2
Corinthians 11:16
After
digressing to discuss the issue of financial support and to expose
the false teachers as emissaries of Satan, Paul returned to the
‘foolish” boasting the Corinthians had forced him into.
Boast,
seems to be the prominent word in the last few chapters including
this chapter. It seems to me that it is very painful to Paul to have
to defend himself. Paul has already mentioned that he thought it
foolish to boast. This boasting is in defense of his character.
Paul’s
concern was not personal preservation; rather, the apostle knew that
by rejecting him in favor of the false apostles, the Corinthians
would be rejecting the true gospel for a false one. So by
establishing himself and his ministry as genuine, Paul was defending
the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
2
Corinthians 11:17
Paul
is not speaking for the Lord here, but for himself. Paul will be sure
to give his things that he has suffered for the Lord to prove who and
what he is about.
Paul
does acknowledge that the boasting is “not according to the Lord”,
but the desperate situation in Corinth (where the false apostles made
their “boast according to the flesh) had forced him to boast, not
for self glorification, but to counter the false doctrine threatening
the Corinthian church.
2
Corinthians 11:18
This
boasting is a fleshly thing in answer to the boasting of the new
teacher who has stirred them up against Paul.
In
these next 3 scriptures from 19-21,
Paul pens some of the most scathing sarcasm that he had even penned,
demonstrating the seriousness of the situation at Corinth and
revealing the jealous concern of a godly pastor. Paul did not view
his disagreement with the false apostles as a mere academic debate;
the souls of the Corinthians and the purity of the gospel were at
stake.
2
Corinthians 11:19
The
Corinthians, who had written Paul sarcastically, should have no
trouble bearing with a “fool” like him, since they themselves
were so wise.
Paul
is saying, you are so intelligent that you listen to fools gladly.
This is really saying to them that their judgment of character is not
what it should be.
2
Corinthians 11:20
“Bring
you into bondage” is a Greek verb translated by this phrase
appearing elsewhere in the New Testament only in Gal. 2:4, where it
speaks of the Galatians’ enslavement by the Judaizers.
The
false apostles had robbed the Corinthians of their freedom in Christ.
The false apostles were attempting to catch the Corinthians like fish
in a net.
The
new teachers, it seems, were putting them under great bondage. It
seems they had these Corinthians so convinced they were right, that
they would put up with most anything from these new teachers.
2
Corinthians 11:21
Paul’s
sarcasm reached its peak as he noted that he was “too weak” to
abuse the Corinthians as the false apostles had done.
Paul
says, I may have appeared to you as weak, but if you want boldness, I
can be bold, also.
2
Corinthians 11:22
Here,
again, we see Paul being all things to all men that by all means he
might save some. If they claim they are a Hebrew, they have nothing
on Paul. He is a Hebrew. Paul always reminded the Israelites that he
was not only an Israelite, but a Pharisee of the Pharisees. All
believers in Christ are seed of Abraham.
To
each of these questions Paul replied simply, truthfully and
powerfully, “so am I”.
2
Corinthians 11:23
"Fool"
means insane in verse 23. Paul is saying that it is insane to speak
this way. Paul, in comparing himself to these teachers who have come
against him, says that he is a better minister. He has labored harder
than them all. He had been imprisoned most of the time he was
ministering. In Rome, he was under house arrest and yet ministered
regularly. He had been beaten, and stoned, and even left for dead.
Paul was reminding him the suffering he had endured for the sake of
the gospel. I am sure this rejection hurt him more than all the
beatings.
In
this scripture Paul had emphatically denied that they were ministers
of Christ, however, some of the Corinthians still believed they were.
Paul accepted that belief for the sake of argument then went on to
show that his ministry was in every way superior to the false
apostles’ so called “ministry.”
This
general summary of Paul’s sufferings for the gospel in the next few
verses give specific examples many of which are not found in Acts
Paul was often in danger of death.
2
Corinthians 11:24
Jesus
had told Paul in the beginning that he would show him what great
things he would suffer for him. These beatings were just one of these
things he suffered. Forty stripes were thought to be too much, and a
man would die so the most that was allowed was 39. Any more than that
and the one doing the beating could be put to death.
Deut.
