I Know a Man…
I’m going
to avoid the age old question about whether or not Paul is talking about
himself when he talks about “some man.”
We know Paul had a number of visions during his ministry. We also know that other people had them as
well. Paul may be talking about himself,
he might not be. To focus on that issue
misses the much deeper point of this passage.
Paradise
Instead, I
want to talk a little bit about the background theology in this passage. Let’s start with the concept of “paradise”
found in verse 3. This is the same word
that Jesus uses on the cross when speaking to one of the thieves. The word in the Greek is actually a word that
the Greeks borrowed from Persians, who used the word to describe a walled and
enclosed garden that one could not access unless the way was opened for you
from the inside. Paradise – in the
original Persian context – was something that one was invited into. Paradise was a place to which having entrance
was an honor bestowed by the owner of the paradise. Thus, when Paul talks about being caught up
into paradise, Paul is talking about a man being honored to go someplace that
he could not have gotten without someone else bestowing the honor upon
him. This is first and foremost a
passage about grace. This is a passage
about God acting and a man being the beficiary of God’s action.
In fact,
take a glance back at the last verse of the prior chapter. Paul speaks of his life being a demonstration
of weakness by being spared in Damascus by grace in the act of being lowered
down the wall in a basket. This only
happened because others did it for Paul.
Now here in this passage Paul is talking about the glory and honor that
comes from Christ by being caught up into paradise – a place owned by God and
to which only God can grant access. This
could only happen because God did it to the man. Paul’s point is subtle, but one to which we
should pay attention. In God, we are
strong and He will lavish upon us glory upon glory. We cannot attain it ourselves. It is done for us.
The Need for the Mysterious Thorn
Before we
get to the next section, we also need to take a look at “thorn in his
side.” We don’t have too much of a clue
as to what the thorn actually happens to be, but we know that it was bad enough
that he genuinely prayed to God to be released from the pain. However, we also know that the thorn in his
side helped to keep him grounded.
Imagine how large Paul’s ego would have been if the only thing that he
experienced was the high mountaintop spiritual experiences. If Paul was only experiencing visions, only
experiencing the “paradise moments” of life, or only reaping positive moments
in ministry he would have had an incredible ego and would have likely been of
little use to any of us back in the real world.
Had Paul only experienced success, what would have kept the human ego in
check?
Paul was
able to keep balance in his life because he had both the joys and the
thorns. Because of his weaknesses, Paul
was reminded that the joys and glory in his life only come because of the
presence of Christ in His life. He is
not any greater than another human being; what makes him great is his
willingness to let Christ be great in him in spite of the thorns in his life.
Shame
As Paul
gets ready to close the letter, he speaks to the Corinthians in terms of
shame. He reminds them that the signs of
a true apostle were performed in their midst, yet they were uninspired to
respond faithfully. He then shames the
Corinthians because even after leaving he has continued to pour himself out for
them and they have remained spiritually uninspired. Finally, Paul shames them in that he tells
them that he suspects that when he does come that he will find them more
interested in quarrelling and arguing rather than being interested in doing the
work of the Lord.
As
Christians, we should take these words seriously. God has lavished grace upon us. God has sent spiritual people into our
lives. God has graciously given us His
Word and in our modern culture He has given us unimpeded access to it. Yet so often we still remain uninspired. We are more prone to argue about our faith
and what keeps us separate than we are willing to get down to doing the actual
work of the Lord.
Paul concludes
this letter by reminding them that he is planning to come to them for a third
time. His final piece of advice is about
testing themselves. They need to spend
some time genuinely asking themselves if Christ is within them. They need to look at their actions and words
and ask if Christ is genuinely present in what they say and do. They need to aim for restoration and seek to
live in God. This is sound advice and I
know that I can benefit from listening to Paul’s advice.
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