AD 45–50: Paul's Later Trip to Jerusalem
AD 45–50: Paul's Later Trip to Jerusalem
Here we must digress a bit in our time line before we can keep moving backward toward Jesus' death. This occasion was better left until after the previous discussion. Immediately after describing his trip to Jerusalem, Paul relates that he visited the city of Jerusalem again, 14 years later (Gal 2:1). During what year did this second meeting occur? Paul dates it from his previous discussion in chapter 1, causing scholars to wonder whether Paul meant the time from his conversion or from his first trip to Jerusalem. Also, scholarly opinion varies as to whether the meeting in Gal 2:1–10 is the same as the account in Acts 15:1–31. Regardless, the difference is slight. Koester prefers a date of AD 48.18
Once again Paul's topic is clearly that of the gospel. It seems to me that verse 2 is among the most incredible comments in the New Testament. Paul attested that he specifically journeyed to Jerusalem to visit the leading apostles, in order to set before them the gospel message that he had been preaching “for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain” (Gal 2:2).
What an incredible admission! Here we have the apostle to the Gentiles acknowledging that he submitted himself to the apostolic authorities in Jerusalem in order to ascertain if the gospel message he was preaching was on target. Had he been mistaken, there could have been dire circumstances for the Gentile members of the early church, hence Paul's fear.
Besides Peter and James, the brother of Jesus, the apostle John was also present (2:9). It is difficult to miss the stellar makeup of this group. One could hardly imagine a single authority in the early church more influential than these four. We are told that Paul's companions Barnabas and Titus were also present (2:1). To this group Paul presented his gospel message for their inspection. The verdict was that the other three apostolic leaders “added nothing to my message” (2:6). Further, they extended fellowship to Paul and Barnabas, recognizing their mission to the Gentiles (2:9). The other apostles did exhort them also to take care of the poor, which Paul says he was eager to do anyway (2:10).19
Paul could not have hoped for a better verdict! We assume that he, Peter, and James were on the same page regarding Paul's first visit to Jerusalem. But here he specifically asked for a judgment regarding the central message that he preached to the Gentiles and found that there was no conflict between his gospel teaching and that of the other apostles. Especially when we consider that these were the most influential leaders in the early church, the value of such a positive verdict could hardly be overemphasized. They were all on the same page with regard to the most sacred proclamation in early Christianity.
Again we are reminded of C. H. Dodd's statement that Paul and the other early apostles all agreed when it came to the gospel message.20 Paul made clear that the early gospel preaching was concerned with the person of Christ, His death, burial, resurrection, and appearances (1 Cor 15:3–4). Paul is clear about this in other places as well, where he also quotes other early creedal traditions (such as Rom 1:3–4; 10:9). Similarly, the book of Acts also defines the early apostolic preaching of the gospel as referring to the deity, death, and resurrection of Jesus.21 Interestingly, many critical scholars also consider a number of these Acts texts to be other early traditions that predate the book itself. Dodd was one of the leading authorities here, and he found the same gospel specifics in these Acts texts as in the writings of Paul.22
After Paul cites the early creedal text in 1 Corinthians 15, he mentioned the other apostles and affirmed that they were preaching the same message of Jesus' resurrection appearances as he was (15:11; cf. vv. 12–15). His readers could get the same information from either source. Here we see the reverse side of Gal 2:1–10. There the three chief apostles affirmed Paul's gospel message. Here Paul asserts that they were teaching the same central message of the resurrected Christ that he preached.23
For ancient texts, perhaps never do we see this sort of cross-checking by the major authorities, all at such an early date. Howard Clark Kee amazingly asserts that this material is so strong that “it can be critically examined and compared with other testimony from eyewitnesses of Jesus, just as one would evaluate evidence in a modern court or academic setting.”24 We conclude that Paul, Peter, John, and James the brother of Jesus were the right people, at the right place, at the right time, all proclaiming the same message!