Last updated on November 25, 2024
In the last few chapters of 2 Corinthians Paul once again feels the need to justify his work. There have apparently been some “super-apostles” (2 Corinthians 11:5) who have come to Corinth to denounce Paul’s work. These men are most likely from Jerusalem, but they’re not the same Jewish leaders who were trying to stop Jesus. These men are leaders in the church. They at some point came to the conclusion that Jesus was in fact the Messiah, and they dedicated their lives to following him.
However, they, like Jesus’ disciples, had an agenda. That agenda was that Gentiles must follow the Jewish customs and laws if they were going to follow the Jewish Messiah. They believed that this was their calling, and as much as they appreciated Paul for what he had done in bringing the gospel to the Gentiles, they felt that he was causing harm by not taking this next step with them. As a result, they felt it necessary to talk trash about Paul. They said, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing” (2 Corinthians 10:7).
As we’ve seen before, Paul saw this “next step” as adding to the gospel, which is in essence making it a different gospel. He’s said this more times than he can count, but because these impressive “super apostles” have denounced him, he feels it necessary to prove himself.
He reminds them of his background. He also reminds them of all that he has gone through in order to have even been able to meet them (prison, shipwrecked, stoned, beaten, sleepless nights, hunger). None of these “super-apostles” had faced anything like this. More than anything, though, he wants them to know that it is his weaknesses that he can most lean into. Paul is about to turn everything on its head.
Paul shared about a very powerful vision that had. something that most people would never get to experience. But then he said this…
In order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in my weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 2:7-10
Paul was more interested in a posture that welcomed Christ’s power than he was in his own talents. That’s why he could boast in his weaknesses. He wanted this congregation to know that it is in humility that we find strength. It’s when we’re weak that we are needy. And it’s in those moments that we truly experience God doing what only God can do.
Be First to Comment