Thorn in the flesh
Day 617, Monday, April 20
2 Corinthians 12:1 – 13:14
Paul’s hurt at the opposition he has faced in the church at Corinth dominates chapters 12 and 13. He sarcastically refers to those opponents as “super-apostles” and speaks about them and their accusations with uncharacteristic bitterness.
In spite of his anger, he closes out the letter with a hopeful request: “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
Chapter 12 has two intriguing references that present mysteries still debated today.
Verses 2-7 refers to “a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven.” The first readers would have understood the third heaven to refer to the very presence of God. (The first heaven was the visible sky and clouds; the second heaven was the distant stars and moon). He says he does not know if this being “caught up to the third heaven” was an actual rapturous event or if it was a vision.
Most scholars have concluded that the event or vision happened to Paul himself and that he for some reason (possibly humility) wanted to distance himself from it. Others consider it to be a second-hand account of something that happened to someone else or even a literary invention.
In verses 6-10, Paul speaks of his frequent theme of boasting in his weakness. Here, though, he says that “in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
Three times, he says, he pleaded with God to remove the thorn in his flesh. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for youo, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Even now there is no consensus on what Paul’s thorn in the flesh was. The most common conclusion is that it was related to his vision, possibly an aftereffect of the blinding light he saw when he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. We know that he dictated his letters and sometimes commented on his large handwriting when he includes a personal signature; that is consistent with poor vision. Other suggestions have been that he suffered from malaria or epilepsy, a speech impediment, or a spiritual or emotional struggle.
In any case, Paul’s thorn in the flesh is a reminder that not all prayers get answered in the way we would like. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that God’s power may rest on me.”
Monday meditation
Psalms 113:1-9
Praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord, you his servants; praise the name of the Lord. Let the name of the Lord be praised, both now and forevermore. From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. Who is like the Lord our God, the One who sits enthroned on high, who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children.
Praise the Lord.
Prayer focus
May we find your strength in our weakness.
-Rev. Mark Fleming