25:1-3
set 40 as the maximum number that could legally be administered; in
Paul’s day the Jews reduced that number by one to avoid
accidentally going over the maximum. Jesus warned that His followers
would receive such beatings. (Matt. 10:17)
2
Corinthians 11:25
With
rods is referring to Roman beatings with flexible sticks tied
together. He was stoned at Lystra.
We
know that Paul was shipwrecked on the way to Rome to be heard of
Caesar, but when this scripture was written, this had not yet taken
place. Paul had been on several sea voyages up to this time, giving
ample opportunity for the 3 shipwrecks to have occurred. On one of
those shipwrecks was so severe that Paul spent an entire day floating
on the wreckage waiting to be rescued.
All
of these things, Paul gladly endured so that he might be able to
bring the gospel message to the lost world.
2
Corinthians 11:26
These
perils are those connected with his frequent travels. Waters (rivers)
and robbers posed a serious danger to travelers in the ancient world.
Paul’s journey from Perga to Pisidian Antioch for example, required
him to travel through the robber infested Taurus Mountains and to
cross two dangerous, flood prone rivers. Paul was frequently in
danger from his “own countrymen” and less often, from Gentiles.
From
the time that Paul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and the time he
was killed in Rome, Paul travelled widely in missionary journeys. On
one of these journeys, he established the church at Corinth that this
letter was written to. Paul was hated by the Jews, and they followed
him and tried to kill him. The Christians, here at Corinth, it
appeared were turning against Paul and the Romans finally killed
Paul. This is not exaggeration that he was speaking.
2
Corinthians 11:27
Paul
had gone right on ministering in the face of all these troubles. He
ministered many times immediately after he had been beaten or stoned.
He and Silas were praying and singing at midnight in the prison. He
went on, weary or not. Paul gave no thought at all for the physical
handicaps he faced. He went right on ministering.
He
learned to be content whatever state he found himself in at the time.
2
Corinthians 11:28
Far
worse than the occasional physical suffering Paul endured was the
constant, daily burden of concern for the churches that he felt.
Paul
could pretty well endure the hardships from without, but it truly
hurt him when the very churches he had started were against him. Paul
dearly loved all the churches he had begun. He loved them as a parent
loves a child. He felt responsible for the churches he had begun.
This is the very reason he wrote this letter. All pastors who begin a
work are always concerned for that church staying true to the
teachings it began with.
2
Corinthians 11:29
Those
“who were weak” in faith or were made to stumble into sin caused
him intense emotional pain.
Paul
felt every problem right along with them. Their troubles were his
troubles, too. He loved them and wanted things to go right for them.
“Who
is offended, and I burn not” That is, “Who is caused to stumble,
and I am not indignant?” The apostle is deeply concerned about the
weaker brethren, and he burned with indignation when he thought of
those who would lead them into sin.
Remember
that if one part of the body suffers, the whole body suffers.
2
Corinthians 11:30
They
have forced Paul to glory. He does not like to glory at all. He says,
if I must glory, I will glory in my infirmities. To do so magnified
God’s power at work in him.
Many
church people of our day would say that Paul was not right with God
or he would not have had these problems. My Bible says exactly the
opposite.
II
Timothy 2:12
"If we suffer, we shall also reign with [him]: if we deny [him],
he also will deny us:"
2
Corinthians 11:31
Realizing
how incredible the list of his sufferings must have seemed, Paul
called on God to witness that he was telling the truth that these
things really happened.
Really,
this is the only One that it is important to know that he is not
telling anything false. When the final judgment comes, it will not
matter what man thinks of you. It will be very important what God
knows about you.
2
Corinthians 11:32-33
It
seemed as though it was not just the religious leaders of Paul's day
who had tried to destroy him, but some of the rulers of which we read
of one here.
Paul
related his humiliating escape from Damascus as the crowning example
of the weakness and infirmity in which he boasted.
The
Acts narrative names the hostile Jews as those who sought Paul’s
life, whereas Paul here mentioned the governor under the Nabatean
Arab king Aretas (9 b.c. – 40 a.d.) as the one who sought him.
Historians believe the man mentioned here was the father-in-law of
Herod.
Evidently
the Jews stirred up the secular authorities against him as they were
later to do repeatedly in Acts.
Paul
is just telling of one of the many times when he escaped from prison.
The letting down with the basket means that someone helped Paul
escape, probably his Christian friends.
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