All are one in Christ Jesus – Galatians 3:23-29
The society of the Roman Empire is an honor – shame society. That means in contrast to our capitalist society to be honorable is more important than being rich. For Roman senators it is honorable to get rich by farming. It is NOT honorable to get rich by trading. What we call entrepreneurs, people who have bread factories, produce pottery, cloth, iron products or conduct trade, no matter how much money the make, find themselves on a lesser tier of a society that is broken down in distinct social classes.
In this socially stratified environment St Paul writes to the Galatians one of the most radical sentences in history.
“There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
One cannot overestimate how radical the statement is that challenges the very foundation on which ancient society is built.
Rev. Olaf Baumann, sermon, Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Port Angeles WA.
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