2nd Corinthians Week 3: 0-60 Slow Down

 There’s been a few times when I was able to get behind something that could really move. I’ve shared the one time my friend forgot her wallet and I had to drive her car on that straight away just outside of Stockton, going just a bit over the speed limit, Why dumb kid plus fast car. Then there was the first time I took out my sport bike on the empty desert roads, swerving around those corners as fast as I could, because I just got life insurance. Then another time, when I got to drive a Porsche, and saw what it could do out there on the freeway. 

It’s a tendency in guys to look at something fast and say, I want to drive that. Not to say that women don’t do that either, but I’ve been a half-mile from a stopped car, and been told by my wife to slow down. There’s something about the allure of speed. There’s a country song that sings, “I’m in a hurry to get things done, I rush and rush until life’s no fun, all I got to do is, live and die, but I’m in a hurry and don’t know why.” This rush, this hurry to go from 0 to 60, is something that wants to break out of us.

Nascar is a perfect example of people watching speed for speed sake, even though it’s just a bunch of people going around in circles. The other day I saw something that said, the Kentucky Derby is the Nascar for the Amish. In other words, it does’t matter if it’s steads, or muscle cars, speed awakes something in us that says, get there before the other guy.

But what happens when we go too fast? Accidents, tickets, angry spouses, and some things that are even worse. And that 0 to 60 comes in a lot of areas in our lives, not just behind the wheel. Love, anger, passions, desires, all can feel that rush of speed, and can leave us in a wreck.

And so it’s this idea of going from 0 to 60 that brings us back to our summer series, where we’ll be picking it back up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1, starting in verse 12. And as we open up to 2nd Corinthians 1:12, let’s look back on our first two weeks in this series. 

In our first, week we talked about how the greeting at the beginning sets the the tone of the entire letter. Unlike 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians is all about how Paul was hurt by the church, yet is joyful at their repentance and restoration. Both to himself and the greater Church of Christ. 

Last week, we then talked about how this letter lays out the pain Paul felt from the Corinthians when he last visited them. Yet through that pain, and the pain of being in ministry, Paul has learned to be comforted by God. It’s that comfort that Paul wants the Corinthians to experience as well. To know that pain isn’t something to necessarily to avoid, because if done in a godly way, that pain can bring about God’s comfort and restored lives. So even though Paul has been hurt by the Corinthians, he tells them that he is currently rejoicing in their repentance, because it brings a greater work in all of them.

With this in mind, we turn to read 2nd Corinthians 1:12-2:4,

12 For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. 13 For we are not writing to you anything other than what you read and understand and I hope you will fully understand— 14 just as you did partially understand us—that on the day of our Lord Jesus you will boast of us as we will boast of you.

15 Because I was sure of this, I wanted to come to you first, so that you might have a second experience of grace. 16 I wanted to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and to come back to you from Macedonia and have you send me on my way to Judea. 17 Was I vacillating when I wanted to do this? Do I make my plans according to the flesh, ready to say ‘Yes, yes’ and ‘No, no’ at the same time?

18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. 20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. 21 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, 22 and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

23 But I call God to witness against me—it was to spare you that I refrained from coming again to Corinth. 24 Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith.

2:1 - For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

Last week we saw Paul transition from talking about his comfort through this situation, by ending with a call to the Corinthians to pray for him, as he and they continue to deal with the situation at hand. 

It’s after this call to prayer, that Paul then speaks of what he boasts in. In short, it’s simplicity and godly sincerity. The reason he boasts in this, is because his opponents were boasting in their earthy wisdom. As we’ll see later on in the letter, the false teachers that Paul has had to deal with in Corinth, were basing on their teaching on earthy wisdom that had it’s roots in Greek philosophy. They were unbiblical teachers trying to pull the Corinthians away from the Gospel. 

In doing so, they were not being insincere in their presentation, because they were saying that they were teaching the Gospel, but were doing the opposite. In addition to this, Paul speaks of simplicity. This is both in the message, and his way of living with the Corinthians. The message was simple, Jesus crucified for the forgiveness of sin and resurrected to open eternal life for anyone who trusts in him. Paul’s living was also simple, in that he was bi-vocational as to not burden the fledgling church. Again, the false teachers were seeking excess amounts of money from the congregation. 

So Paul’s boast is that he conducts himself as Christ would have him, so that on the Day of Judgment, the Corinthians will boast of what Paul did for them, as Paul will boast about the work that was done in the Corinthian Church to bring about restoration between him and them, and within their own community.

It’s here that Paul then changes topics, yet keeps within the same idea of restoration. 

