Paul has been writing his thoughts between parentheses, and those parentheses are very far apart from each other. In other words, he got on a sidetrack back in 2 Corinthians 2:14, and he will continue on that sidetrack until 2 Corinthians 7:5.
His parenthetical focus has been on how great the ministry he (and we) have is - with some emphasis on how much greater it is than the ministry of the old covenant because its success comes from God and not from ourselves.
We merely reflect God's light. Our earthly bodies are merely containers, vessels made from mud that contain the power and glory of God Himself! Empty containers are useless. No one wants a container for its own sake. You would be disappointed if UPS delivered an empty box to your door.
The only value in a container is what it contains. And ours contain the very power and glory of God Himself!
Fortunately, containers don’t have to be perfect. A jar with a bubble in its glass and a box covered in graffiti are still capable of containing gold, silver, and gemstones.
Similarly, we ministers (which is all who are saved) are insignificant. The glory of God we bring into the world is all that matters.
This means things are accomplished through us that we are incapable of accomplishing. The difficult times we as God’s ministers will inevitably face are His to bear, not our own. None of them matter if He is glorified, because it’s not about the container, only what it contains.
God takes full responsibility for the results of our ministry. In the last chapter Paul wrote “
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant” (2 Cor 3:5-6).
In the section we're studying this week (
4:8-18), Paul zoomed in on that fact... put a microscope to it.
Think about it. God could have miraculously transformed us into superhuman evangelizers, incapable of sin, never wearing down, never failing, never distracted, able to change hard hearts with a single word. If He’d done that, we would receive all kinds of glory for what we did. The ministry being in these "jars of clay" – our weak human natures – shifts the glory to God.
2 Cor 4:8-9: "
8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."
Notice in these verses how Paul contrasts the earthenness of the vessels with the value of the contents. As a minister he is:
- Hard pressed (earthy) but without being crushed (valuable)
- Perplexed (earthy) without despair (valuable)
- Persecuted (earthy) without being abandoned (valuable)
- Struck down (earthy) without being destroyed (valuable)
Paul said in
v.8 that he was "perplexed."
The highly respected
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament gives the following definition to the word translated "perplexed" (aporeō, or ἀπορέω). It means "
to be in straits, to be left wanting, to be embarrassed, to be in doubt, not to know which way to turn, to be at a loss with one's self, not to know how to decide or what to do."
In other words, it means to feel incompetent - like you would if a surgeon handed you a scalpel and told you to make a cut into a patient's chest (unless you're a surgeon).
Paul says the Christian life involves being hard pressed, feeling incompetent, and being struck down (which literally means “brought to the ground”).
Don’t miss the fact that God does not prevent us from experiencing these things! In fact, He’s taught us to
expect them in our lives. Those are things we should expect to encounter if we faithfully carry out the ministry God gave us.
They are also what we call people to expect when they choose to follow God (see 2 Timothy 3:12).
But that’s not the end of the story. If our earthly bodies were to carry out this ministry in their own power, being hard pressed, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down would crush us!
However, because our bodies contain power and glory directly from God – because He doesn’t leave us to do it ourselves –
- The pressure doesn’t crush us,
- The feelings of incompetence don’t cause us to despair,
- The persecution doesn’t leave us abandoned, and
- When we’re brought to the ground we aren’t destroyed!
2 Cor 4:10-11: "
10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body."
So we’re going to suffer, but we’re going to have God’s power to bear up under it. To Paul this suffering is merely a matter of "
carrying around in our body the death of Jesus." The power of Jesus’ resurrection is the only way we can bear it. Unless he or she knows Christ and the power of His resurrection, the bearer of these sufferings will be crushed by them.
The
very purpose for which Paul says he carries this "death of Jesus" around in his body is
so that Jesus' life could
also be revealed in him, even in this life (
vv. 4, 11).
2 Cor 4:12: "
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you."
Paul’s own trials served to bring life to the Corinthians because he was united with Christ. Can you understand why he willingly suffered as he did? So many times we read of his suffering in the book of Acts or in his letters, and we can legitimately say "Paul you could have avoided that! You put yourself in the path of danger and persecution!" Yes he did. He knew what was coming. But the results of his willful suffering were hundreds and maybe thousands of people inheriting eternal life! And far more people through the centuries that followed than he could have imagined!
So was the suffering worth it? Oh yeah.
2 Cor 4:13-14: "
13 It is written: "I believed; therefore I have spoken." With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence."
Paul told the Corinthians in his previous letter that our hope of future resurrection is the only reason we can justify being Christians. "
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith" (
1 Corinthians 15:13-14).
That confidence in a future resurrection, he wrote in v.13, is what enables us to “speak” – to continue ministering – without buckling under.
2 Cor 4:15-18: "
15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
Paul’s ministry certainly benefited the Corinthians, but ultimately it was for God's benefit (to bring more thanksgiving to Him).
Suffering leads to life (
v.16). That conviction enabled Paul to remain strong and determined.
Suffering achieves glory for us as well as for God (
v.17). By God's power Jesus' death led to His resurrection. So also God brings life from death in the existence of each believer. But watch the words in v.17. Suffering does not
produce the change from death to life. Rather, it achieves, or leads to it. Suffering merely removes the obstacle – our egocentrism. Only by removing our self-focus can we not be crushed when we’re hard pressed, etc. (
vv. 8-10).
The fact that "
this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us" (back in v. 7) is the whole point. So we fix our eyes on the eternal glory of God (v.18), not on our temporary earthly bodies. We fix our eyes on the eternal thanksgiving to God, not on our temporary sufferings.
There is a constant drain on the outward part of our nature while the inner nature is constantly gaining strength. This is why we look forward to the day when Christ will “
transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body” (
Php 3:21).
And that will be Paul's focus in chapter 5.
