16 And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God.
17 From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen.
These closing verses of the epistle contain yet another impressive statement from the Apostle (17). It is a striking word, and there is a ring of authority, and even awesomeness, about it. There is almost the growl of a lion in it, a great king of the forest disturbed by intruders that have presumed to assail his rightful place, by firing darts into him.
Lightfoot interprets the plea as meaning, 'Let no man question my authority henceforth', that is to say, Paul ends the epistle as he had begun it, with an assertion of his apostolic authority.' One has only to think of some of the notable autobiographical pas- sages in Paul's other epistles (1 Corinthians 4:9-13; 2 Corinthians 11:23-33) to realise what he means by the 'marks of the Lord Jesus', and how truly and deeply he shared the sufferings of the Son of God in bringing sons and daughters into glory. In the last analysis, this is the highest authority a man can have for asking others to trouble him no more but rather accept his message. A man who bears the marks of the cross upon him has the right to speak as bluntly as Paul had done in this epistle, without any fear of overstepping himself; for when the world is crucified unto him and he to the world, it means that Christ is in all things pre-eminent in his life, and therefore it is Christ Himself who speaks. This is the authority by which Paul wrote to the Galatians. A crucified man has the right to say anything to those who are on his heart.