Hey everybody, it's Matt. This is the 10-Minute Bible Hour Podcast, and we're maybe three days or so into a conversation about a very emotional passage in the middle of Galatians 4, which is a very logical book with very Greek-style rational argumentation, where the Apostle Paul is trying to straighten out a church he used to know well and have great affection for, a church he helped start, a church that served him deeply in a moment of need. But some outsiders came in and they messed with these Galatian Christians and got them to believe in a different message that really doesn't have any hope with it at all. So now Paul's heard about it and he's coming back to them and trying to pull the hooks that these agitators have got in his friends at this church, trying to pull those hooks out, trying to snap the Galatians out of this trance they've been put under. And so far up until Galatians 4.12, it's all been mostly logical in terms of his approach and his strategy. But now from Galatians 4.12 to 20, the tone changes and it is very, very personal. This is a personal pleading, a personal appeal that Paul's making here. We've been working on that for a couple days. We'll see what we can do about landing the plane on it right now after my buddy Jeff plays some music. I was busted up either because of disease or because people hit me with rocks or whatever. And even though I was in an ugly state, you guys saw who I represented. You saw what I was doing. You ministered to me. I ministered to you, and we loved each other. You were people who were filled with joy. What happened to that? And Paul goes on to say, I can testify, like, hey guys, I remember. I do you remember? Maybe he even remembers them specifically saying this. If you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Now, I've read a couple things where scholars are saying, oh, this is just a common saying back in the day, but I've never been able to find exactly what they're referencing. I haven't really worked very hard at it either. Maybe, you know, 15 minutes on the Googles and I could figure it out. But I I'm not aware of this being an ancient saying, like, I love you so much, I'd rip out my eyes and give them to you, bro. It's I don't find that charming or endearing. Maybe you do. Like if you do, it's okay. Like you can take that as though I meant it for you. That's cool. But I I don't think I actually want to do that. I don't I don't want to rip out my eyes for anybody. It seems gross and I'd really miss my eyes. But maybe it was an ancient saying, like some of the commentators believe that it was. Maybe it's a specific reference to what was wrong with Paul. Then they're like, dude, you need eyes. You need them worse than I do, because of you know what you're doing is super important. If you could have I was allowed to give you mine, I would give you mine so that you can keep reading and communicating and preaching the stuff that you're doing, because this is the most important thing. Your use for my eyes would be better than whatever use I have for my eyes moving forward. So maybe it is kind of a hint as to what's going on. Also, there might be another hint over here in Galatians 6, verse 11, right toward the end of the book. There's one little moment here in the final greetings, and we'll get to this in more detail, whatever, like 5,000 episodes when we get there. He says, See what large letters I use as I write to you with my own hand. Paul is like he grabbed the pen from his scribe here and had to write very big, either to make a point because I'm writing very big, like John Hancock, the king can see that. Look how big my signature is. Maybe that's Paul's whole point. I'm just writing big, so you know I mean it. Maybe, again, Paul has trouble seeing stuff, and the Galatians know about this ailment. And in the relationship between Paul and the Galatians, that ailment is a feature, not a bug. That ailment is sort of the thing that initially pulled them together. And maybe in these closing greetings in Galatians 6.11, Paul is referencing back to that. Like you guys were there when this thing that has defined me on so many levels became a thing. You showed me mercy when this became a thing. I also could be reading into it too much. One other side note, just since we're on the Paul's vision conversation and theory here, real quick, at the end of 2 Timothy, which is Paul's sort of goodbye letter to the Bible, to the world, to the church. I mean, he's right in that knowing that he's facing execution. You get to the end of that letter, and Paul's like, hey, can you bring me the scrolls, like my scrolls? I need those. And bring me a coat, because you know, the prison where he was staying is cold. I've been to that prison. He was right. It was cold in there, even in summer. But it would make sense if Paul did have a vision issue that he might have scrolls in his own collection that couldn't easily be replaced with just another copy because they were presented in such a way that he could still make use of them with his potentially limited abilities. I don't know. I've probably sidetracked us a little too much on what exactly is wrong with Paul, but clearly, whatever was wrong with him flared up, maybe manifested for the first time even, when he was meeting these people and they cared about him, and he cared about them back, and they connected over this weakness, they connected over the gospel as a result because Paul clearly used his weakness based on what we're seeing in Galatians and based on what he said over there in 2 Corinthians 12 and the verses around verse 7. Clearly, Paul was keen to use this weakness as something that points to our need for God, that points to our inability to solve our own