Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Year 2, Day 94: 2 Corinthians 12 & 13

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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