John Calvin Commentary Galatians 3:1

"O foolish Galatians, who did bewitch you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was openly set forth crucified?" — Galatians 3:1 (ASV)

O foolish Galatians. A remonstrance is here interwoven—I should rather say, inserted—among his doctrinal statements. Some will wonder that he did not delay it to the end of the Epistle, but the very serious nature of the errors which he has presented unquestionably roused him to a burst of passion. When we hear that the Son of God, with all his benefits, is rejected, that his death is considered as nothing, what pious mind would not break out into indignation? He therefore declares that those who allowed themselves to be involved in so heinous a crime must have been ἀνόητοι, that is, “disordered in mind.” He accuses them not only of having allowed themselves to be deceived, but of having been carried away by some sort of magical enchantment, which is a still more serious charge. He insinuates that their fall was more akin to madness than to folly.

Some think that Paul refers to the character of the nation—that, being descended from barbarians, it was more difficult to train them—but I am more inclined to think that he refers to the subject itself. It looks like something supernatural that, after enjoying the gospel in such clearness, they should be affected by the delusions of Satan. He does not merely say that they were “bewitched” and “disordered in mind” because they did not obey the truth, but because, after having received instruction so clear, so full, so tender, and so powerful, they immediately fell away. Erasmus has chosen to interpret the words “that you should not believe the truth.” I am not quite prepared to set aside that interpretation, but would prefer the word obey, because Paul does not charge them with having, from the outset, rejected the gospel, but with not having persevered in obedience.

Before whose eyes. This is intended, as I have already hinted, to emphasize the seriousness; for, the better opportunities they had of knowing Christ, the more heinous was the criminality of forsaking him. Such, he tells them, was the clearness of his doctrine that it was not mere doctrine, but the express, living image of Christ. They had known Christ in such a manner that they might almost be said to have seen him.

Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth. Augustine’s interpretation of the word προεγράφη (translated “hath been set forth”) is harsh and inconsistent with Paul’s design. He makes it signify that Christ was to be thrust out from possession. Others propose a different phrase (proscriptus), which, if used in the sense of “openly proclaimed,” would not be unsuitable. The Greeks, accordingly, borrow from this verb the word προγράμματα to refer to boards on which property intended to be sold was published, so as to be exposed to the view of all. But the participle, painted, is less ambiguous and, in my own opinion, is exceedingly appropriate. To show how energetic his preaching was, Paul first compares it to a picture, which exhibited to them in a vivid manner the image of Christ.

But, not satisfied with this comparison, he adds, Christ hath been crucified among you, intimating that the actual sight of Christ’s death could not have affected them more powerfully than his own preaching. The view given by some—that the Galatians had “crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame” (Hebrews 6:6); that they had withdrawn from the purity of the gospel; or, at least, had listened to and given their confidence to impostors who crucified him—appears to me forced. The meaning therefore is that Paul’s doctrine had instructed them concerning Christ in such a manner as if he had been exhibited to them in a picture, indeed, “crucified among them.” Such a representation could not have been made by any eloquence, or by “enticing words of man’s wisdom” (1 Corinthians 2:4), had it not been accompanied by that power of the Spirit, of which Paul has discussed extensively in both the Epistles to the Corinthians.

Let those who would faithfully discharge the ministry of the gospel learn not merely to speak and declaim, but to penetrate into the consciences of people, to make them see Christ crucified, and feel the shedding of his blood. When the Church has painters such as these, she no longer needs the dead images of wood and stone, and she no longer requires pictures; both of these, unquestionably, were first admitted to Christian temples when the pastors had become silent and been converted into mere idols, or when they uttered a few words from the pulpit in such a cold and careless manner that the power and effectiveness of the ministry were completely extinguished.