Galatians chapter 1 part 1

After reading chapter 1:

*The first five verses are the letter's greeting, telling who it is from and to whom it is written. Paul describes himself as an apostle, sent not from man nor by men but by Jesus christ and God the father. An apostle is someone who is sent, or a messenger, basically a missionary. Who sent Paul? He claims Jesus and God sent him. Let's be clear though, he is not talking about the living physical man Jesus. As far as the bible shows,  Paul never encountered him. Paul is talking of a Christ (messiah) named Jesus (literally Joshua) who he believes is resurrected from the dead. How did he recieve this commission from a formerly dead person? We will find out later in this book.

*A common mistake some modern christians make is to assume that this kind of resurrected messiah talk was unusual  in the first century. The truth is the Jews had and still have multiple messianic teachings, and arguments for and against them.. Plus, Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead.
Messiah ben Joseph (son of Joseph) 
Messiah in Judaism
Menahem ben Hezekiah
Jewish Eschatology (scroll down to "messianism")

*From reading the above articles we can see that the idea of a messiah was multifaceted and complicated, with many schools of thought. The Old Testament prophetic writings were sometimes read as a code that needed to be deciphered, just as many christians treat the book of Revelation today. There was no overarching consensus about the who, how, where, and when of this messiah. Paul as a first century educated Pharisee, before the fall of Jerusalem, would have been steeped in the traditions, arguments,and teachings of his day. They were not confined to the biblical literature we now call scripture. There were intertestamental writings and the Jews had a rich oral tradition. These people weren't just looking for a messiah. They were willing to see it anywhere, just like  christians of today who see the end times and parallels with Revelation in modern events, even stretching facts to make them fit.

*We can see that Paul lived in a world and among a people that expected a leader, one whose name might be recognized as one of the great Israelite heroes, a Moses, an Elijah, a Joseph, a David, or maybe even a Joshua? Maybe that person would be a reincarnation or resurrection of that hero of old. Maybe he would perform similar acts, in reality or symbolically. Paul also lived in a world that was familiar with Hellenic philosophy. He could have been aware of or influenced by the Platonists, the Stoics, the Epicureans, and more, including Hellenistic Jews like Philo of Alexandria. I included all this information because I think it is very important to remember that Paul did not live in a "biblical" bubble as we continue on.