God’s Word for You
Galatians 3:23-25 The babysitter
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, July 16, 2024
23 Now before this faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law served as our childhood chaperone until Christ came, so that we would be justified by faith. 25 But now that this faith has come, we are no longer subject to any childhood chaperone.
The “childhood chapterone” was a constant companion of young men ages 7-18, more than a babysitter; a servant (often a slave) who made sure the boy did what was expected of him as the member of an important family.
But this isn’t the only image of the law that Paul gives us. He also says that “we were held captive under the law.” We were in the prison of the law until Christ came (more about this phrase later). No prisoner loves his prison. No prisoner truly laments his crimes while he is in prison. He will spend his time in confinement going over his capture. He will constantly ask himself, “What went wrong? Why am I chained up here? What mistakes did I make?” And his mistakes will not be the ones that were sins. That’s not what the prisoner thinks about. The mistakes on his mind will only be the ones that led to his capture. Luther says with irony or sarcasm: “As vigorously as a thief loves prison, and hates his crime, so readily do we obey the law, do what it commands, and refrain from what it forbids.”
Law, the quality of law and what it demands, was the hedge around Israel. Law encircled Israel with the guards of each and every commandment, surrounding everyone in Israel, keeping them from doing what was forbidden under the will of God. This is the law as “childhood chaperone,” the schoolmaster who kept the pupil, Israel, in line. But the laws of Moses were only temporary restrictions. They kept Israel separate from the Gentiles while also reminding Israel that there was a Savior coming.
The law set up walls around Israel, a hedge to keep the people from running along after the pagan gods of their neighbors. And when kings led the whole country astray, God disciplined them with exile. In Egypt, the tribes were enslaved for at least a century after having enjoyed luxury for generations. After Solomon died, the northern kingdom fell into gross idolatry; they were sent away into Assyria and did not return. When Judah was led astray by its later kings, they were taken captive and brought to Babylon. But the law continued to be a hedge for them. They even said: “There our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said: ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!’ How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:3-4).
So the law remained as a hedge, reminding God’s people of God’s holy will, “until faith came.” What does Paul mean by that? Does he mean faith as a concept, as trust? Did the Israelites fail to trust in God at all? No—trust is not what Paul means. Does he mean, “Before we came to faith?” This is the opposite of what he says. He says; “Until faith came.” That is, until what faith gives was given to us. He uses “faith” by metonymy for the object of faith, which is Christ. (Metonymy is when a word is used to stand for another word, especially when they are associated in some way, such as when Romeo says, on seeing Juliet: “Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon,” for she is the “sun” in his life that dims all other lights.)
Therefore the object of faith is this faith that is come; in other words: Christ himself. The central message of the gospel, and of the whole Bible in both testaments, is Christ. So until Christ came and made everything all about faith, the Jews had only the law as a babysitter, keeping them in line, behind their hedge, not letting them forget the will of God. They were a special people, with a glorious event coming!
What they had to look forward to was the Savior’s arrival, to lead them to trust in him in order to be justified before God by him, by his work, and not by means of the law. Paul draws a line under this by saying, “Now that this faith has come, we are no longer subject to any childhood chaperone.” The reminder no longer serves any purpose. Why keep the grocery list after you bring the groceries home? We have the promise, and what’s more, we have Jesus. Set your faith in Jesus, and know that through him you have forgiveness, the resurrection, and everlasting life.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.