2 Corinthians 11:1-33

God shows his Power when we are Weak

2 Corinthians

Philip Smith

Chapter 11

v1 I will now write some words about myself, like those fools who recommend themselves. Be patient, and you will understand my point. v2 I want to take great care of you, as God does. This is like a wedding. I promised you to one husband, that is, to Christ. I wanted you to be like a perfect bride who has never had sex. v3 The snake *deceived *Eve by his *deceitful behaviour. Therefore, I am afraid that the devil may lead you away from your pure and sincere love of Christ. v4 People are coming to you with new messages, and you believe them. You do not protest if someone *preaches about a different Jesus. You accept a different *spirit. And you accept a different piece of good news. You should continue to believe the things that we taught. v5 But I do not think myself less important than those who call themselves ‘superior *apostles’. v6 I may not be a skilled speaker but I do have knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way.

Paul here uses the picture of marriage. The church at Corinth was like the bride. Jesus was like the bridegroom and Paul was like the bridegroom’s friend. The bridegroom’s friend had to make sure that the bride was ready for the wedding. The devil *deceived *Eve. Therefore, Paul was afraid that these false teachers would make the Christians at Corinth follow a different Jesus. This was not the same Jesus about whom he had taught them. Instead, it was an untrue message.

The false teachers said that they were superior *apostles. They said that they were better Christians than Paul. The people in Corinth were very willing to follow the false teachers rather than Paul. He said that he was no less important than they were. He may not have been such a good speaker. However, he knew what he was talking about. The false teachers did not. Good speakers can easily impress us. It is important that a speaker has the right message. It is not important whether he is a skilled speaker.

v7 I *preached the good news about God to you. I did not ask for any money. I do not think that I was wrong to be humble. I was humble so that you could become great. v8 It is as if I robbed other churches. I received money from them so that I could serve you. v9 When I needed anything during my time in Corinth, I did not ask you for help. The Christians from Macedonia brought me what I needed. I made sure that I was not a *burden to you. I will continue to do this. v10 The truth of Christ is certainly in me. I am proud of this fact. Nobody in the regions of *Achaia will stop me. v11 This is not because I do not love you. God knows that I love you.

v12 I will continue to do what I am doing. It will spoil the arguments of some people. They are proud enough to say that they are equal to us. v13 They are false *apostles, *dishonest workmen. They pretend to be *apostles of Christ. v14 This does not surprise us. Even *Satan himself pretends to be an *angel of light. v15 And so his servants pretend to be servants of *righteousness. In the end, they will get the punishment that they deserve for their evil deeds.

The Christians at Corinth did not like the fact that Paul did not accept their money. But the false teachers accepted their money. William Barclay thinks that the false teachers said this: ‘Paul did not take money because his teaching (that is, his message) was not worth anything.’ The *Greeks said that a teacher was better than even a skilled workman. The people in *Corinth were angry that Paul accepted money from other churches. They said that he did not love them. In fact, he loved them very much. He did not want to be like other teachers. He did not make them feel that they had to provide for him. He said that he would continue to refuse their money. The false teachers’ *claims to be equal to or superior to him were not true. Even the devil pretends to be an *angel. These false teachers were the devil’s servants who pretended to be servants of *righteousness. They taught that people had to obey the *Jewish law to become *righteous. Paul taught that people obtained *righteousness by trust. This trust was in what Jesus had done for them on the *cross. He said that the Christians at Corinth should not allow the false teachers to continue to teach. In the end, God would punish these false teachers.

v16 I repeat. Nobody should think that I am a fool. However, if you do, then I will add a few foolish words. Then I too may be proud. v17 I will write some words that are foolish and proud. This is not the way that the *Lord wants us to speak. v18 But the false teachers tell you things that are proud and *worldly. So now, I also shall write some things that are proud. v19 You gladly allow fools to speak as they do. And you think that you are wise! v20 You are allowing people to make you like slaves. They are using you in an unfair way. They take more than you intended to give. They control you. They are like men who slap you in the face! v21 I am sorry to say that we were too weak to do those things! But these men have spoken proud words to you. And, like a fool, I shall now write proud words, like theirs.

