Galatians 3:23-29

The ancient story “Rapunzel” in Grimm’s Fairy tales is not Scripture, nevertheless it is good news, according to James Moore. In his book, “Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True,” James tells the story of Rapunzel from Grimm’s fairy tales. Do you recall that ancient story? A beautiful girl named Rapunzel lives with a wicked witch in a drab and dingy tower. The old witch is holding Rapunzel captive, and to keep the girl “in her place,” the wicked witch does two things. First, she removes all the mirrors from the tower, so Rapunzel cannot see what she looks like. And then the old witch tells Rapunzel repeatedly that she is ugly. In fact, the witch says to her, “Rapunzel, you look just like me.”

Since there are no mirrors in the tower, poor Rapunzel believes it. She can’t see how beautiful she is, so she remains a prisoner in the tower, a prisoner of her own supposed ugliness. The witch believes that if Rapunzel is convinced she is ugly, she will never try to escape.

But then, one bright day, Prince Charming comes riding by on his white horse, just as Rapunzel is leaning out of the tower for a breath of fresh air. Their eyes meet, and it’s love at first sight.

“Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair,” says the prince. And she does just that: She lets her long, flowing hair hang down from the balcony, and Prince Charming, using her hair like a rope ladder, climbs up into the tower.

As they gaze at each other lovingly, Rapunzel sees in the glistening eyes of her prince a clear reflection of her own face. In the mirror of his eyes, Rapunzel sees for the first time that she is beautiful. And at that moment, she is set free! Free from the witch! Free from the tower! Free from the past! Free from the feeling that she is ugly! Then Prince Charming takes Rapunzel into his arms; they parachute onto his horse and ride happily off into the sunset.

Obviously, Grimm’s Fairy tales is not Scripture, but James Moore has done us a great favor reminding us of this ancient tale. The story of Rapunzel does contain good news. From the standpoint of faith, who is it that tells us we are ugly? And into whose eyes may we peer to see ourselves as beautiful children of God?

Who is it that tells us we are ugly? It may surprise you to know the scriptural answer to that question. According to Paul, it’s the law that tells us we are ugly. “Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed.” (v. 23) That sounds like the witch who kept Rapunzel captive, doesn’t it? Earlier in this same chapter Paul calls the law “a curse.” Why? Because under the law we’re all failures.

Who among us can ever keep the law perfectly? The answer is none of us. Not even one of us could possibly fulfill all the law’s requirements. The law provides for us a standard that’s unattainable. And even if we were able to keep the law without any deviation, we would probably be guilty of spiritual pride. We would conclude that we are better than others and that may be the deadliest sin of all.

That’s how growing up under the law made Paul feel. Constrained, he says, and confined. Under a curse. Instead of making him more loving and more acceptable, it filled him with self-righteousness and resentment. It gave him permission to be cruel toward those who had different beliefs than he did. That happens whenever authentic faith is replaced by legalism. But then something happened in Paul’s life that made him realize he wasn’t a failure, he wasn’t a loser, he wasn’t ugly. He experienced the living Christ on the road to Damascus. He heard Christ say, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me.” And something broke within. Suddenly he wasn’t ugly anymore. I wonder whose eyes can we look into to see the beautiful creation we were intended to be? Paul writes: “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, though faith.” (25-26) In Jesus Christ we are all sons and daughters of God. We aren’t ugly at all. We aren’t unlovable at all. In fact, because we’ve met Jesus, we are quite beautiful.

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Rev. Charles Eldredge is a member of Maitland Church of the Brethren. He has a Facebook page and can be contacted by email: ce1133@verizon.net.