Galatians 1:18
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days.
Truth to Learn
Paul preached the gospel message for three years before he sought the fellowship of the other Apostles. He didn’t need their teaching because he had been taught by the Word.
Behind the Words
The word translated “see” is not the normal Greek word that means “to view something.” It is the word historēsai which does not occur anywhere else in the New Testament. It means “to ascertain by personal inquiry and examination” or “to narrate, as a historian was accustomed to do.” It is the word from which we get our English word “history.”
Meaning Explained
As we learned in the previous verse, immediately after his conversion Paul began preaching the gospel message both in
Paul did not simply go up to see what Peter looked like, he went to see Peter with the intention of getting to know him. But, he didn’t receive the gospel message from Peter. In fact, he was preaching the gospel for three years before he even met with Peter (and James, as we will see in the next verse.) The gospel Paul preached is the message that he received from Christ himself. In the opening verses of John’s gospel he says that Jesus Christ is “the Word.” Paul didn’t have a New Testament as we do, in fact he wrote nearly half of the New Testament. He received the message, the word, from the Word. Here’s how John said it in his gospel account:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (John 1:1)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
In the same way, we receive the message from the Word of God which Paul and others have written for us, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the living Word of God. He is the message that God loves us so much that He gave Jesus to die for our sins. He is the message, He is the gift, and He is the proof, all rolled up in one.
Paul encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus and was blinded by his glory. As soon as he received his sight again, however, Paul quit his self-absorbed persecution of Christians and began preaching that he had seen the light, the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.
Application
We need to be in the Word regularly to learn about Christ and the good news of his death, burial, and resurrection. If we are not getting our message directly from the Word, then we are getting it from flesh and blood and no matter how good a preacher is, he is still a fallible human being. That is not to say that we shouldn’t listen to good preaching, we should listen intently, but we should also verify that what we are learning from men is the same as what God says in the Holy Bible.
In God’s service, for His glory,
Copyright © 2007 Will Krause. All rights reserved.
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