2 Corinthians 1:1-11

2 Corinthians 1: 1-11 -- NASB

Opening Questions:

1. When you were sick or hurt as a kid, to whom did you turn most often for comfort?

2. When was the last time you felt like you were in a "pressure-cooker" situation? What happened and how did you respond?

Background:

Corinth: This city lay on an isthmus between the mainland of Greece and Peloponnese (the southwest corner of Greece). Greece was divided into two provinces: Macedonia in the north (which included Berea, Philippi, and the capital city of Thessalonica) and Achaia in the south (which included Athens and the capital city of Corinth). Many ships sailed into Corinth and moved their goods over land across the isthmus rather than risk the wild seas around the Peloponnese. This brought lively trade and many vices to the city. Corinth had a reputation as a sexually immoral city. [Archeological Study Bible, Zondervan, 2005]

Read 2 Corinthians 1: 1-11.

v 1: Paul addresses the Corinthian church directly and the believers in the province of Achaia indirectly.

As a side note, Paul was successful in starting churches in this province due to the support of the proconsul (the governor of the province). Some Jews brought Paul before the proconsul complaining that Paul was leading people to worship God in a way that was contrary to the law. The proconsul refused to get involved, essentially giving Paul free reign in that Achaia to preach and evangelize [Acts 18:12-16].

Church - (ekklesia): compound word of ek (together) and derived from kaleo (to call or to invite), so "church" literally means "to call together".

v 2: This is the same greeting Paul used in 1 Corinthians and is a common greeting in all his letters.

v 3: It is and was very common for Jews to refer to God as the "Father of Mercies". The plural is used to indicate God's exceeding mercies, both physical and spiritual.

comfort - (paraklesis): literally, to call to one's side. The roots of this word are para (beside) and kaleo (to call or invite), the same root as used in "church", discussed above. Isn't that cool? God calls us, invites us to His side to comfort us. This word is also used to describe the Messianic salvation; Rabbis, therefore, call the Messiah "The Comforter" or "The Consoler". The English word "comfort" comes from the Latin "confortis", which means "to brave together". You can see how you could brave something together with God if you were by His side.

v 4: The word comfort is the same in the Greek here as in verse 3. So we're comforted by God -- He's by our side -- and we can then call others to His side. So due to the comfort we get from God when we're afflicted, we can then call afflicted people to God. Nice!

Affliction - (thlipsis): literally, pressing together; but it is used as a metaphor. Every use of this word in Revelation is translated as "tribulation", but it can also be translated as anguish, distress, or persecution, depending on the context. The root of this word is "thlibo", which literally means to press hard upon, as upon grapes. We can think of it as feeling as though being stomped on. You've seen the "Grapes" episode of I Love Lucy, right?

v 5: Here is one of those verses that's sometimes hard to swallow. It tells us that we suffer abundantly, like Christ. However, we also receive abundant comfort from Christ. He is able to comfort us because of the great suffering He endured while on Earth and the suffering He endures through believers as we suffer. You can see the connection between verses 4 and 5. Because of our afflictions, we can comfort people by bringing them to Christ; Christ, then, is fully able to comfort any and all afflictions due to the degree to which He suffered. Another cool thing with the Greek in verse 5 is that "afflictions" is plural -- covering any and all; but "comfort" is singular -- Christ's [singular] comfort covers all afflictions. It's kind of like one size fits all. Jesus is able to offer comfort because of His great sufferings. Sometimes hurting people can only be comforted by others who have suffered as well. Your trials make your message of Christ more authentic and make you more compassionate to hurting people. In addition, personal experience of God's comfort is necessary before we can pass it on to others.

v 6: Paul is stating that Christians are in community with each other. If one suffers or is comforted, the others see the comfort from Christ and are themselves comforted and/or brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. As Christians, we can look at our sufferings as a way to be witnesses to others, as we allow Christ to comfort us in the midst of our suffering. In addition, Christ's comfort makes withstanding suffering possible.

Patient enduring - (huponome): This word is used 32 times in the New Testament and in each place you can see a picture of a believer sticking with Christianity, even through tribulation and suffering, because "tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint..." [Romans 5:3-5a] In the New Testament, this word refers to the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings. If you are suffering today, know that you can have the comfort and hope that can only come from Christ Jesus.

v 7: Paul continues with the idea of Christian community in this verse, saying that we share in each other's sufferings and in each other's comfort. Paul's participation in suffering encouraged the faith of the Corinthians.

