2 Corinthians 1:3-5

‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.'

The connection of the emphasis on ‘comfort' (exhortation, strengthening) with the final salvation comes out strongly in its connection here with the sufferings of Christ. The significance of ‘the sufferings of Christ' as connected with His people is that they are sufferings borne with the final end in view, as part of the working out of salvation. In playing their part in the salvation of God's chosen ones His people will suffer as He suffered throughout His life on earth (John 15:20; John 16:2). They will suffer with Him in the purposes of salvation (Colossians 1:24; 1 Peter 4:12; Philippians 3:10; 2 Timothy 3:12 compare Matthew 5:10), and Christ will suffer along with them (Acts 9:5), and they will be comforted.

Much of the letter will in fact be speaking of the sufferings of Christ as known by those who serve Him. Paul sees them as very much a sign of his Apostleship. God's ways are carried on through suffering, as they have ever been. Moses suffered. The prophets suffered. Jesus Christ Himself suffered. And He had warned His Apostles that they too would suffer (John 15:18; John 16:2; John 16:33). And now Paul and his fellow-workers suffer. This in itself is confirmation that they are in line with those previous men of God (contrary to the view of some of his opponents in Corinth)

So this introduction majors on comfort and encouragement in the face of the affliction that they are all facing up to for Christ's sake in the course of salvation, leading up to final salvation. Behind the words lies the fact that the comfort is needed because their sufferings and afflictions arise in the course of their faith, and in the course of the ongoing purposes of God. As they have their part in the extension of God's Kingly Rule in Christ, so they are having their part in the sufferings of Christ.

To the early church the ‘sufferings of Christ' were twofold. Firstly were the unique sufferings of Christ necessary for our salvation, what we might call His atoning sufferings, in which His people could have no part except to receive the benefit of them. Christ suffered for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18; Hebrews 9:26; Hebrews 13:12 compare Luke 22:15; 1 Peter 1:11). But interestingly from this point of view, especially in view of Isaiah 53, the emphasis in Paul is more on the atoning significance of His death than on His sufferings. He dose not stress how much He suffered. And Peter here also really means ‘suffered in death' (1 Peter 3:19; compare Hebrews 2:9). It was His final suffering in death that atoned, not His general sufferings.

And then, secondly, there were the general sufferings of Christ, which taught Him obedience (Hebrews 5:8), and included the sufferings of His people for His sake (Act 9:4; 1 Peter 4:13; 1 Peter 4:19; Romans 8:17; Philippians 3:10), which taught them the same (Romans 5:3). These sufferings were a necessary part of His ministry (Luke 17:25) and of the ministry of the church (Php 1:29; 2 Timothy 2:12; 2 Timothy 3:12). Suffering was seen as very much a necessary part of the ongoing carrying forward of God's purposes, as Paul was very much aware, for an essential part of his call was that he would suffer for Christ's sake (Acts 9:16). These were ‘the sufferings of Christ' which abounded towards him.

Paul will himself in this letter thus declare that he has been enduring much affliction, including severe affliction in Ephesus, and the affliction that had come directly from the attitudes of the Corinthian church, but he assures them that he recognises that this affliction is for his good and theirs, for it teaches him important lessons and enables him also to encourage and comfort those who are afflicted, and it is his part in the eschatological sufferings. (And the same is true of the affliction he has caused for the Corinthians by his earlier severe letter, probably one which followed 1 Corinthians but preceded this one but is now lost. This has strengthened them too).

‘‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.' In his letters, after his initial greeting, Paul regularly changes what follows to suit particular cases. And the liturgical nature of some of these introductions should be noted. The letter is to be read in the church and Paul wants it to be a part of their worship. For a similar blessing compare Eph 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3. He speaks like this because prior to hearing his letter read he wants their hearts to be upraised in praise and thanksgiving as they consider God the Father in the greatness of His mercies, and especially in His sending of our Lord Jesus Christ, to suffer on our behalf (2 Corinthians 1:5). After all that is linked closely with his purpose in life.

