Galatians 2:13
“And the rest of the Jews joined him in his hypocrisy; so that even Barnabas was carried away with their hypocrisy.”
What does Galatians 2:13 mean?
Paul is describing a painful moment when Peter (the leader of the Jerusalem church) suddenly stopped eating with non-Jewish believers because some strict Jewish Christians showed up. His fear of judgment won out over his conviction that the gospel breaks down those barriers, and the other Jewish believers followed his lead, including Barnabas, Paul's own trusted companion. What makes this so striking is that these weren't bad people doing something obviously wrong, they were good people compromising their deeper beliefs under social pressure. Paul's willing to call it out publicly because the foundation of the gospel, the truth that all are welcome in Christ, was at stake.