Daily Scripture and Thoughts On It

The Scripture readings I am doing right now are all from the letters of Paul. I am reading his letters and trying to put them into the context of the story told by Luke in Acts. I am presently re-reading 2 Corinthians. Any commentary I make is in italics:

2 Cor. 10 - Paul describes himself as one who bullies them only when he is away (in his letters). But he fancies he will have to do so in person to people who accuse him of “ordinary human motives” (3). He does not fight with fleshly weapons. They are assailing his authority – he defends it as given to build them up, so he won’t neglect to use it. He resolves to be more like the man of his letters when he is with them. He returns to the theme of boasting [see Jeremiah 9] urging them to come off believing in pretensions others have made and to recognize that Paul’s position of authority--his boast--derives from a commission from God.

The amount of time Paul devotes to this theme—of boasting, of seeing himself in conflict with others who are trying to denigrate his authority or puff up their own status in the church—indicates that there must have been some pretty caustic words going around and challenges among those preaching and teaching as to their relative status in the leadership.

2 Cor. 11 - Paul’s “jealousy” for them is from God. He arranged for their marriage to Christ. But as in the Genesis story, the serpent turned them [Christ’s Eve], away from simple faithfulness to a fallen condition and fallen relationship with God.

Paul has a little irony in his tone here. He asks them to “put up” with his foolishness; they “put up” with it when others preach a different message. Again, he refers to competing “apostles,” men who call themselves or make other feel they are “super-apostles” (5). Are they charging money for their preaching and thus making people feel they are getting something of greater value? Paul preached for free (supported by brothers from Macedonia). There are counterfeit apostles, “Satan going about as an angel of light.” They apparently are claiming to be more “Jewish” than Paul, for he reasserts his “Jewish” credentials here. They may also be claiming to have worked harder, but he here boasts of his many sufferings in Christ—39 lashes at the hands of the Jews (5 times); beatings with rods (3 times); a stoning; a shipwreck; dangers of all kinds; sleepless nights, hunger and thirst; fastings; exposure (25-29). He tells of his escape from the hands of the governor of Damascus, “let down in a basket through a window in the wall” (33).

There is a lot of emotion in this letter about the rivalries, divisions, boasts of superiority and travails suffered in these early days. So, the divisions in the church are from the beginning. Still, we must try to settle them, overcome them. If Paul anguished over this, it is something still worth working on.