Paul speaks of the thought process for his journey. His original desire was to visit them multiple times; one time on his way up to Macedonia and then again on his way back. However because of the hurt he experienced on the way up, he decided to not go through Corinth on his way back.

Because he didn’t see them a second time, Paul addresses the Corinthians who might be wonder why he didn’t come back like he said he was planning to. In addressing this, Paul asks the church if they think he was vacillating, which means if they were thinking he was unsure, or fickle, or going back-and-forth in his plans because he only visited them the one time. 

To answer this, he lets them know that they wouldn’t have experienced his grace if he would have returned to them in the state of hurt he was in. He wouldn’t have returned in grace, but with harsh rebuke on his mind. Paul sought to take the advice he would eventually give the Ephesians in chapter 4, verse 26 of their letter, where he tells them, “Be angry and do not sin…” Paul’s third lost letter, was his way of dealing with the situation, without having to be overly harsh in his dealings with the church. Paul reveals all of this in verses 1:23-2:3.

So he wasn’t going back on his no, but rather saying yes to Jesus in not dealing with the church from a position of anger and pain.

This is why Paul calls upon the faithfulness of God. By seeking God’s faithfulness, Paul is showing that he isn’t fickle in what he does. Instead, he seeks the glory of God. In going about this whole situation the way he has, Paul reveals how this has actually helped better establish both the Corinthians and Paul with Christ. This establishment was done through Jesus’ anointing and seal of the Holy Spirit, by way Paul’s honest sharing of his hurt, without being harsh, and the repentance of the Corinthian Church in their response. Paul’s communicating that he has moved beyond needing to be harsh with them, because of their repentance, and because of this, he speaks an “Amen,” a “let it be,” that both their church community and Paul are fixed in Jesus.

Paul closes his thought, that began in verse 3, about how this pain has brought comfort with the reconciliation between himself and the Corinthians, with the words of, “For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.”

It has always been Paul’s desire, from 1st Corinthians 1:1  through the love chapter of that letter, through the harsh third lost letter, and to this moment as his words are being penned, that he has an abundant love for this congregation. That type of love comes from the grace of God, which Paul extended at the very beginning of this letter.

It’s the type of love that the Psalmist said about the Lord in Psalm 103:8-10, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. 10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.”

It’s the type of love, that Jesus displayed on the cross when, in Luke 23:34, he spoke to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” 

It’s the type of love that Jesus told his disciples to extend in forgiveness in Matthew 18:22, when asked how many times we were to forgive and Jesus replied with, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

And it’s the same type of love that Paul has learned to extend, that he would eventually tell the Philippians to walk in, at the start of chapter 2 of their letter. “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind (2:1-2).”

This is why Paul treats the Corinthians so kindly, and seeks different avenues of correction, rather than imposing his apostolic authority upon them, which could possibly cause more division in the long run. 

This is what God is calling us to as well. Last week we talked about how God calls us to speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), and wound as a faithful friend (Proverbs 27:6). This week we take the next step, which is seeking the least harsh approach in dealing with a situation. Solomon, as he writes and collects ancient wisdom, writes in Proverbs 15:1-4, “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 2 The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. 3 The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. 4 A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.”

In my own life, I have always been quick to anger, quick to take the harsher of paths in dealing with situations. It’s taken many hurt moments, where I have flown off the handle, and took a bad situation and made it worse, for me to begin to attempt to reign in my wrath. With my kids, I have tried to curb my discipline, as to not produce more hurt than necessary. And it has been an almost twenty-four year process to get me from where I was, to where I am today. But I know I’m not where God wants me yet.

Knowing myself, if it was me in Paul’s shoes, I would have been harsh with the Corinthians. I would have made that trip back and not shown any grace. I would have called out the guy that hurt me in front of the church, I would have called out the false teachers, and I would have done it in a way that would have caused deeper hurt in that congregation. A hurt, that no letter would have fixed. In other words, I would have gone from 0 to 60 in my anger, and wrecked a whole lot of people in the process. And if you don’t think that’s possible, Jim got to see a glimpse of my anger last spring, right before I went on my sabbatical. It wasn’t good and it wasn’t godly.

That’s why, we need to seek the Lord. We need to seek him, that the Holy Spirit would reveal these underlying problem areas. That he would bring them to our attention, and that we would be faithful in apply God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, that we may react, and respond in godly ways. That at the Day of Judgment, there would be rejoicing in how we handle ourselves in the assembly of God’s people and the world around us. That how we respond to hurt, brings about comfort and restoration to not only ourselves, but the people that God has placed us around. 

