A brief overview of Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians will cover a few odds and ends and try to give us a hook to hang our understanding of the letter on. First, I have a couple of fun observations about the Corinthian letters.
This isn’t actually “Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians.” It is at the very least his third, as you might see by examining the statement in 1 Corinthians 5:9, which references an earlier letter already written. So what we have is (probably) 2 Corinthians and 3 Corinthians. Don’t you wish we had the first letter? I find it fun to think about the fact that somewhere out there was a letter from Paul that was never preserved. Are there others? Who knows! I have a teacher who loves to joke that the letter we are missing must have been where Paul talked about all of the controversial issues of our day. I have always chuckled at the thought.
But perhaps there was another. Look at this passage from 2 Corinthians 7:
Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter. So even though I wrote to you, it was neither on account of the one who did the wrong nor on account of the injured party, but rather that before God you could see for yourselves how devoted to us you are. By all this we are encouraged.
Was this a reference to the missing letter? Was it a reference to what we know as 1 Corinthians? It certainly could be — 1 Corinthians was a tough letter of confrontation. Or could it be something else? At any rate, it appears that the people of Corinth are growing, changing, and repenting. This passage has always given me great hope when I feel like the church world around me is doomed. Things can change — even in Corinth.
Another fun conversations in 2 Corinthians is about Paul’s famous “thorn in the flesh.” There are many different theories on what this thorn could be. One scholar has suggested that Paul’s thorn was blindness. He did tell the Galatians (4:15) about how they would have torn out their eyes and given them to him. Paul does seem to struggle with blindness in his story. Is that his thorn in the flesh?
My teacher suggested it was a wife who had deserted him. While this theory is often discredited on the cursory reading of some proof texts, I think there might be more credence to this theory once we look closer at those statements from a Jewish perspective. Many have said it is clear Paul is single, but his statements aren’t quite as direct as they appear, and we would assume any student of Gamaliel would have to be married (which is basically a prerequisite in any portion of the rabbinical world). Did his wife desert him when he started following Jesus? Has Paul prayed God would release him from his marriage and doesn’t feel like God has? Interesting options.
I have looked to the Text and noticed a consistent theme of “thorn in the side” being connected to the Gentiles and pagan nations. Examples of this might be Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13, and a handful of others. Has Paul asked God to release him from his call to the Gentiles? I consider this highly unlikely, based on the way Paul talks about his call elsewhere.
But it’s always fun to consider.
The “big idea” of 2 Corinthians, though, at least for me as I teach my students, is Paul’s apostleship. One of the things he seems to struggle with in Corinth is their respect of his authority as an apostle. This isn’t the first time Paul has had to address it, but it comes up again:
By the humility and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you—I, Paul, who am “timid” when face to face with you, but “bold” toward you when away! I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world. For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. And we will be ready to punish every act of disobedience, once your obedience is complete.
You are judging by appearances. If anyone is confident that they belong to Christ, they should consider again that we belong to Christ just as much as they do. So even if I boast somewhat freely about the authority the Lord gave us for building you up rather than tearing you down, I will not be ashamed of it. I do not want to seem to be trying to frighten you with my letters. For some say, “His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing.” Such people should realize that what we are in our letters when we are absent, we will be in our actions when we are present.
And Paul will say later in the next chapter:
I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way. Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you. And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to you in any way, and will continue to do so. As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
And finally, Paul closes chapter by saying his resume and credentials of apostleship have been solidified in suffering. He has all the pedigree and Jewish background a teacher could want, and yet he will not boast in these things, only in the fact that he has followed Jesus in the way of self-sacrifice. As he begged them in the last letter, he asks them to quit propping themselves up on the wrong credentials. Look for the things that matter and follow Jesus; as Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4, he invites them to imitate him as he imitates Jesus.
This is what I always find to be the challenging thing for our culture to meditate on and let marinate. In a post-modern and protestant world that rejects spiritual authority of all kinds, I think there are interesting words to consider. Yet again, I wonder if we have much in common with the Corinthian church. And while I rarely teach on this because I do find myself in a position of spiritual authority (and it always feels like a conflict of interest), I do know, as a person who sits on the edge of the millennial generation, how much I bristle against the idea of spiritual authority.
We have all seen the ways in which spiritual authority has been abused and corrupted. We’ve heard the horror stories and have been appalled at the headlines. Such leadership should never be submitted to and will find their representation of God judged by the One they claim to represent. Such abuse — abuse of people, abuse of authority, and abuse of God’s call — is something God takes very seriously and Jesus denounced very adamantly.
But I also find myself challenged by Scripture like 2 Corinthians. I find myself with bathwater in hand, needing to stop and make sure the proverbial baby is not being thrown out with it. I pray God might give us all spiritual leaders who look like Jesus. People — flawed and sinful as they may be — who help us see Jesus and the love of God more clearly. People who live life with a passion and surrender to God’s counter-intuitive Kingdom way. I pray they would be humble, merciful, patient, kind, and good sufferers. And when God grants us that kind of leadership, I pray we would follow. I pray we would respect.
At the end of Paul’s lament, he gives a final plea. It may be one to consider, at least for a few of us (and I know I’m included).
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All God’s people here send their greetings.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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