Present Weakness and Resurrection Life
4 Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2 Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”[Gen. 1:3] made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”[Psalm 116:10 (see Septuagint)] Since we have that same spirit of [Or Spirit-given] faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
NOTES:
4:1–2 A ministry of this sort generates confidence and
forthrightness; cf. 2 Cor 1:12–14; 2:17.
4:3–4 Though our gospel is veiled: the final application of
the image. Paul has been reproached either for obscurity in his preaching or
for his manner of presenting the gospel. But he confidently asserts that there
is no veil over his gospel. If some fail to perceive its light, that is because
of unbelief. The veil lies over their eyes (2 Cor 3:14), a blindness induced by
Satan, and a sign that they are headed for destruction (cf. 2 Cor 2:15).
4:5 We do not preach ourselves: the light seen in his gospel
is the glory of Christ (2 Cor 4:4). Far from preaching himself, the preacher
should be a transparent medium through whom Jesus is perceived (cf. 2 Cor
4:10–11). Your slaves: Paul draws attention away from individuals as such and
toward their role in relation to God, Christ, and the community; cf. 1 Cor 3:5;
2 Cor 4:1.
4:6 Autobiographical allusion to the episode at Damascus
clarifies the origin and nature of Paul’s service; cf. Acts 9:1–19; 22:3–16;
26:2–18. “Let light shine out of darkness”: Paul seems to be thinking of Gn 1:3
and presenting his apostolic ministry as a new creation. There may also be an
allusion to Is 9:1 suggesting his prophetic calling as servant of the Lord and
light to the nations; cf. Is 42:6, 16; 49:6; 60:1–2, and the use of light
imagery in Acts 26:13–23. To bring to light the knowledge: Paul’s role in the
process of revelation, expressed at the beginning under the image of the odor
and aroma (2 Cor 2:14–15), is restated now, at the end of this first moment of
the development, in the imagery of light and glory (2 Cor 4:3–6).
4:7–5:10 Paul now confronts the difficulty that his present
existence does not appear glorious at all; it is marked instead by suffering
and death. He deals with this by developing the topic already announced in 2
Cor 3:3, 6, asserting his faith in the presence and ultimate triumph of life,
in his own and every Christian existence, despite the experience of death.
4:7 This treasure: the glory that he preaches and into which
they are being transformed. In earthen vessels: the instruments God uses are
human and fragile; some imagine small terracotta lamps in which light is
carried.
4:8–9 A catalog of his apostolic trials and afflictions.
Yet in these the negative never completely prevails; there is always some
experience of rescue, of salvation.
4:10–11 Both the negative and the positive sides of the
experience are grounded Christologically. The logic is similar to that of 2 Cor
1:3–11. His sufferings are connected with Christ’s, and his deliverance is a
sign that he is to share in Jesus’ resurrection.
4:12–15 His experience does not terminate in himself, but in
others (12, 15; cf. 2 Cor 1:4–5). Ultimately, everything is ordered even beyond
the community, toward God (2 Cor 4:15; cf. 2 Cor 1:11).
4:13–14 Like the psalmist, Paul clearly proclaims his faith,
affirming life within himself despite death (2 Cor 4:10–11) and the life-giving
effect of his experience upon the church (2 Cor 4:12, 14–15). And place us with
you in his presence: Paul imagines God presenting him and them to Jesus at the
parousia and the judgment; cf. 2 Cor 11:2; Rom 14:10.
4:16–18 In a series of contrasts Paul explains the extent of
his faith in life. Life is not only already present and revealing itself (2 Cor
4:8–11, 16) but will outlast his experience of affliction and dying: it is
eternal (2 Cor 4:17–18).
4:16 Not discouraged: i.e., despite the experience of death.
Paul is still speaking of himself personally, but he assumes his faith and
attitude will be shared by all Christians. Our outer self: the individual
subject of ordinary perception and observation, in contrast to the interior and
hidden self, which undergoes renewal. Is being renewed day by day: this
suggests a process that has already begun; cf. 2 Cor 3:18. The renewal already
taking place even in Paul’s dying is a share in the life of Jesus, but this is
recognized only by faith (2 Cor 4:13, 18; 2 Cor 5:7).
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