And when we don’t, that we seek the forgiveness of others and the moving forward in grace. God is calling us to a life that seeks the unity of the Church, in such ways, that even in hurt, it can grow together. 

My challenge this week, is to read Proverbs 15:1-4. Internalizing the step of dealing with hurt, by responding in the least harsh way possible. This isn’t to say there isn’t discipline, and that we don’t confront the issues of hurt, we talked about that last week, and how we are to deal with afflictions. But in dealing with those situations, we don’t go from 0 to 60, bringing our wrath and anger to a situation that is already on the brink of destruction

Let us be a people who don’t seek our validation in harshness, but God’s restoration in true repentant lives. Amen.

2 Corinthians Week 2: Sound Theology = Peaceful Comfort

  At the end of 1938, the British Prime Minister returned from a meeting with Germany which was held in the city of Munich. Chamberlin, the Prime Minister of Britain, declared that it was a victory that brought “peace for our time.” The Munich agreement allowed Hitler to take land in Czechoslovakia so that he may restore the former German lands lost in the First World War. Five months later, Hitler occupied the rest of Czechoslovakia. Two months later, Churchill, predicted that Hitler would invade, most likely Poland. By July, Churchill predicted a German Russian alliance. By September, that alliance was set and Germany invaded Poland. Instead of reaching out to the British Prime Minister, the Polish Ambassador reached out to Churchill. Chamberlin, wanted to negotiate again, his cabinet did not. The messages of negotiation were sent out, but there was no response from Hitler, two days after the invasion of Poland, Britain declared war on Germany. Churchill declared, “This is not a question of fighting for Danzig or fighting for Poland, we are fighting to save the whole world from the pestilence of Nazi tyranny and in defense of all that is most sacred to man."

If you’ve ever been bullied, you might have heard this, “Just ignore them, and the’ll go away.” On a small scale that might work. Bullies tend to pick on people who they can get a rise from. But on a larger scale, that doesn’t work. Ignoring the bullies, when those bullies are nations, is a loosing battle. If a leader of a nation sets their sight on war, standing up to them is the only way to stop them. 

Appeasement and the turning a blind eye to Germany’s advances, allowed Hitler time to build his military, and consolidate his power. The avoidance of conflict, isn’t always wrong, but it’s also, not always right.

And it’s this idea of not shying away from conflict, that brings us back to our summer series, where we are going to pick it back up in 2nd Corinthians chapter 1, starting in verse 3. And as we open to 2nd Corinthians 1:3, let’s look back on where we are from our first week..

Last week we looked at the opening greeting of Paul’s fourth letter to the Church at Corinth. In that greeting, there was a slight change from his greeting in 1st Corinthians. That slight change shows us the purpose of the two letters. In 1st Corinthians, Paul is seeking unity, which is reflective in his desire that the church be sanctified. In 2nd Corinthians, Paul greets the Corinthians with the rest of the churches in the area, pointing to a restoration of unity, due to their repentance. 

It’s with that restoration in mind, that we begin to make our way through the letter, as Paul expresses his care for this church. If this is your first time, or if you need a refresher, in these summer series, we look at large swaths of the Scriptures, to see the big ideas that flow from verse to verse and chapter to chapter. The big thought that Paul has after his greeting goes from verse 3 in chapter 1, to verse 4 of chapter 2. But within that big thought, there are two parts to it. So today, we’re going to look at the first part of Paul’s larger thought. Let’s read together, starting in chapter 1, verse 3.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6 If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7 Our hope for you is unshaken, for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. 10 He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. 11 You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

v. 3-7 

After the greeting, Paul immediately dives into his desire to comfort the Corinthian Church. It’s why he begins with praise to the Father and Jesus. Paul praises God, because God comforts him in affliction, and that through that affliction, God comforts others.

Paul sees the afflictions that he endures because of doing the work that Jesus had called him to, as a means by which he experiences God’s comfort. So though Paul endures afflictions and hardships, he gets to know the comfort of God through it.

This type of comfort, rings with Jesus’ words in John 14:27, where Jesus states, “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” This is the comfort or peace that Paul relays to the Philippians in his closing remarks in chapter 4, verse 7, where he writes, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Paul directly experiences this peace through the afflictions he faces because of the Gospel, even afflictions that are caused by those who profess to be Christians. And so if you have ever been hurt by the Church, know that Paul has also been hurt, and yet sees it as an avenue to experience God’s comfort.

And It’s not only an avenue of comfort for him, Paul’s afflictions is an avenue of comfort for the people of God, and in this case, the Church at Corinth specifically. Because Paul knows as he endures affliction and experiences the comfort of God, the ministry of reconciliation, something Paul will later speak on in this letter, will bring about comfort in afflicted areas. And as the Corinthians experiences affliction, they will experience comfort as well, since they are now in a position to receive such comfort. 

