12:1 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the LORD. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know--God knows. 3 And I know that this man--whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows-- 4 was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses.
“I know a man” refers to Paul himself. That is obvious if you consider the context. Paul says he is boasting. Describing someone else’s experience wouldn’t be boasting.
“Third heaven” comes from a traditional Jewish belief that the first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere; the second heaven is the place of the planets, stars, sun, and moon; and the third heaven is paradise, where God’s throne is.
Some believe Paul’s “third-heaven experience” was his encounter on the road to Damascus when he was blinded by the light and began the process of becoming a minister of Christ. However, here is Paul’s timeline:
AD 33 Paul's conversion on Damascus Road
AD 43 Ministry/revival in Antioch
AD 57 Paul wrote 2 Corinthians
So, 14 years before writing this letter would have been around the time Barnabas summoned Paul from Tarsus to Antioch to minister at a revival (Acts 11:25). This was when the disciples were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). That was 10 years after his Paul’s conversion on Damascus Road.
There have been a slew of modern books where people claim to have experienced heaven and returned to talk about. Those authors quickly get their books into print and get on the radio and lecture circuits, rapidly increasing fame and wealth. But Paul was humbled by his experience, was reluctant to talk about it for 14 years, and wouldn’t even describe it with a direct reference to himself. What a contrast! Paul will boast about what God did but not about what he has done.
6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.
Paul doesn’t want the attention to be placed upon himself. In a modern pastors conference, he might have told how many converts he had, how well-known he was among the churches, the famous Christians he had baptized, the amount of the world he had covered in his ministry, the great miracles were done through his ministry, the huge crowds he had spoken to, the numerous times he appeared before government officials, etc.
All of these things were true, but he’s still only human. Paul wants people to focus on what God speaks and does through him, not on his own actions or wisdom.
7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Having special heavenly revelations could make a man conceited. To keep him humble, God gave Paul a constant reminder of his human frailty. There have been all kinds of speculation as to what the thorn in Paul’s flesh was – a speech impediment, poor eyesight, temptations with lust, even a nagging ex-wife has been suggested!
All we can know for certain is the nature of the “thorn” and why it was given. But really, that is all that matters.
Paul’s “humiliator” was a messenger from Satan. “Messenger” in the Greek is the term angelos, which we are used to seeing translated as “angel.” “Angel” really just means “messenger,” and that is the way the NIV translates it in this verse. Satan has angels/messengers just as God does. You’ll probably remember in Matt 25:41 when Jesus said He would someday say to “the goats,” Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. And in Rev 12:9 Satan was hurled down to earth along with his angels.
God gave this messenger of Satan t Paul to keep him from, literally, “exalting himself” (ὑπεραίρω huperairō) because he had received such incredible revelations.
Remember, earlier in this letter Paul said that God gave us the gospel in earthy bodies for the same reason: But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us” (2 Cor 4:7).
8 Three times I pleaded with the LORD to take it away from me. 9a But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
Paul asked God for deliverance from this demonic affliction. But instead of removing the affliction, God provided the strength to endure it.
I don’t think we can say this conclusively, but I believe the strongest evidence is that the thorn in Paul’s flesh – the messenger of Satan – is the “super-apostles” who were leading the Corinthians astray, attacking Paul’s character, and generally making his ministry more difficult to the Corinthians. After all, in the last chapter Paul called those men “false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness” (2Cor 11:13-15).
[Note: Biblical examples of “thorn” referring to “people” include Numbers 33:55, Joshua 23:13, Ezekiel 2:6, and Ezekiel 28:24.]
V. 9a, This weakening of Paul was necessary to make God’s grace sufficient and God’s power complete.
9b Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Here’s the clincher: Paul then says that if his own weakness increases God’s power, he will happily boast about and delight in his weaknesses! The devil’s tricks are once again foiled!
As John the Baptists said, “
[Jesus] must become greater; I must become less” (John 3:30)
Q: If our weaknesses makes God’s strength more complete, what do you think God likes to do with us? 
