Behind | The Marks of Jesus

A fruitful life lived by the power of the Holy Spirit was not an easier life than life in the flesh. In fact, for Paul, his life was a continuous kind of crucifixion with Christ (Galatians 2:20). It was death to his flesh that made life in the Spirit possible.

Beyond that kind of inner, ongoing death to self, Paul was also called to a life of suffering for the Lord (Romans 9:16). In Galatians, as in many epistles, Paul mentions his suffering:

In the Roman world, slaves would often have marks on their body like brands or tattoos that identified them as belonging to their masters. Paul may have been referring to these marks as brands that identified him as a servant of Jesus. Because of this, some translations render this passage to explicitly reference this practice of branding:

While this connection with the branding of Roman slaves appears to be intentional with Paul’s many references to himself as a servant, there appears to be another layer to Paul’s language. This idea of “showing your scars” as a sign of loyalty was well known in the Roman world. 

The first Herod, Antipater the Idumaean, was accused before Caesar of being disloyal and manipulative. Instead of defending himself with words, he stripped his body in front of Caesar and his accuser to show the many battle scars he had received protecting Caesar’s life:

We get a similar feeling from Paul’s statement in Galatians where he is defending himself. Paul’s scars, like Antipater’s, are marks of pride, and he references them to close the letter and his case for his authority.

Quote: Flavius Josephus, The Jewish War: Revised Edition, edited by Betty Radice and E. Mary Smallwood, 1984, p. 53.

Reference: F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Galatians, 2013, pp. 275-276.