What that means is that when looking at another person who is going through hardships, we can be encouraged by their steadfastness to God through it. It’s why testimonies are so important. When we hear what God has done in another’s life, we realize what he can do in ours. It’s why reading the book of Job is important; Job’s afflictions can bring us comfort in our own times of trials.

v. 8-11 

It’s here that Paul wants the Corinthians to understand the length and depth of the kind of affliction he is talking about. 

In Asia, Paul experienced mobs, false accusations, and being pelted with stones, to a point where he was on the verge of death. And in fact, Paul is very candid in this letter, sharing that he was “beyond” his “strength” and “despaired of life.” Paul is sharing just how far his affliction went. It wasn’t the inconveniences of life, but his life truly coming to the point of death in horrific ways. 

But it was the reliance on God that brought him through. And here, Paul communicates how the focus on the resurrection, is what he relied on. Paul understood that God raised Jesus from the dead, and so the momentary afflictions that brought him to the point of death, was nothing to the eternal joy that was before him. So he could endure such afflictions, because of the work that God had already performed in Jesus. 

This reminds me of a peanuts comic strip I like to use in my class on Basic Beliefs of Christianity. In the comic strip, Lucy and Linus are looking out the window as rain pours down outside. In the first box, Lucy says, “Boy, look at it rain…what if it floods the whole world?” Linus responds in the second box, “It will never do that…in the ninth chapter of Genesis God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of the promise is the rainbow..” Lucy’s expression of hopelessness is replaced by a smile in the third box, where she states, “You’ve taken a great load off my mind…” And the comic strip ends with Linus stating, “Sound theology has a way of doing that!”

The sound theology of Jesus’ resurrection gives comfort in times of affliction, because we can trust Jesus’ words in John 11:25, “…I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die…”

Paul trusts his God, his Jesus, that any affliction can be endured, because the comfort of the resurrection is heavy on his thoughts and actions. And through that, Paul tells the Corinthians that God delivered him from that peril, and he will continue to do so. 

Paul’s determination in trusting God, reminds me of the story in Daniel 3, where the king, Nebuchadnezzar, set up a golden image that all the people in his land were required to bow down to. But the three friends of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would not bow. Though the king felt hesitation in doing so, he carried out their punishment and threw them into the fiery furnace. But before they entered furnace, they boldly proclaimed to the king, “If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up (Daniel 3:17-18).”  

Like these three who trusted in the God they served, and who’s death was not something to be feared, because their God was the God of resurrection, Paul too hopes in that same God. And even greater so, because he has seen the Risen Savior for himself, and so hopes even greater.

By Paul laying out his struggles in affliction with the Corinthians, he is giving them an example of how to trust in the Lord, and how that trust brings about comfort, even in the extreme moments of affliction to the point of death. So, if God can bring comfort there, he can bring comfort even to the less extreme, yet still painful afflictions of our lives.

But Paul then asks the Corinthians for something. He asks them to pray. Pray for him and his companions that people will give thanks on their behalf for the blessings that God has given them in this comfort through affliction. Because those blessings are the blessings of transformed lives. It’s the lives of the lost sinner that repents and trusts in Jesus as Savior. It’s lives of the wayward Christian, who comes back to their first love. It’s reconciliation of believers, who have to overcome the hurt they inflicted on each other. It’s restored marriages, and families. It’s forgiveness, where the hurt was too deep, and it’s new beginnings, where dead ends seemed inevitable. 

Paul is calling on the church, who has been recently restored to fellowship within themselves and with the greater body of believers, to pray that this story of affliction, comfort, and restoration might be given thanks by the Church of God.

It’s here that we can see the application for us today. Who in here desires affliction? None of us. It’s something we desire to avoid, and we will do a lot, to avoid it. In our society we say things like, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say nothing at all.” Yet the Scriptures say, “Speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15),” and “Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy (Proverbs 27:6).”

The avoidance of conflict, can led to an exasperation of it in the long run. It’s one of the reasons that in Pre-marital counseling, there’s a session where we talk about fighting. Conflict, affliction, is a part of this life, Jesus, the all-knowing God, told us that in John 16:33. But Jesus also gave us good theology to trust in, so he states, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

We tend to want to avoid conflict and affliction, because, as the saying goes, “sometimes, you have to go along to get along.” But how’s that doing for us today. For along time, we have had these sentiments in our society, and now we are having greater upheaval of central values than ever before. We fear conflict, because of what it could do, but there comes a point, where we have to trust our Lord that conflict is the way to salvation, the way to restoration. 