‘Blessed be God' was a liturgical phrase found both in synagogue worship and in the worship of the Qumran community. So Paul adapts what to him is a well known phrase, for Christian use. ‘Father of mercies' also echoes the ‘God of mercies' at Qumran and ‘merciful Father' of the synagogues, but again it is seemingly adapted. The Father is both merciful, and the source of all mercies as the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. His mercies abound towards His own, especially though His saving purposes and in the giving of His Son. Thus He is also the God of all comfort.

‘The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.' In this is summed up God's saving purposes. God is the Father of the One Who has come to save, our Lord (the One Who is over all), Jesus (which means Yahweh is salvation) Christ (God's anointed and sent One). He is the Father of mercies, of all the mercies of salvation history, especially as revealed in the word of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:17). He is the God of all comfort, the One Who brings comfort, encouragement and strengthening to those who are suffering in accordance with His plan and necessary strategy of salvation (Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 40:31).

‘And God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, through the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted of God.' He now applies the general to the particular. As well as being the Father of mercies, this gracious God is also the God of all comfort (encouragement, strengthening). The word is from the same root as that used of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter (Helper, Encourager) by Jesus in John 14-16. God comes alongside to comfort, strengthen and encourage to the ultimate degree.

We should note again that ‘comfort' is a prophetic word pointing towards the fulfilment of God's purposes. It is found for example in Isaiah 40:1; Isaiah 51:3; Isaiah 51:12; Isaiah 51:19. (See also references above). So Paul is stressing that the ‘end of the ages' is here. The God of comfort is at work in bringing about His promised comfort and deliverance to those who suffer for His name's sake. As God carries forward His purposes to the end He continually encourages and ‘comforts' His people.

Thus, says Paul, aware of his part in end of the age activities, God comforts us (he and his fellow-workers) in our trials, and in all afflictions that we have to face. This not only strengthens us and brings home to us the love of God (Romans 5:1), but it also enables us to encourage and strengthen others, because of the encouragement He has given us, and results in our, and their, final salvation. Without the afflictions that they faced they would be in no position to comfort others who suffered, in a world where suffering was often commonplace. Nor would the process of salvation be carried through. Here we use ‘salvation' in its fullest sense of the whole process of salvation.

Note the plural ‘us'. Paul is not just thinking of his own afflictions, or even of his and Timothy's. He is aware of others who face what he does, as they minister for Christ. The ‘us' primarily means him and his compatriots, and those who labour truly as they do, as they carry forward their ministry in the face of opposition and hatred. It also therefore includes us when we too carry forward that ministry in our lives. But he is, for example, also aware of how his severe letter to the Corinthians must have made them suffer too (2 Corinthians 7:8). They too are workers together with Christ. And the more a Christian gives such comfort and encouragement to others, the more God will give it to him, enabling him to do so even more.

‘For as the sufferings of Christ abound to us, even so our comfort also abounds through Christ.' For as he and his fellow-workers have been called by Christ to take up the cross daily and follow Jesus (Luke 9:23), so do sufferings and affliction abound towards them, and so through Christ does His comfort also abound towards them. As His people they have been crucified with Him, and have been united with Him in His death and resurrection (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:5), and they must therefore expect to endure sufferings for His sake. But they are also equally certain of His comfort, of His sustaining, of His encouragement. This affliction includes threats and persecutions and reproach, as well as the more subtle attacks of the Enemy. But the more these abound towards them, the more they know of God's comfort and encouragement through Christ.

For Paul above all men was very much aware that ‘the sufferings of Christ' went far beyond what He had suffered at the cross, great though those were, for he constantly remembered how on the Damascus Road Jesus had said to him, ‘Why do you persecute  Me?'  (Acts 9:4). He himself had helped to make those sufferings worse. This memory constantly brought home to him that all the sufferings and afflictions which came on those who spread forth His word were part of Christ's sufferings. They were the expected ‘Messianic sufferings' which would bring in the final hope. To that end not only do His servants suffer, but He suffers with His servants. And as these sufferings abounded towards them so they knew that God's encouragement and comfort would also abound towards them through Christ.

We too if we are faithful to Christ will at times have to endure affliction in one way or another, sharing in His sufferings, but when we do, if we do it in line with His saving purposes, we too may be sure that God will abound towards us in comfort and encouragement in the midst of those trials, for to such He is the God of all comfort.