His *opponents accused Paul of being *worldly, a fool and weak. He denied the first *charge in chapter 10. But in his letters, Paul was happy to write as if the other *charges were true. God knew the truth. People were usually proud about what they had done. Jesus tells a story in the *Gospel of Luke. It is about a *Pharisee who was proud of his prayers (Luke 18:10-12). Paul’s *opponents were proud of what they had done. Paul would now write proud words as well. He did not want to be proud. He said that God does not want anyone to be proud. But Paul had to write these words. Then people could see that his good news had authority!

Sometimes in these verses, Paul writes the opposite of what he means. In this way, he can make his point more strongly. The Christians at Corinth will allow him to be proud in a foolish way because they are so wise!

He says that they allowed people to make them like slaves. By this, he means that they were willing to obey all the old *Jewish laws again. The false teachers took money from them. They said that, to get a place in heaven, the Christians at Corinth should pay the teachers. They told the Christians at Corinth what to do. Perhaps they used physical force to make them do it. Yes, says Paul, I was too weak to do those kinds of things to you!

v22 If they are *Hebrews, then so am I. If they are *Israelites, then so am I. If they belong to *Abraham’s family, then so do I. v23 If they are servants of Christ then I am superior. (These are very foolish words.) I have worked harder. People have put me in prison more often. People have beaten me more cruelly. Many times I almost died.

v24 The *Jews hit me 39 times with a whip on 5 occasions. v25 People hit me with sticks three times. Once, people tried to kill me by throwing stones at me. I have been in three *shipwrecks. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. v26 I have always been moving from place to place.

I have been:

• in danger from rivers,

• in danger from *robbers,

• in danger from people from my own country,

• in danger from foreigners.

I have been:

• in danger in towns,

• in danger in the country,

• in danger at sea

• and in danger from false friends.

v27 I have worked hard for a long time and become very tired. I have often been without sleep. I have been hungry and *thirsty. I have been without food, shelter or clothing.

v28 As well as everything else, I am daily anxious about my care of all the churches. v29 When another Christian is weak, then I feel weak too. When someone causes a Christian to do *sins, I get very angry. v30 If I must be proud, I will be proud of my weakness. v31 The God and Father of our *Lord Jesus Christ knows that I am not lying. (Praise his name for all time!)

v32 King Aretas’s *Governor of *Damascus placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. v33 But my friends let me down in a basket through a window in the city wall. So I escaped from him.

Paul’s *opponents said that they were real *Jews. Paul says that he is also a real *Jew. He spoke *Hebrew and he belonged to the families of *Abraham. He was a real servant of Christ, much more so than those who opposed him. Unlike his *opponents, his many troubles showed that he was a servant of Christ. We can see the *glory of Christ in his service for other people. He suffered much more than we read about in the Acts of the *Apostles. The list of his troubles here shows this. He says that he suffered terrible pain. The *Jews hit him 39 times with a whip on 5 occasions. Sometimes people died when this happened. The punishment in Deuteronomy 25:1-3 was 40 strokes of the whip. But they only beat criminals 39 times. If someone beat a criminal more than 40 times, then he would have received the same punishment. The *Romans hit Paul with sticks. They should not have done this because he was a *Roman citizen. Once, people tried to kill him by throwing stones at him. This was what happened to *Stephen while Paul watched. (See Acts 7:54–8:1.)

Paul had travelled from place to place. He often went by sea. *Jewish people were afraid of the sea. Their idea of heaven was that ‘there was no longer any sea’. (See Revelation 21:1.) Paul had been in great danger three times when a ship had sunk. He had spent a day and a night on the sea. On his journeys, he suffered danger from *robbers. He was in danger when he crossed rivers. There were not many bridges in those days. People from his own country and from other countries had attacked him. Even some men, who had pretended to be his friends, had opposed him. He had worked hard and been without food and sleep. He suffered from cold and illness as a result of bad weather.

Moreover, there was the worry about the churches that he had started. He was angry when people tried to turn a weak, new Christian away from Christ. These false teachers had tried to do this. They said that they had travelled a long way to get to Corinth. They did not have the same travelling experiences that Paul did.