And so, a word spoken in love that leads to conflict, is better than a word gone unspoken, as to not rock the boat, which will lead to greater conflict down the road. That is the position that Paul is in, a word of love spoke to the Church of Corinth that caused pain for him, yet through that, restoration occurred. 

We are called to that same comfort in affliction that Paul experienced through his ministry, and in this letter. For us, it might not be a brink of death affliction, it might be a conflict of personality, of misunderstanding, of different leadership/parenting styles. It might be a conflict of values, or political ideology. You might be the afflicted in these cases, or you might be the afflicting. What we need is God’s comfort in the affliction. Comfort in the conflict of society, of personal relationships, and things that are out of our control. That comfort only comes through a trust in Jesus, and on a reliance of his word. God gives us his word that we may be comforted, and that we might be solid in our trust.

My challenge for you this week is to memorize one of these three verses: Daniel 3:17-18, where the three friends trusted in the Lord no matter what the outcome. Proverbs 27:6, as a reminder that our words need to be spoken in love, even if conflict comes from it. Or John 16:33, that we may trust Jesus in a world of conflict. Wherever you need help, take that verse to memorize. And if you want an additional challenge, try to memorize all three.

Let us be a people who do not seek to avoid conflict, just because it’s unpleasant, but rather seek the Lord to comfort through any affliction we encounter. Amen.

2 Corinthians Week 1: Paul’s Love, Our Love, For God’s Church

 

There’s a bit of a controversy surrounding a new Romeo and Juliet movie that will be coming out sometime in the future. It’s not a film or a controversy that I want to particularly dwell on. Because I don’t know about you, but in high school I had to read and then watch Romeo and Juliet. As a teenage boy, I didn’t really care for it. As a husband, I still don’t care for romantic movies in general and I try to avoid them like the plague. However, I do like a few romantic comedies. “Fever Pitch” with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon, is a decent one, because the focus is actually the fanaticism of Fallon’s character with the Boston Red Sox, and I feel like the romantic story is secondary to it. 

Recently, I’ve watched several movies where the love aspect comes to the story at different angles. One is an animated movie entitled, “Onward," which is about two brothers going on an adventure to reunite with their lost dad, and they only have twenty four hours to do it. Another one is a story about a husband who looses his wife to cancer, and the last loving act she does for him is buying him a dog. That dog is then brutally killed by some Russians, who steal the man’s car. In response, he goes on a revenge spree for four movies. It’s called John Wick, and it’s a modern day love story that I can get behind. 

But seriously, love stories are ingrained in us, from movies, to books, to songs, and poems. The love of husbands and wives, parents and children, friends and family, are intricate to who we are as people. It’s when love is absent, that relationships and societies fall apart.  

And it’s this idea of love that sets the foundation for our summer series, where this summer, we’re going to tackle the New Testament letter of 2nd Corinthians, and possibly a couple other smaller Pauline letters. So if you have your Bibles, we’ll be in 2nd Corinthians starting in chapter 1, verse 1. But as we begin to talk about 2nd Corinthians, we need to know a little background information, so that we can put what we’re studying into its proper context. 

Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, a fanatic who once fought against Jesus’ people, came to his Lord and Savior on the Damascus road. He then went on to establish the Corinthian Church on his second missionary journey, and spent about eighteen months teaching and preaching in the church. He left the newly established congregation, and eventually wrote them a letter that has been lost to time. 

Following this letter, Paul received word that there were problems going on in the church, and was asked to address those problems. So Paul wrote his second letter, which we refer to as, 1st Corinthians. This letter focused on two major problems. The first of these major problems was the interpersonal relationships, which included following a certain teacher, like Apollos or Paul, and a situation where the richer Christians were not waiting for the poorer Christians to arrive so that all may share in the Agape meal or Lord’s Supper together. The second major problem was how the church was conducting its corporate worship time. There apparently was chaos happening, with people speaking out of turn with tongues and prophecy, and there not being any testing of the prophetic word. 

To deal with these two problems, Paul calls the church to unity through recognition of the uniqueness in the body of Christ, and it’s need to work with each other. This is done through love and the centrality of the resurrection. While other things, such as what food to eat, are matters of conscious and should be treated with extending grace to each other.

After that letter was sent off, Paul eventually stopped off in Corinth on his way to Macedonia. But the visit wasn’t good. There Paul was confronted by a member of the church that was later found out to be influenced by outside teachers trying to change the teachings of the Gospel. Paul was severely hurt by this confrontation, because the Corinthian Church didn’t stand up for him. 