problems, to heal ourselves. We've all got some sort of thorn in the side that can be a reminder of the human condition in our own lives. It looks like that happened here. And so Paul is doing this beautiful, well-organized, thoughtful, I believe, emotional appeal and reminder to the brothers and sisters in Galatia in the middle of chapter four, and then he rounds out this block of thought after saying, Remember, you guys said you would have ripped out your own eyes and given them to me. Verse 16, he says, Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth? That's powerful, bro. Think about what he just did there with a few little nods where frankly it probably hit harder because he does use inside baseball language and doesn't spell it all out. He doesn't do the cheesy thing where he's like they do in movies where they try to just give you the biography of a character very, very quickly. So someone who knows them says, like, but you're John Smitheson. You graduated second in your class from Harvard. You've won multiple awards. Have you heard lines like that? They're cheesy and ridiculous. They feel false. Like we both know the thing. You don't need to go through my whole resume. It's kind of Paul's tone here. I mean, it's a bummer for us because we don't get to know exactly how he was sick or what was going on. But the inside baseballiness of it is enough to be like, you know what I'm talking about. I don't even have to fill in all the details here. You guys know exactly what I'm talking about. You were there, you walked me through it, our hearts were soft together, we grew in this together, and now like these other people who are manipulating you and and like you who are these people? You don't have that with them. They're here for them. Not for you. They don't they don't love you. Just guys, remember how you were? You were joyful, you were full of life in all of this stuff before. Where did that go? Where's that spirit of generosity and joy? It's gone since these people showed up. And now you're mad at me? Have I not become here? What happened here, Galatians? We used to tell each other the truth all the time. Even about embarrassing things, like what happened to me? Wink wink. We all know what happened to me when I was there. Remember? It wasn't my favorite thing ever. It wasn't the best day. But you treated me like I was a messenger angel. You received me rightly. Have you forgotten all of this stuff? And now what, we just can't have a relationship anymore because I'm telling you the truth, a truth you rightly embraced that changed your life not so long ago? Man. I think when you read between the lines of what Paul is doing here, even if you don't know every single detail, you realize this is not some scattershot emotional glurge that he's just barfing out because he's lost control of the letter and he can't think of any more arguments, and he's trying to buy time, and now he's just sputtering and groveling to get them to like him again. I think this is, just like I said a couple days ago, one, incredibly calculated and intelligent and rational, and two, entirely honest and truthful and emotional and transparent and vulnerable and genuine. Both of those things can be true at the same time. And frankly, it's a very powerful changeup for me. I mean, this letter isn't even written to me, but it's a powerful changeup for me, tonally, here in the middle of the book, after so much lawyer-like argumentation, to have him change tones. Guys, it's me. Remember what happened? Who are these people? Who are you? What are you doing? Where did this stuff that made you you go? Where where is that Galatian church? I think it's potent. And in the last little chunk of this emotional appeal, Galatians 4, 12 through 20, we're gonna look at this, uh, the last little bit, which is 17 through 20 tomorrow. Paul is going to direct his attention a little bit more toward these interlopers and the effect they've had on the Galatians and how they're playing them like fools. And then we're gonna get back into the argumentation phase, this little aside. Inhales, exhales, and then we're back to that. But final thought, it's a really interesting position to think the way Paul was thinking about this thorn in his side, this ailment, this weakness, whatever it is, emotional, character, physical, whatever it was. He was willing to flip back around and say, I trust God in that, and even this thing that I really wish would go away, I can see how God would use it. It seems like he was actively looking for how God would use it. And as a result, with Paul, we don't just get this like, oh, I just celebrate when terrible things happen to me. It's just a joy. We get a little bit of a look at what the mechanics of that, what the actual thought process of that was, and his ability to rejoice in suffering really was born out of a very deep understanding of the gospel, the human position of weakness, and how so many things in the the world to which we're kind of slaves, like even the law, point to our need for God, point to our need for God, point to our need for God. And so he saw that even in this thing and found a way to flip the power of it on its head instead of him moping and being unable to do anything with his life because this bad thing happened that wouldn't go away. Instead, uh wrapped in the gospel and a deep understanding of who Jesus was, uh, he turns it around and uses it for the advantage of the kingdom. It's a really remarkable thing that's happening here, kind of in between the lines with the Apostle Paul. All right, that's plenty for now. Moving on to the last bit of this emotional aside next time around. I'm Matt. This is the 10-minute Bible hour podcast. Let's do this again soon.