Finally, he talks about his escape from *Damascus. This experience made Paul very humble. He says that he will be proud about that. He will not be proud about great things as his *opponents are. They spoke about their successes. But Paul writes about how he had to be humble.

deceive ~ to make someone believe something that is not true.
Eve ~ the first woman that God created.
deceitful ~ something that is never true or honest.
preach ~ speak in public, especially about religion.
spirit ~ spirits are alive, but we cannot see them. There are good spirits usually called angels. Jesus promised to send God’s Holy Spirit to all who know him as the Son of God. Bad spirits (also called evil spirits, or demons) live in the air round us. The devil (God’s enemy) is their leader.
angel ~ a messenger or servant of God, from heaven.
holy ~ all good with no bad in it; separate from sin; suitable for God.
messenger ~ someone who takes a message to someone else.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
apostle ~ a person whom someone sends to do a special task. In the New Testament, an apostle was someone who had met the risen Jesus.

New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible with 27 books about the life of Jesus and the Christian message.

risen Jesus ~ Jesus, after he died and became alive again.
burden ~ a duty that people do not want.
Achaia ~ the southern area of Greece which Corinth governed.
dishonest ~ not honest.
Satan ~ the devil.
angel ~ a messenger or servant of God, from heaven.
messenger ~ someone who takes a message to someone else.

'righteous, righteousness ~ behaviour that is morally right.
Greek ~ a thing or a person from Greece; or the language that Greek people speak; or a person who is not a Jew.
Jews ~ people of the Hebrew people or religion.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.'Corinth, Corinthian ~ Corinth is a city in the country called Greece. The people from Corinth are called Corinthians.
claim ~ a statement that something is true, which other people may not agree with.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jews ~ people of the Hebrew people or religion.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.'righteous, righteousness ~ behaviour that is morally right.
cross ~ two pieces of wood that someone has fixed together. The Romans killed people by fixing them to a cross to die. Jesus died on a cross.
Roman ~ Rome was the capital city of the rulers at that time. That which belonged to Rome was Roman.
Lord ~ a name that we call God or Jesus; we call God or Jesus Lord when we obey them.
worldly ~ about the physical rather than the spiritual.
spiritual ~ about the spirit, not physical things.
opponent ~ someone who opposes you.
charge ~ a claim that someone has done wrong things.
claim ~ a statement that something is true, which other people may not agree with.
Gospel ~ good news, an account of the life of Jesus by Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
Pharisees ~ a Jewish group. They believed that it was important to obey completely all the Jewish rules. Jesus spoke badly about many Pharisees because they were proud about their behaviour.
Jewish ~ a word that describes a Jew or anything that belongs to a Jew.
Jews ~ people of the Hebrew people or religion.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.
Israelites ~ the people of Israel (Jews).
Jews ~ people of the Hebrew people or religion.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.
Abraham ~ the father of the families that make up the Hebrew nation.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.
Jews ~ people of the Hebrew people or religion.
Hebrew ~ a member of a group of families originally from Israel; or, the language of the Hebrew people.
shipwreck ~ loss of a ship at sea because of a storm or accident.
robber ~ someone who steals.
thirsty ~ when someone needs a drink.
sin ~ an evil deed; or what is in us that causes us to do sins; to sin means to do evil deeds.
governor ~ a person who rules an area.
Damascus ~ the capital of Syria. Paul was on his way there when he met the risen Jesus. Later he escaped from the city in a basket.

risen Jesus ~ Jesus, after he died and became alive again.
glory ~ honour or greatness. Especially, God’s greatness. Or, a special cause for pride in something or someone.
apostle ~ a person whom someone sends to do a special task. In the New Testament, an apostle was someone who had met the risen Jesus.

New Testament ~ the second part of the Bible with 27 books about the life of Jesus and the Christian message.

risen Jesus ~ Jesus, after he died and became alive again.
Roman ~ Rome was the capital city of the rulers at that time. That which belonged to Rome was Roman.
Stephen ~ the first Christian to die because of his beliefs.