1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, to the church of God that is in Corinth, with all the saints who are in all Achaia. 2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!

3 Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles so that we may be able to comfort those experiencing any trouble with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

REFLECTIONS

Written by Stephen Shead

Yesterday we read from Acts about when Paul first took the gospel to the city of Corinth. Today I’ll fill in a bit more about Corinth and the context of this letter.

Corinth was a city in Greece (back then, it was the Roman Province of Achaia). Corinth was a city of flashy wealth and prestige, where everyone was trying to climb up the social ladder to positions of higher comfort, status and honour. From Paul’s letters to them, it seems that the Christians in the church in Corinth faced constant temptation to follow the spirit of their culture, by trying to out-do each other and worry about status and prestige in the church. That meant they were also vulnerable to false teachers who would come in presenting themselves as super-spiritual super-apostles, promising victory and success in Jesus’ name.

Paul’s relationship with the Corinthian church was sometimes rocky. We know this letter as “2 Corinthians”, but it was probably the fourth letter Paul had written them. In a previous letter (which we don’t have), he had had to sternly rebuke them for a casual attitude to sexual immorality – although by the time he wrote this letter, it seems they listened to him and repented. But things were still fairly tense. So how would Paul address this letter? Would he come in with all guns blazing, throw his authority around, and beat them into grovelling and submission?

Not at all. I love the fact that Paul starts by reminding them of the “grace and peace” that has come to them from God (v2), praising God for being the God of comfort (v3), and reassuring the Corinthian Christians about the comfort that they can receive from God (v4). In fact, Paul and his companions had been through a series of intense troubles. But Paul sees these troubles are a gift from God, because they give Paul a chance to resonate with others who are suffering and to share the comfort he has received through Christ with them.

I wonder if there’s a Christian brother or sister you know who is going through a time of trouble? If you have found comfort in your troubles from knowing Jesus, and knowing the hope that is stored up for us in heaven, could you extend that gospel comfort to them today?

This letter is going to be filled with wisdom about Christian life and ministry – and I love that it starts with weakness and vulnerability. 2 Corinthians is all about how God uses our weakness and troubles to display his power, by building a genuine fellowship of suffering believers, so that Christ might be glorified. Because the Christian life and Christian ministry are cross-shaped.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Stephen is our senior minister.