Christ Conversation Sunday, May 8, 2016 Galatians 6:1-5, He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother, Part 2 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. – Isaiah 53:3-4 (ESV) Today He who hung the earth upon the waters is hung on the tree, The King of the angels is decked with a crown of thorns. He who wraps the heavens in clouds is wrapped in the purple of mockery. He who freed Adam in the Jordan is slapped on the face. The Bridegroom of the Church is affixed to the Cross with nails. From The 15th Antiphon of Holy Friday Galatians 6:2 - Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Paul has been arguing against the Law as a necessary means of inclusion into the people of God. Redemption in and through Christ’s works is the basis for justification and salvific righteousness. Now Paul asserts a law: the law of Christ. The sect of the Circumcision has a Law: The Law of Moses. So, Believer’s in Galatia, you have a Law: Christ. We start with the latter part of 6:2 because it defines the former; it is the reason of the former’s necessity. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 (ESV) What is new about this command? Jesus already defined the Law and prophets as being dependent on two commands (Matthew 22:34-40):
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Perhaps the “new” is in the following areas: 1. While the Matthew passage is a response to a question regarding the Law of Moses, this is a
direct commandment given by Jesus to His disciples. 2. While the Old Testament Law defined religious, moral and civic standards through rather long lists of rules and regulations, Jesus’ command is centered in one thing: “just as I have loved you.” 3. While it is true that properly understood, as did the Lord, the Old Testament Law should have been directed by love of God and neighbor. Yet what that love looked like was shown through all the many codes and statutes. When Jesus wants us to know what love looks like, he shows Himself – His own behavior and actions. 4. Love your neighbor as yourself sets the benchmark: loving yourself. Jesus changes the benchmark: love as I have loved you. The leap is monumental. Too much to go into here about the way people feel about themselves and treat themselves. Even if you exclude the emotion of love and focus on the actions of love (helping people, visiting the sick as acts of love), the humility of Jesus in serving and sacrifice calls us to a greater dimension of love. This dimension is not one of comparison to Christ’s love but of conforming to the nature of Christ’s love. Comparison will always leave us lacking. However, a fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22) and it is the Spirit that conforms us by changing us: Romans 12:2; Colossians 1:6 5. Jesus’ command is set within the context of sacrificial, self-denying care for others. He has washed their feet: If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. (John 13:14-15) When Law is drilled down to a myriad of elements it often becomes the means of selfrighteousness and justification. We begin to ‘major in the minors’ as a means to elevate ourselves. We can see an example of this in Christ’s call for righteousness: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and
faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! (Matthew 23:23-24) By focusing on Jesus and His actions, loving one another moves from abstracts and theory to practical and relational. The incarnation of Christ—and the love that initiated it— is key to understanding what is to bear one another’s burdens. Jesus, as the prophet Isaiah records, bore our grief and carried our sorrow. He came to those needing a physician (Mark 2:17). Jesus came to fallen, sinful people. The call to bear one another’s burdens comes right after the call to restore those caught in any transgression. In so doing, we are commissioned to be gentle. In the Greek, Galatians 6:2 starts: “One another’s burdens bear you . . .” In Galatians 6:5 we come across another burden: “For each will have to bear his own load.” KJV, ASV, WEB and YLT all translate the ESV ‘load’ as ‘burden.’
Just as Christ is faithful to sustain us in mercy and grace – we are to bear with our sisters and brothers until they are freed from the excessive burden and able to convey the burden we all carry.
How do we bear another’s burdens? Has someone you know bore yours? Whose burdens have your borne? Some view Jesus new command, especially the word “as I have loved you . . .” as a comparison rather than a conformity. What difference does this make? Some people seem to always want someone to bear their burden. How do you distinguish between a need and a want in that person’s life? Think about the distinctions between the burden that is unshareable (Galatians 6:5) and the one that must be shared (Galatians 6:2). _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________
But what is the difference? In 6:5 it is a burden (phortion) proportioned to the strength of the one who bears it. Indeed, it is a word often used to describe a pack a soldier might carry: it’s an unshareable burden.
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In 6:2 the word for burden (barē) which exceeds the strength of the person bearing it.
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The Apostle Paul speaks to this in Romans 15:1 – “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves.”
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Like in 6:1 where Paul warns us to be careful for ourselves when restoring a person, bearing burdens takes carefulness, too.
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Of course, I don’t mean your giving should make life easy for others and hard for yourselves. I only mean that there should be some equality. Right now you have plenty and can help those who are in need. Later, they will have plenty and can share with you when you need it. In this way, things will be equal. 2 Corinthians 8:13-14, NLT) When Paul says we are to bear one another’s burdens, he is not talking about a one-time word of encouragement of a brief shoulder to cry on. The implication is to keep on bearing – a person so weighed down from their transgressions needs a commitment in care.
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