Brethren, it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.
Since we have the same spirit of faith as he had who wrote, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we too believe, and so we speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. For it is all for your sake, so that as grace extends to more and more people it may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
+++
For the second time, in a short space of time, Paul finds a need to once again address the spiritual state of the Corinthians and pens his epistle addressed to the church which is in Corinth and to all the saints who are in Achaia which area is located in the northern part of the Peloponnese.
Once again Paul needs to remind the Corinthians that the church is the body of Christ, which body is composed of many parts with many functions but for all that, all parts come together to form the one body. The focus of Paul in this reading is upon apostleship. Teaching and preaching the gospel of the good news of the resurrected Christ is the core function of the apostle. Apostolic ministry is necessary to manifest Christ. This in turn gives to the apostle his authority, which authority is based upon the communion of love to the laity as does a father who loves his child.
In that light, Paul was being attacked by false apostles who charged him with many and various things in terms of his leadership. Indeed, Paul and his co-workers stood use of tricking all of Corinth into thinking them as being men of God yet, according to them, Paul and his co-workers were no better than tricksters or charlatans. In comparison they declared that they were properly credentialed and that they were, as a result, the true inheritors of the teaching ministry that flowed from the Old Testament. In short, they presented a different gospel to Paul. They thought that Christians must have an exalted spiritual experience and lead a successful and painless life and should not be concerned about moral purity and holiness. Paul tells his faithful not to unequally yoke themselves with unbelievers for what fellowship can the lawful have with the lawless, or, what communion has light with darkness or what part has a believer with an unbeliever. Indeed, Paul calls these false apostles agents of Satan and warns the Corinthians to close their ears to these perverse and strange teachings.
Paul now focuses upon his ministry, which ministry is not based on craftiness or deceit but upon the manifestation of the truth. Take note, he declares, that he does not preach anything other than Jesus Christ the Lord. Paul declares also that it is God who commanded the light to come out of the darkness and that is this light that lights up our heart and gives knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This light, of course does not penetrate every heart. Indeed, the prologue of John’s gospel puts this most clearly: although the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it not everyone received the light because the world knew him not.
Paul calls this teaching a treasure – but is a treasure in earthenware pot vessels – and it is in earthen ware vessels because this demonstrates the power comes from and the glory that is freely given by God to and not to any individual. The Greek text uses the word “ostrakinos”. That word relates closer to shellfish than to earthenware. You may ask the question: what’s the big deal? – And the big deal is this: as St John Chrysostom points out, the difference between a vessel made of shells is a vessel that is made before it is put in fire. However, once an earthenware vessel is fired it becomes rock hard and is useless to be reshaped. If it is wrong then it cannot be fixed – is only good to be broken. Consider this: all earthen ware vessels start their life as clay. Clay can be broken and reshaped into whole myriad of forms and ways by the Potter however once it is fired it cannot be shaped but rather it can be broken into a thousand shards. Likewise it is with us: our bodies are frail and subject to failure. Christ can take a broken and fragile body and reshape it into something superior so the reality is we are all capable of being reshaped and made anew in Christ.
However, being an apostle has its pitfalls and difficulties. Paul declares that he is afflicted in every way; he is perplexed, he is persecuted and he is struck down by those forces of evil around him. In short they put every impediment they possibly can in front of him so that he may fail in his apostolic mission. However despite all these hurdles that confront him, they cannot bring Paul down so that his focus is lost on his mission to the Corinthians in the world. Notice what he says: yes, afflicted but not crushed; yes, perplexed but not driven to despair; yes, persecuted – but not forsaken; and yes, struck down but not destroyed. According to Paul he is able to carry out his apostolic work because it is Christ that is working within him and it is that life in Christ which he, Paul, manifests to the world. In other words it is not Paul talking but Christ talking through Paul which assures his mission of success. As a good pastor Paul assures the Corinthians that he will deal within himself with the foulness of death but through Christ he will overcome death so that the message preached by him is life and everlasting life at that.
If you have the true faith you will speak words of wisdom, without guile, without deceit and without advantage. Why? Because you preach Christ crucified – and not only crucified but resurrected. How can anyone who gave up his life for us not wish us to be saved? Paul tells the Corinthians to stay strong in their faith because it is their faith in Christ that will save them. Although the apostle is to preach the gospel the success of his mission is when both he as teacher and they as disciples all come together in the presence of Christ. Therefore all have an obligation and the obligation is this: once they know what true faith is then they are obligated to spread the word to those around them that have yet to come into Christ. For in that way the all disciples themselves become teachers and grace grows and abounds so that more and more people may give thanks giving to the glory of God. After all, the function of the body is to ensure that all parts are saved – the lesser and the greater, the unimportant and the important. It is in this way that we all need one another to be saved through Christ our Lord.