Leaving Corinth, Paul wrote another letter that he he mentions in 2nd Corinthians chapters 2 and 7. This letter Paul states he wrote, “out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears….(v.4)” This letter, like the very first letter to the Corinthian Church, is lost. It was this sorrowful letter, that Paul sent with Titus back to the Corinthian Church. It troubled Paul so much that he actually couldn’t wait at the designated spot that he was to meet his friend Titus on his return trip. Instead, Paul met Titus earlier and learned that the Corinthians had in fact took his sorrowful letter to heart and repented of their ways. For Paul, this was a result to celebrate.

The letter that we now turn our attention to and that is called, 2nd Corinthians, is a fourth response to the situation, and one that is both joyous at the Corinthians’ change of heart, and instructive in rejecting the teachers that are trying to pull the Church away from Christ.

It’s with that background that we pick up the letter of 2nd Corinthians in chapter 1, starting in verse 1, where we read the greeting,

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

To the church of God that is at Corinth, with all the saints who are in the whole of Achaia: 2 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

This opening, put side-by-side with 1st Corinthians, show that they are almost identical in their greeting. In both, Paul introduces himself as an apostle of Jesus by the will of God. This sets up everything that follows. First, Paul is an apostle and so has a certain authority that comes with such a calling. Second, this calling isn’t from a group of people, but from God himself. This is important, because it’s his apostleship and his authority that is at the center of the false teachers’ claims to reject the Gospel that Paul preached.

Following this, Paul mentions other workers in the faith. In this particular opening he mentions Timothy, someone, who himself will receive a couple of letters from Paul later in life.

What’s interesting is how Paul speaks about the Corinthians as a Church. In 1st Corinthians, Paul addresses them as those who are sanctified by Jesus and that they are saints with the larger Church and with Paul as well. This language sets up Paul’s first recorded letter about calling the Corinthians to a local unity, which is then shared with the greater Church. 

The way in which Paul addresses the Corinthian Church in the second recorded letter, is a little different. The unity is being restored, so Paul extends his greeting beyond the local body of Corinth to the region. It would be like us speaking to Phoenix and including all of Arizona.

Paul ends his greeting identically, with extending grace and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

From here on out, the letter is basically divided into three sections. First, Paul desires to comfort the Church and not be harsh with it. Second, Paul’s desire that the Corinthians understand his heartfelt love for the Church. And finally, Paul’s need to address the false apostles that are trying to pull the Corinthians away from the true Gospel. 

Because of the up and down emotions that Paul communicates throughout this letter, some scholars believe that this was actually a series of smaller letters collected together and sent out. As I personally read through it, it seems to me that Paul is writing in the most emotionally open that he has ever been, which comes out of the deep hurt and love he has for the Corinthians. Most of Paul’s letters are theological in nature, and so there’s a sense of detachment when he’s dealing with these more intellectual ideas, even though he adds his passion into it.

In this letter however, he is dealing with an emotional issue that has been grinding on his life for a while. It makes passages of weakness later on in the letter more impactful, when we realize how open Paul is being with the Corinthian Church.

And so 2nd Corinthians gives us insight into who Paul is as a lover of God’s people, something he has tried to get the Corinthians to realize in the past that they need to be. This letter is one that will lay bear what it means for a person to actually look at God’s people, look at his Church, and desire that they be unified under the grace and peace of The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

For us today, 2nd Corinthians, isn’t going to break theological grounds. We’re not going to see deep thoughts of how one views God as we would in Romans, or how we understand Jesus as divine in Philippians, or how we as Christians are to interact in personal relationships as we would see in Ephesians, or even how we as the Church are to conduct our worship as we would see in 1st Corinthians. No, what we will see in this letter, is how deeply we are to love God’s Church, for the sake of each other in comforting it, and the hurt that comes upon us when we see the Church walking away from its first love.

Today, I want to challenge you to look at your past church experiences this week. How have you been comforted by the Church? How have you been hurt? We probably all have stories. I didn’t like that the pastor said that. I was saw people gossip and spread rumors. I needed help, but the church turned it’s back. Or I was in a bad place and the church helped me. We all have these types of stories. 

So as we prepare to read through and learn the big picture of 2nd Corinthians, we must prepare our hearts for the love that God wants us to have for each other and his Church. As Paul mentions in Ephesians 5, “…Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her…(v.” Let us be those who are willing to do the same. 

Let us be those who love God’s Church so much as he does, that we too would write such a letter as 2nd Corinthians, with our hearts laid bare for the people of God we care about so much. Amen

3 Reason to Believe the Tomb Was Empty

 He is Risen! The Scriptures state, “17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:17-19).”

