Paul wrote his "severe letter", his "letter of tears" (2 Corinthians 10-13) in order to move the Corinthians to repentance and reconciliation. But it in order to do that, he felt that he needed to respond to the accussations made against him, especially since he felt that another group of evangelizers has stolen the hearts of the Corinthians away from him. After appealing to the Corinthians for obedience owed to him as father (10:1-18), he answers to the accussation raised against him (11:1-15). In 11:16-19 he "boasts" about his Jewish credentials and the more important evidence of the sincerity of his work: the cross of his own apostleship (11:16-29). He mentions his experience of being let down a rope because a group of Jews have wanted to assassinate him (11:30-33), the mystical experience he had some time towards the middle of his ministry (12:1-6), his thorn in the flesh (12:7-10), concluding with the declaration that he is in no way inferior to the new comers, that through him the signs and wonders accompanying an apostle has been wrought (cf. Mark 16:20) and his only fault had been that he did not burden the Corinthians (12:11-13). The rest is a warning of another visit from him, accompanied by a threat that his manner will depend on the way the Corinthians will meet him (12:14-13:10)
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 constitutes a part of Paul's "boast", the presentation of his credentials as an apostle. He does this "compelled" because his rivals to the heart of the Corinthians have papers and external qualities to show. The immediate context of the reading begins in 11:16 and ends in 12:13. Throughout these verses, the word "to boast" appears several times and Paul's protestations that he does not wish to commend himself but that circumstances force him to do so while expressing discomfort at doing so. For the Greeks, there were two kinds of "boasting", one that is vain and another that is acceptable. Both these kinds are present, for example in "The Odyssey". Boasting is acceptable especially as a response to an insult. Vain boasting falls under hubris [See "The Traveller and the Boast"]. Paul, being a Jew, is uncomfortable with boasting, for he knows that "If anyone has to boast, let him boast in the Lord." Besides, the Greeks can admit of two kinds of boasting (one positive and another negative) because humility was not a value among them. For the Jew, however, humility is important: it is a prerequisite for the obedience of faith. Thus one can understand Paul's reluctance and his discomfort at having to "commend" himself.
One can further break down this portion of Paul's letter into the following outline
- 11:16-21a I too will boast
- 11:21b-22 I too am a Jew
- 11:23-29 I too am a minister of Christ (more so than they are)
- 11:30 I boast of my weakness
- 11:31-33 His experience of being let down a rope (cf. Acts 9:23-25)
- 12:1-6 His mystical experience
- 12:7-9 His thorn in the flesh
- 12:10 His weakness is his strength
Paul boasts of his weakness, something contrary to what the Greeks deem to be acceptable boasting, for in doing so, he emphasizes the grace that the Lord said was sufficient for him. Even his mystical experience, he says, is counteracted by a thorn in the flesh that the Lord refuses to take away from him. Thus Paul refers to his mystical experience and the locution received from the Lord not in terms of a unique favor that makes him special, but of a declaration of how he sees himself: a minister identified with the Suffering Servant (see this article) -- humble, weak and sincere.
Thorn in the Flesh
Paul's "thorn in the flesh", what was it? When he talks about an angel of Satan beating him up, what does he mean? There was a time when pious Catholics would cite this Pauline verse as an example of the stigmata, the wounds of Christ reproduced in the body of his faithful, as in the case of St. Francis, St. Rita of Cascia, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, and others. On the other hand, mention of the angel of Satan beating Paul to keep him humble, was taken as an instance of "demonic obsession". Below are pages on the web that try to shed light on the question of the meaning of 2 Cor. 12:7-8.
John Chrysostom in his homily on 2 Corinthians give us this insight:
What then is the meaning of what is said? (= 2 Cor. 12:7) When we have explained what is meant at all by the "thorn," and who is this "messenger of Satan," then will we declare this also.
There are some then who have said that he means a kind of pain in the head which was inflicted of the devil; but God forbid! For the body of Paul never could have been given over to the hands of the devil, seeing that the devil himself submitted to the same Paul at his mere bidding; and he set him laws and bounds, when he delivered over the fornicator for the destruction of the flesh, and he dared not to transgress them. What then is the meaning of what is said? An adversary is called, in the Hebrew, Satan; and in the third Book of Kings the Scripture has so termed such as were adversaries; and speaking of Solomon, says, 'In his days there was no Satan,' that is, no adversary, enemy, or opponent. (1R 5, 4) What he says then is this: God would not permit the Preaching to progress, in order to check our high thoughts; but permitted the adversaries to set upon us. For this indeed was enough to pluck down his high thoughts; not so that, pains in the head. And so by the "messenger of Satan," he means Alexander the coppersmith, the party of Hymenaeus and Philetus, all the adversaries of the word; those who contended with and fought against him, those that cast him into a prison, those that beat him, that led him away to death; for they did Satan's business. As then he calls those Jews children of the devil, who were imitating his deeds, so also he calls a "messenger of Satan" every one that opposeth. He says therefore, "There was given to me a thorn to buffet me; "not as if God putteth arms into such men's hands, God forbid! not that He doth chastise or punish, but for the time alloweth and permitteth them. (Chrysostom on 2Cor, 2600)
The Golden Tongue rules out demonic obsession because the devil is subject to Paul. The reference here is to 1 Cor. 5:1-10 where Paul orders the Corinthians to expel the man living in an incestual relationship and hand him over to Satan. Second, using Old Testament references, he explains that a "Satan" is an enemy. Hence the "messenger of Satan" would be those persons who have been opposing him. Thus, the "thorn in the flesh", the beating he received from his enemies refer to the pains and sufferings he has been receiving throughout his ministry. God allows such suffering that Paul "may not be elated".
Two Statements
In Paul's boast, there are two statements that should be memorized: one is from the Lord and the other from Paul himself. The first is the statement "My grace is sufficient for you". Considering the way "charis" is used in Paul as expressive of the Lord's "hesed", the statement can also be translated "My life-giving love is sufficient for you". It is the response the Lord makes to Paul who prays that his pain be taken away. The Lord refuses Paul's prayer like a doctor who does not give in to a wounded child's refusal of an ointment that stings. The medicine must be applied lest the wound grow worse.
The second statement is the conclusion of Paul's "boasting": "When I am weak, then I am strong." The weakness that Paul refers to is not weakness of character nor of health, but of the "weakness" of the Suffering Servant, the weakness of the cross. In a culture that admired power, strength, superiority, Paul raises up the banner of the cross.
For we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, Jews and Greeks alike, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. (1 Corinthians 1:23-25)
Notes for the Liturgy
2 Cor. 12:7-10 is offered for reading and meditation for the 14th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year B) in a rare occassion when the second reading is easily grasped in connection with the Gospel theme of the liturgy. The rejection of Jesus in his hometown (Mark 6:1-6) and the lesson he gives to the disciples he is about to send out coincides well with the theme of Paul's "thorn in the flesh", his expression for the difficulties he receives from the communities he works in, especially the one in Corinth. Paul's talk about the revelations he receives -- something to which he himself does not give importance -- is not the mark of an authentic minister of the gospel. Rather, the true mark of the evangelist is the mark of the weakness of the cross. Hence, for those who have understood the saying "The prophet is honored except in his own country, among his relatives and in his family", the reading from 2 Corinthians also leaves us with another statement from the Lord: "My grace is enough for you" (2 Cor. 12:9).
