not humility and a desire to serve. They were self-centered.
Leadership and self-centeredness are incompatible. You cannot lead others if your goal is to serve yourself.
