“And I [Paul] went up by
revelation, and communicated to them that gospel which I preach among the
Gentiles…”—Galatians 2:2
What the Apostle Paul was saying in
Galatians 2:2, is that he went to Jerusalem about seventeen years after his
conversion because it was divinely revealed to him that he should go and tell
the church what he had been preaching among the Gentiles. Read Galatians chapter 1 and you will
discover that Paul was a highly educated and zealous man who worked fervently
persecuting the Church before his conversion.
After his conversion, Paul writes, “But
when it pleased God, who separated me from my mothers womb and called me
through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to
Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and
returned again to Damascus” (vs. 15-17).
Paul points out that he was not influenced
by others in what he should do after his conversion, but he walked in the revelation that he had.
John chapter 7 gives an account of
when Jesus’ brothers did not believe that He was the Messiah, and how they
tried to influence Him so that they
would have positions of honor.
“After
these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea,
because the Jews sought to kill Him. Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at
hand. His brothers therefore said to Him ‘Depart from here and go into Judea,
that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing. For no one does
anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these
things, show Yourself to the world.’ For even His brothers did not believe in
Him. The Jesus said to them, ‘My time has not yet come, but your time is always
ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that
its works are evil. You go up to the feast. I am not yet going up to this
feast, for My time has not yet fully come’” (vs. 1-9).
The Feast of Tabernacles was held
the 15-22 of September and this Feast was about seven months before His
crucifixion. This was a very solemn time
for all the Jewish males and called for their personal attendance. Jesus’ brothers (some of His kindred) tried
to influence Jesus to go to Jerusalem so that more people could see His
miracles. This sounds like reasonable
advice at first glance—more people get exposed to His ministry; however,
reading a little further you discover that his brothers did not believe that He
was the Messiah. A Prophet—Yes but not
the Messiah. Perhaps they were thinking
that they would be able to share in the “lime-light” if He was exposed to more
people. But, what we do know is that
Jesus told them to go along with the other people; he was not going to
Jerusalem at that time. Closely examine
the Scriptures and you will see that Jesus knew by revelation not to follow along with the rest of the people who were
going. Perhaps His going with them would
have stirred up the people with animosity before it was prophetically time for
His crucifixion, we do not know for sure.
But we do know that Jesus always walked in revelation of His timing and did not follow along with the crowd, and you can to.
Jesus was not moved by ideas of
grandeur and influenced by the needs of others.
He humbly stayed submitted to the Father and never did anything but what
He heard the Father say and do. We can
walk in that same revelation by staying humble, walking in love and being
submitted to the Father.
Prayer—Father
I thank You for Your revelation. I
purpose not to walk ahead of my appointed times by being influenced by family
and others in Jesus Name. Amen.
