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The Good News for Galatia

Paul of Tarsus and Barnabas of Cyprus preached the good news of Jesus Christ in Pisidian Antioch in the region of Galatia in the year 46a.d.This morning I would like to explore with you

what

that good newsthat Paul preached was in that day.

What exactly did Paul preach tothose people in Galatia?

To answer that I think it is important to first examine the people hewas speaking to.At the time Paul and Barnabas were in Pisidian Antioch, there werethree main groups of people living there.The first, of course, was the Romans. They were less than 10% of thepopulation but they occupied 1/3 of the city with large lavish homesand gardens. They held all the administrative positions, and they werethe city’s elite.The second group in the city were what we might call today the upper-middle class. These were the Greeks. What culture there was inPisidian Antioch was because of the Greeks. What commerce and tradewas carried on in the city was done by the Greeks. At most, they madeup 1/4 of the population and occupied another 1/3 of the city withtheir homes and shops.So that leaves the majority of the population to the third group:

thePhrygians

. They were a people who had been enslaved for

centuries

toother races. It was a rare thing – in that region in that day - to find aPhrygian who was not a

slave

. Few of them were ever set free by theirowners. In fact,

few wanted to be set free

. In general the freed men inGalatia lived a harsher life than the slaves, who at least were fed bytheir owners.But you and I should really be introduced to the Phrygians. Because itis this illiterate, uneducated people who give you and I such hope.In Paul’s day, the Phrygians were regarded only slightly higher thancattle. They were a commodity. Anywhere in the Roman Empire, a

slave

may just as commonly be called a

Phrygian

. The term

slave

and

Phrygian

had become synonymous.

In that day in Galatia, the great majority of the Phrygians had neverbeen more than a few hundred yards from their thatched roof shanty.They spoke their own dialect and were extremely ignorant. Not stupid,but without any education. None of them had received any formaleducation of any kind. Many of them could understand some Greeksimply because they had to in order to communicate with theirmasters. But they spoke their Phrygian dialect among themselves. Allof the physical labor in the city was done by the Phrygians.There were, of course, a few Jews in the city as well. Less than 1%.They were, for the most part, wealthy. The Jews, both in Jerusalemand elsewhere, oversaw the largest network of banks in the RomanEmpire next to Rome itself. They were almost universally disliked, butmost would rather bank with them than anyone else because theywere dependable with your money.Paul and Barnabas left their home in Syrian Antioch several weeksearlier. They first traveled the length of the island of Cyprus whereBarnabas was from. Near the end of their tour on Cyprus, Paul got introuble with the Jewish leadership and was tied to a whipping post andflogged. It left his back and shoulders scarred and his body weak.Only two weeks later, Paul, Barnabas and John Mark were on a shipbound for Pamphylia when a terrible storm tore the ship apart and themen were thrown into the sea. Paul spent a day and a night in thesalty sea clinging to a part of the ship until he was rescued.Paul was not well. He arrived in Galatia ill, but he stands strong anddetermined to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to these heathens.The Jews believed if you’ve been flogged, you’re cursed by God. SoPaul must stand straight and not flinch. The heathens believed if you’ve been shipwrecked, you’re a bad omen. They will not wantanything to do with you. So Paul can’t let them know he is sick, atleast not until the church is established and he and Barnabas cancorrect their superstitions and wrong thinking.Paul delivered the good news in the small synagogue in PisidianAntioch. The Jewish leadership rejected the message, but Gentiles whoattended the synagogue meetings believed Paul and asked to hearmore. Over the next few days and weeks, Paul and Barnabas sharedthe good news of Jesus Christ with those who would listen, and achurch was born.

Maybe a hundred people. This was the new church of Pisidian Antioch.A church that had maybe three or four Jews, some Greeks, a fewRomans, and a lot of Phrygians.But Paul and Barnabas taught them over the next several weeks thatthey were

all

nobility in the kingdom of God.How was Paul and Barnabas going to do this with the Phrygians? Andhow were the Jews and Romans going to relate to them?The Phrygians had tattoo marks on much of their bodies. They hadscratches on their legs and faces they received during wild orgiesassociated with their local gods. They held to every manner of superstition, much like adherents of animist religions of today.But it wasn’t just the Phrygians that were going to be a challenge. TheGreeks and Romans were without morals.There were only a few Jews in the church. The makeup of the PisidianAntioch church was 98% pagan. The meetings would often getraucous. Indecency, idolatry, fits of rage, envy, drunkenness, fighting,etc. were the norm among these people.Paul and Barnabas would spend the majority of their energy with thenew church, teaching them how to listen to and be influenced by theSpirit of God within them. They worked hard to build them up inChrist. Paul would later describe his experience planting churches as amother in birth pangs.Within only ten to twelve weeks, the word of God had spreadthroughout all of the region. House churches had begun throughoutthe area for miles around the city.New believers who were not tied to servitude pushed into the hillsaround Antioch, and over to the great lake where the thatchedcottages dotted the bays, and up into the high mountain range whichdivided the Antioch countryside from the central plateau. They werealive with the life of God inside them, and they couldn’t keep quiet.They preached the grace of God and people responded everywherethey went. In all, there may have been as many as 1000 new believersthroughout the region in the church of Pisidian Antioch.