The resurrection of Jesus is essential to the Christian faith. If there is no resurrection, those that witnessed the risen Lord, agreed that there is no hope, and that they should be pitied. And, likewise, anyone today, if the resurrection didn’t happen, have a false hope and should also be pitied. Yet, those early disciples proclaimed that Jesus was indeed raised from the dead, and subsequently were killed for that proclamation.

But we are about 1,991 years removed from that first Easter Sunday experience. None of us are eye witnesses like Peter, James, John, Matthew, and Paul were. How then can we objectively believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead?

I say objectively, because, we might have personally experienced Jesus, and his word may transform us, but the thing about the resurrection, it either historically happened or it didn’t; there’s no subjectivity to it. The tomb is either empty because Jesus rose from it, or it isn’t, and his body is decaying in the ground.

So today, we’re going to look at three reason why we can objectively say the tomb was empty on that first Easter Sunday, and why the resurrection of Jesus is the only viable conclusion one can come to.

The first reason that we can believe the tomb was really empty, is because everyone knew where to find it. 

The reason why the empty tomb has never been disputed, is because everyone knew where to find the tomb. The disciples knew where it was, the Jewish religious leaders knew where it was, the Romans knew where it was. So anyone who wanted to debunk the tomb being empty could go and examine it for themselves.

In the Scriptures were given the location, which was a garden near the crucification site. We’re given what type of tomb, newly carved with a stone that could be rolled to close off the entrance. And we’re given who’s family owned it, Jospeh of Arimathea (John 19:38-42).

In fact, about 300 years later, when Helena, Emperor Constantine’s mother went to Jerusalem to locate sacred sites, the bishop of Jerusalem pointed out the tomb’s location right away (https:// news.nationalgeographic.com/ 2016/10/jesus-tomb-opened-church-holy-sepulchre/). Everyone knew, so at anytime, anyone could visit the site, and they would find it empty, just as the Roman Guards, and the disciples found it on that first Easter morning.

Following that everyone knew where it was, and could investigate it themselves, the second of our three reasons is that, the emptiness of the tomb was never an issue. From the founding of Christianity, the Apostles Matthew, John, and, through Mark, Peter, all concur through their Gospels, that the tomb was empty. Luke, gathering his Gospel knowledge from research and interviews, also concurs that the tomb was empty. 

We know this because of the language used to talk about the physicality of the resurrection. In John’s Gospel, chapter 20, verses 24-29, we’re told that Thomas physically touched Jesus; this lets us know Jesus was raised bodily and not simply spiritually.

Mark describes Jesus “reclining at the table (16:14a)” to reveal the physicality of Jesus after the resurrection. Matthew also describes Jesus in physical terms, when he writes, “And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him (Matthew 28:9d).” And in Luke’s account, Jesus says to the disciples, “‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate before them (24:38-43).”

So what the disciples described was a literal empty tomb, where no body could be found. If a body were able to be produced, then the whole idea of the empty tomb, and the resurrection itself, falls apart. 

It’s here that we could say, well that’s what the disciples said, their biased, of course their going to say that the tomb was empty. And because of this very thought, Matthew includes a detail in this writing addressing this. Writing down his eyewitness account about 20 years after the whole situation, Matthew records a rumor that began to circulate, which is found starting in Matthew 28:11, “11 While they were going, behold, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests all that had taken place. 12 And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, ‘Tell people, “His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.” 14 And if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” 15 So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story has been spread among the Jews to this day.’”

We know that this type of rumor persisted, because in the medieval period a collection of stories about Jesus from a Jewish persecutive was brought together. This was a polemic or a rebuttal to the Christian teaching of who Jesus was, called the Toledoth Yeshu, or Life of Jesus. In, Johann Christoph Wagenseil’s compilation and translation of the Toledoth Yeshu, there is a confirmation that the tomb was empty. Except now it wasn’t the disciples who stole the body, but the gardener who decided to take it so that the disciples couldn’t steal it.

But no matter how you approach the tomb, everyone agrees that it was indeed empty. So, believer and non-believer you can be assured that the tomb was empty.

Finally though, we know the empty tomb was really empty, and that Jesus really physically raised from the dead, because it transformed the lives of the people that claimed to have seen Jesus after the empty tomb was found. 