Firmly grounded - (bebaios): This word can also be translated as "certain", "guaranteed", or "unalterable", but its origin is the Greek "basis", meaning "the foot" or literally "that with which one steps". It's like Paul is saying that his hope is as sure as the feet he walks on.

vv 8-11: Paul makes reference to a time in Ephesus when he was so greatly afflicted that he thought he was going to die. Notice, though, that he states that God's comfort outweighs his affliction. While his affliction was great, he wants us to know that he was delivered from them by the God who raises from the dead. Some commentators believe that Paul was threatened by the Ephesians because he turned people away from worshipping Artemis (Diana). Silversmiths in that area were making money because they made and sold silver shrines to Artemis. These silversmiths created an uproar and Paul probably had good reason to fear for his life [Acts 19: 23-41; 2 Corinthians 7:5-7]. However, other commentators believe that this threat was not enough for Paul to feel "burdened excessively" and to "despair even of life". These commentators believe that Paul is referring to plots of the Jews [Acts 20:19], fighting off wild beasts [1 Corinthians 15:32], and facing many adversaries [1 Corinthians 16:8-9], combined with a grave illness, so that Paul felt that he was all but dead. In any case, Paul is letting us know that he is no stranger to affliction or to suffering and that he was pushed beyond his human strength so that he could not trust in himself, but he had to trust in God. He is authenticating what he stated in verses 6 and 7. He is not asking the Corinthians (or us) to do anything he hasn't already done. He knows that God will deliver him, due in part to the Corinthians' prayers. And because of that deliverance, many people will give thanks for the favor granted. Further, Paul wants the Corinthians to know his depth of suffering and subsequent deliverance, so that they might have reason to give thanks to God.

Sentence of death within ourselves - (apokrima): an answer given to a direct question. This word is only used once in the New Testament, although it is present in other ancient writings. The meaning here is "on asking himself if whether he might come out safe from mortal peril, he answered himself, 'I must die'". It refers to an internal dialogue.

Dead - (nekros): can refer to either physical death or spiritual death, depending on the context. Either way, God is the only one who can do that kind of raising.

Deliver/Delivered - (rhoumai): This word can also be translated as "to draw to one's side". So again, as in "comfort" (paraklesis) and in "church" (ekklesia), we see God drawing us to Him. This word also has the connotation of flowing, so that the deliverance is more or less constant. This word is a derivative of "rhusis", which is translated as "hemorrhage" in the story of the woman who touched the hem of Jesus' cloak [Luke 8:40-48]. The NIV says "continue to deliver us", which is a good translation. Notice that there are three verb tenses: past (delivered), future (will deliver), and a tense we don't have in English (will yet deliver). This tense we don't have refers to something that went on before and which now continues at present. All of this information is stored in the teeny Greek adverb "eti". I love how the Greek is so descriptive and has such richness of meaning.

Favor - (charisma): a gift which one receives through no merit of his own; divine grace

Thanks - (eucharisteo): to be grateful; to feel thankful; derived from "eucharistos", which means "to be mindful of favors". This is where we derive our word "Eucharist", referring to the elements of Communion.

Study Questions:

1. Do you think "grace and peace" would be a good bumper sticker to describe what the gospel is all about?

2. What is the relationship between God's comfort to us and our ability to comfort others? What does that say about suffering? How might that relate to Romans 8:28?

3. How are Christ's and Paul's sufferings related to your suffering [Acts 19:23-42 and 2 Corinthians 7:5-7]? How might that bring you comfort?

4. What reaction is Paul trying to teach the Corinthians [vv. 6-7, 10-11]? How did you react to these verses?

5. Paul found that intense pressure led him to depend on God even more [v. 9]. How do you respond when pressures mount? What does dependence on God look like on a day-to-day basis?

6. Whom do you know who is under intense pressure now? How can you pray for him/her this week?

Thanks for stopping by. I look forward to your comments.

Study Guides used:

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset, and David Brown, 1871)

Geneva Study Bible

John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Robertson's Word Pictures

The NAS New Greek Lexicon, based on Thayer and Smith's Bible Dictionary