2 Corinthians 12
21 verses
Paul narrates a mystical experience: 'I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows'—a paradoxical claim of direct divine encounter and its incommunicability ('heard inexpressible things which mortals are not permitted to repeat'), elevating his credentials while simultaneously insisting on the hiddenness and untranslatable nature of divine revelation. The contrast between the celestial vision and the 'thorn in the flesh' (skolops, perhaps illness, physical suffering, or persecution) reveals the dialectic of exaltation and humiliation that structures Pauline apostleship: given to prevent him from being 'conceited because of the abundance of revelations,' the thorn is a gift (dorotheis) of divine grace. His threefold prayer for removal—'three times I appealed to the Lord about this'—echoes Christ's prayer in Gethsemane and solicits the definitive response: 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' This formula—divine grace sufficiency and power-in-weakness—becomes Paul's supreme boast: 'I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.' The reorientation is complete: what Paul would naturally boast about (visions, revelations) he now boasts about weakness; his weakness becomes the stage upon which Christ's power is displayed. The assertion 'I will boast of the things that show my weakness' rather than strength inverts all conventional standards of honor and demonstrates the fool's wisdom. The signs of a true apostle—'signs and wonders and mighty works'—are performed among the Corinthians; yet these are subordinated to the theology of weakness and cross. Paul's fear upon his impending third visit—'when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish; there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, selfishness, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder'—surveys the moral and spiritual pathologies that threaten the community.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
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2
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
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3
And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)
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God is faithful in every circumstance.. Following God is costly, but the reward is eternal.. God is faithful in every ci...
4
How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
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5
Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities.
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6
For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.
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7
And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
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8
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
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The contrast between human weakness and divine strength is so vivid in this passage. The promise here is not conditional...
9
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
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10
Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
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11
I am become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me: for I ought to have been commended of you: for in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though I be nothing.
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God is faithful in every circumstance.. I think this is a call to trust beyond what we can see. My grandmother used to q...
12
Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.
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13
For what is it wherein ye were inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome to you? forgive me this wrong.
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14
Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.
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15
And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
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16
But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.
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17
Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?
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18
I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?
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19
Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.
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20
For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults:
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21
And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.
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