Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options
Kyle A. KeeferJune 12, 2007
Throughout his letters, Paul’s statements display the enormity of his conversion experience. One of the starkest statements he makes occurs in Galatians 2:20: "I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me." Paul started with the heinous execution of Christ and then pondered how to experience that crucifixion himself vicariously. In a remarkable interpretation of that event, he understands that just as Jesus subjected himself to suffering so that he might conquer death, the followers of Jesus are given the gift of allowing their old selves to be crucified with Christ. It is important to understand that Paul means what he says. That sounds platitudinous, but sometimes the familiarity of the Pauline epistles can blind us to the radicality of his positions. For him, the transformation of the Christian is complete and total (cf. Romans 6:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17). To be a Christian means that what once was powerful (the flesh and its desires) has perished, and what seemed like weakness (Jesus’ willingness to die) has infused the human with the powerful spirit of God. When we view a crucifix, we somberly remember that Christ’s sufferings occurred on our behalf. But the Galatians passage adds a second dimension to the symbolism of the crucifix. Christ died so that we might also put to death our fleshly selves and thereby experience the transformation of the resurrection. The good news of the crucifixion, especially made clear in this passage, is that the most horrendous and ignoble death has become the instrument and the symbol of the most glorious and transformative life. Kyle A. Keefer
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

The paradox at the heart of Christianity is that we must die in order to live again. And few movies witness to that truth like “Romero” (1989).
John DoughertyMarch 28, 2024
History has ignored Joanna, as it has most of the other women who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem and provided for him and the Twelve “from their resources” (Lk 8:2-3).
Robert P. MaloneyMarch 28, 2024
For parishioners at Most Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix, Ariz., dramatizing Christ’s Passion on the Via Crucis is a way of passing on the faith.
J.D. Long GarcíaMarch 28, 2024
During my time as the assistant Catholic chaplain at a state prison, I learned how chaplains must model their ministry to those who are vulnerable in the same spirit as St. Veronica.
Jake TheriotMarch 28, 2024