God’s Medicine For Foolishness

Studying through the book of Galatians last week with a couple of friends and we reflected on the popular statement of Paul in Galatians 3 “O Foolish Galatians” Let’s face it, don’t we all think brother Paul was clearly out of the line right there? I thought so too until my curiosity got the better part of me to check out the context in which Paul’s statement was used in Greek and voila! Foolish here is the word ‘anoetos’, which had the idea of someone who can think but fails to use their power of perception. Technically, Paul was saying, “You Galatians, how is it that you have the capacity to think, then you have all the facts before you, yet you refused to think!” But come to think of it, when a person can think and has all the facts to aid his thinking and yet he is not thinking what is he? Well, you can answer that in the comment session later.

I almost thought there was nothing more to this until I remembered that Jesus had earlier called people fools before this time too in Luke 24:25. On that fateful day after the death of Jesus, some brethren on the road to Emmaus were discussing that although they thought Jesus was the Messiah, now he is dead and that’s the end. In verse 25, Jesus said “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” What! How could Jesus do that? Well, because like the Galatians, these brethren were acting consistently with the characteristics of what it means to be a fool (that is, having the capacity to think, knowing the facts but refusing to think).

However, Jesus did something to help them. In verse 27, the bible says “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself” Jesus revealed himself to them through the scriptures, the old testament scriptures by the way.
Interestingly, in Paul’s case with the Galatians too, the next thing Paul did after he noticed their foolishness was to show them all the evidence available before them pointing to salvation by faith and not by works and revealing Jesus to them right from the old testament scriptures using Abraham as a case study.

The consistency of Paul’s action with Jesus in dealing with foolishness could only mean one thing: That God’s cure for foolishness is the revelation of Jesus through the scripture. Many times we’re surprised how educated minds, political leaders, and sometimes even clergymen can act in manners consistent only with foolishness, it is because they are devoid of the revelation of the person of Christ which comes only by studying the scripture. In fact, Jesus put it bluntly more when he said to the Pharisees “You’re in error because you don’t understand the scripture” (Mark 12:24).

So, where is your bible? For Jesus said, “You search the scripture because you think that in them you will have life, but these are the very scripture that speaks concerning me” (John 5:39); meaning the cure for foolishness is the revelation of Christ and the source of knowing Christ is the scripture, your pastor can help you but you need to study the scripture to really know God for who he is beyond the ideas of men.

May God grant you that strength to search the scripture in Jesus name.