A Thorn In The Flesh
Paul wrote the last four chapters of 2 Corinthians with a red face. Red-faced with embarrassment because he was forced to brag on his achievements and sufferings. He shouldn’t have had to do that but the Corinthians wouldn’t do it for him in the presence of the enemies that were undermining his gospel by undermining him.
He would have been red-faced also because he was angry. The attack on him was more than personal. When his enemies at Corinth abused him they were doing it on the basis of and so that they could better present a false gospel¾a gospel without the cross. A gospel that said the cross was a past experience of Christ and should be forgotten now that Jesus was gloriously exalted. That was reason enough for Paul to be angry but it had numerous immediate effects. The Corinthian church was in turmoil, the contribution that would unite Jews and Gentiles was hindered so the reconciling work of God in Christ was being obscured and if this “gospel” of theirs caught hold the whole region would be infected. As F.F. Bruce has somewhere observed, Paul was a very flexible man in everything except the gospel. When it came to that he was like granite and didn’t care if he had to oppose men or angels (see 1 Corinthians 9:19-23; Galatians 1:6-9; 2:5).
So even while he’s bragging he’s serving the gospel. The things he reluctantly rehearses are divided into two categories: those that show him to be a “failure”¾his pain, his rejections and his losses—and those that would suggest he was “special”. That is, those that would suggest glory and privilege¾the kind of experiences his enemies counted important. The kind of experiences his enemies suggest should accompany a true apostle of the true gospel of the exalted Lord. (Well, if that’s what was required Paul had those but he did not see them in the same light as his opponents and some Corinthians.)
Paul’s not comfortable in rehearsing either category because it seems too close to self-promotion but he thought least of the “flashy” type experiences. The cross-like experiences would remind him of his vulnerability and, in truth, they would be a central part of the way the gospel was proclaimed through him. The exalted moments (greater than those of Moses up Mount Sinai) could easily distract him from the mission he was sent on.
That’s precisely why he was “given” a thorn in the flesh. Twice (following the best textual support) he tells us the thorn was given to him to keep him from being enamoured with himself. He might have raved about the exalted privilege he was given in being taken up to heaven but instead he tells us that it became another occasion for him to suffer loss and herald his weakness.
Who gave him the thorn in the flesh? Since he twice insists that it was given to him for a holy purpose we know the source of it wasn’t an evil power. It doesn’t matter that the thorn that was delivered was a satanic messenger; since the purpose it was given was a holy one that served the gospel’s purpose we know that he received it from God. The thorn was God’s “gift” of a difficult life.
There are a number of truths that flow from all this and some of them aren’t pleasing to us whose view of God and his purposes reduce him to being someone “nice”.
Whether we like it or not, here is a plain case where what God gave pain and heartache to his faithful servant. This truth shouldn’t surprise or alarm us since we profess to believe with all our hearts that God put his own unique Son to grief for the world’s sake. And if he delivered him up for us all why should we be surprised if he would deliver us up for others? In his early experience with Christ Peter thought that suffering was a strange thing and should have no connection with Christ or his people (Matthew 16:21-24) but he changed his mind about that as the years went by (1 Peter 4:12). It is in the context of suffering unjustly but for the Lord’s sake that he urges his readers to be ready with an answer for enemies (1 Peter 3:13-18, which is rooted in Isaiah 8:11-17 and 52:13—I 53:15).
Related to that we’re to learn the truth that God’s overarching purpose (to reconcile the world to himself in and through Jesus Christ) takes precedence over our personal comfort. We learn that God is in such earnest about bringing the gospel to the world that if it suits his purpose he will bring pain and loss to us.
And in connection with all that we’re to learn that God’s messengers may not be the sweet-spirited beings we would wish them to be. These “thorns” are satanic messengers and what is satanic has nothing in common with God. How then can something be of God and at the same time “a messenger of Satan”? It should help us to remember that the central event on which our faith and hope are built is the cross where evil people pursued their own agenda not knowing or caring that they were carrying out God’s will (Acts 2:23; 4:24-28).
Whatever Paul’s thorn in the flesh was, it was causing severe distress. It was “to buffet” him and the word doesn’t suggest anything like “inconvenience”. The very reading of the text suggests that the distress and pain is of long standing and in light of God’s response it was to last even longer.
Paul tells us he prayed to God about it and asked him three times to remove it. Three times might be literal and it might also reflect his imaging out of the Christ’s experience in Gethsemane; imaging it not in any slavish artificial way. And since he models his own life on that of Moses we will remember that Moses spoke to God more than once, asking God to let him in to the promised land. We’ll recall that God told Moses the burden wouldn’t be lifted and that he was not to mention the matter again (Deuteronomy 3:23-27).
In any case, Paul prayed fervently and asked for relief. In saying he asked he used an aorist verb in the indicative. This suggests that his days of asking were decisively in the past; he did it back then and was done with it. The reason he was done with it is because the Lord (in this text probably the Lord Jesus) who knew all about having a request denied, denied his request but gave him a glorious assurance.
When he tells us about the Lord’s response Paul uses a verb in the perfect tense. And if we allow it to function as a perfect tense verb then Paul hears the word of the Lord ringing in his ears (Plummer) even as he writes to the Corinthians. Back then Paul used to ask for relief but he put a stop to it. And he stopped it because the Lord said something to him that is even now ringing in his ears.
Before we read what it was that the Lord said we need to note that for Paul it was decisive and satisfying. We need to note also that the man who was begging for relief was God’s faithful servant who was on the rack. Instead of rushing over that truth to get to another we need to feel for the depths of that one.
This was such a person we might have thought should get a “yes” to the plea for relief. We sort of feel that he “earned” it. This was the sort of person we would be especially eager to relieve and if the Lord has any compassion about him—the kind of “compassion” that means something to us in particular—surely Paul’s hurt was a strong appeal. But though all that might be true, this was such a person that in some ways made it easy for the Lord to say “no”.
Paul’s desire for ease was real and urgent because the pain was prolonged and severe. But down below his strong desire for relief was something profoundly stronger—his hunger to serve God’s redeeming purposes. The situation here was such that relief would not have served God’s gracious purposes best and that more than he wanted relief Paul wanted God’s glory and our redemption in Christ.
Here’s a section of scripture that urges us to believe that pain and loss and satanic cruelty serve the glorious purposes of God. Here is a section that urges us to believe that God looks at some among us and is enabled by their devotion to him and to the world to say “no” to their fervent pleas. It’s to their everlasting credit that God says no!
But there’s nothing Stoic about Paul’s capacity to exult in God’s “no”. Nor does it come down simply to the fineness of his character. Paul was helped in this matter because of his theology. He actually believed that in his suffering God’s reconciling of the world in Christ was constantly rehearsed before the eyes of a watching world. The “dying” or “killing” (Barrett) of Christ was acted out again in Paul (as part of Christ’s body the church) and in this way the gospel was getting out. If that’s what was happening then Paul would embrace his vulnerability and pain with joy. Maybe a richer theology of suffering would help some poor souls bear their awful burdens more easily.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.