Thomas Aquinas Commentary Galatians 4:19-20

"My little children, of whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you-- but I could wish to be present with you now, and to change my tone; for I am perplexed about you." — Galatians 4:19-20 (ASV)

Above, the Apostle dismissed the false cause of his correcting the Galatians; here he discloses the true cause, which is sorrow for their imperfection.

1. First, he expresses the heartfelt sorrow of which he spoke.
2. Second, he expresses a desire to manifest this sorrow (Galatians 4:20).
3. Third, he gives the cause of the sorrow (Galatians 4:20): because he is ashamed of them.

This sorrow proceeded from charity, because he grieved for their sins: I beheld the transgressors and I pined away; because they kept not your word (Psalms 119:158). And so he addresses them in words of charity, saying, My little children. He purposely does not call them sons, but little children, to indicate the imperfection by which they had become small: As unto little ones in Christ, I gave you milk to drink, not meat (1 Corinthians 3:1).

It should be noted that during childbirth, a child is called a little one. And this is what they were, because they needed to be born again, even though parents according to the flesh bring forth their child only once. Accordingly, he says to them, of whom I am in labor again. For he was in labor with them during their first conversion; but since they had now turned from the one who called them to another gospel, they needed to be brought forth anew.

Thus he says, I am in labor—that is, with labor and pain I bring them forth into the light of faith. In these words, the Apostle reveals his grief. For this reason, a person’s conversion is called a birth: They bow themselves to bring forth young (Job 39:3); And being with child she cried, travailing in birth and was in pain to be delivered (Revelation 12:2). Therefore, it is because of his pain that he rebukes them so sharply, as a woman cries aloud because of the pains of childbirth: I will speak now as a woman in labor (Isaiah 42:14).

The reason for the repeated labor is that you are not perfectly formed. Thus he says, until Christ be formed in you, meaning, until you receive His likeness, which you have lost through your sin. He does not say, “That you may be formed in Christ,” but until Christ be formed in you, to make it sound more terrifying to them. For Christ is formed in the heart by “formed faith”: That Christ might dwell in your hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:17). But when one does not have “formed faith,” Christ has already died in him: Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts (2 Peter 1:19).

Thus Christ grows in a person according to their progress in the faith; conversely, as faith diminishes, He recedes. Therefore, when a person's faith is rendered “unformed” by sin, Christ is not formed in them. And so, because they did not have a formed faith, they needed to be brought forth in the womb again until Christ is formed in them through faith—that is, a “formed faith,” which works through love. Or, it could mean, until Christ be formed in you, so that through you, Christ might appear finely formed to others.

Here someone might object: “You say these things from a distance, but if you were with us, you would not say them,” according to 2 Corinthians 10:10: His bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. Therefore, he expresses a desire to show his grief more vividly, saying, I would willingly be present with you now and change my voice.

It is as if he were to say: In my absence, I use gentle language now, calling you friends and sons. But if I were present among you, I would correct you more sharply. For if I were present and speaking the things I am now writing in a letter, the correction would be more severe. I would then be able to express the scolding tones of my rebuke, the cries of my anger, and the pain in my heart much better than I can by letter. A living voice would more effectively stir your hearts to shame for your error and to feel my anxiety.

And the cause of this sorrow is that I am ashamed for you; that is, I blush for you in the presence of others, for as it is said in Sirach 22:3: A son ill taught is the confusion of the father. For since a son belongs to the father, and a disciple as such belongs to his master, a master rejoices in the good he sees reflected in his disciple and glories in it as though it were his own. Conversely, he is pained by evil and is ashamed. Thus, because they had been turned from good to evil, the Apostle is ashamed for that reason.