The main group of disciples were cowardly, the Gospels don’t hide this fact. Matthew records that they all left Jesus as he was taken away by the temple guards (Matthew 26:56b). John writes that they kept their doors locked, probably to keep anyone from just barging in and arresting them (John 20:26-27). Mark records Peter’s own testimony about how he denied even being associated with Jesus, to a servant girl (Mark 14:66-72). These were not people who had the guts to steal the body, let alone what happened after they not only saw the empty tomb, but also said they had seen the risen Jesus.

But after they said they saw a physically resurrected Jesus, they went from cowards, to boldly proclaiming that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but that he had risen from the dead. A claim that could be disproven. Peter told the people at the Temple, “But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses (Acts 3:14-15).”

When Peter and John were then arrested right after this, they were brought before the Jewish religious council. There they were told not to speak of Jesus again, but Peter replied, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard (Acts 4:19-20).”

That boldness meant that Peter would go on to be crucified upside down, John would be boiled in oil and banished to an island, Andrew was crucified on a X-shaped cross. Thomas was killed by a spear. Philip was crucified. Matthew was killed by swords, Nathanael’s skin was flayed with a whip, Matthias was hit with stones and then beheaded. James the Greater was beheaded by King Herod, while James the lesser, was clubbed to death. Jude was sawed in half, as was Simon. 

The skeptic James, Jesus’ half brother, who said he saw the risen Lord, ended up leading the Jerusalem Church, and was later killed by being thrown off the temple. And Paul the zealot who took it upon himself to imprison and kill Christians, said he saw the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, which changed his life to preaching about the resurrection, and was eventually beheaded for what he saw. 

All these and more maintained their eyewitness account that Jesus had physically risen. Their transformed lives from cowards, skeptics, and murders, to faithful followers of Jesus unto death, gives us an objective reason to trust that the tomb was truly empty, and Jesus truly rose.

These three reasons are objective. No scholar or historian worth their salt, deny’s that the tomb was known, that it was empty, or that it changed the lives of Jesus’ disciples and enemies. The question is not was the tomb empty, the question is, what are we going to do with it. 

We could deny it, like the Jewish leaders did, and in response to the objective truth, we can cover it up by saying that it was a fraud, it didn’t really happen. But we would just be denying objective truth for our subjective desire not to believe.

But if we accept the objective truth that the tomb was empty, then we are one step closer to understanding who Jesus is, what he taught, and who we truly are. 

Jesus claimed that he was God come down (John 3:13, John 10:30). He taught that we need to repent, turning away from sin, to follow him, because he is the only way to heaven, (Matthew 4:17; Matthew 16:24-26; John 14:6), and that he will be returning some day to establish his eternal kingdom, (Matthew 24:29-31).

As we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday, we celebrate that the word of God is true, that Jesus our Savior has indeed risen from the grave as he said he would. This opened the way to the forgiveness of sin, and eternal life. If you cannot 100% say, that you know, that if Jesus returned today he would embrace you for eternity, not because you’re good, but because you repented of your sin, then today is the day to repent of sin and turn to Jesus.

It’s a simple thing to repent and accepted Jesus as Savior. It’s recognizing the sin in our lives, acknowledging that we cannot change ourselves or fix it to be good enough for God. Because we cannot repair what has been broken. But Jesus can. The cross represents God’s love to sinner, a mending to the broken. When we acknowledge our sin, we come to the cross where Jesus died. When we accept his forgiveness, we move our way through the grave to the empty tomb. 

It’s at the empty tomb that we embrace his new life. A life that’s eternal, beginning now and lasting forever. It’s a life of becoming a disciple. A life growing in the teachings of the Bible and living by the Holy Spirit. 

And through it all, the risen Jesus walks by our side and we receive the blessing that even those early disciples didn’t. For Jesus said to Thomas, as Thomas touched the very physical body of the risen Lord, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John 20:29).”

I don’t need to touch the risen Savior’s body because I know both objectively and subjectively that he has indeed been raised. His resurrection is the only possible reason for all of the evidence that we have. 

My challenge this week for you then, is that you would know it as well. If you are a skeptic, I want to challenge you to read the book, Cold Case Christianity, by J. Warner Wallace.  Don’t just say you don’t believe without taking time to dive deep into the evidence. And if you take that challenge, I will buy you the book myself, and all you have to do is promise to read it.

To the believer, I challenge you to see the blessing that Jesus gave you. You who did not see the empty tomb, yet walk this life trusting him. A simple prayer I ask you say with me everyday this week. “Lord, let me live my life in the reality of the empty tomb, that nothing of this world holds me as it didn’t hold you, as I embrace your path all the days of my life, help me to do so. Amen”

Let us be a people who hold to the hope that is found beyond the empty tomb, the Risen Savior himself, who will one day return to make all things new. Amen.