Affliction - 2 Corinthians 4:10-18

4:10-12 - This is another place where Paul just becomes so abstract that I really struggle to follow him. From yesterday, he was saying that he and his companions were flawed, unimpressive mortal bearers of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. Because they carried such a heavy and glorious “treasure,” Satan works hard to bring them, and really anyone who accepts their message too, trouble. But God rewards them for enduring that suffering with support and inner peace. Paul makes an interesting statement that I’m going to paraphrase the way that I understand it. Remembering that they are carrying the gospel of Christ, he says that they always carry the message in their bodies that Christ died so that their bodies might also experience the benefits of Christ’s life. This is a very abstract way of saying, “we teach of Jesus’ death so that we can experience his resurrection.”

 

Paul further points out that even when these persecutions lead to their deaths, they give their lives so “that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” Paul is using the terms “death” and “life” with interchangeable reference to the spiritual life or death and the physical life or death, which can be hard to follow. It’s like he’s saying, “all these bad things happen to us because we teaching the gospel, but we do it so that we can be saved through the atonement of Jesus Christ. And also to testify of the truth of the gospel through our suffering.” Yeah that’s a good way to put it.

 

4:13-15 - The next four verses have no commentary to help me figure out what he’s saying, but Paul keeps doing his differentiation between the physical being and the spiritual being. It seems to me like he’s saying that he and they “believe, and therefore speak.” So they teach the gospel because they believe the gospel, and here is a really powerful statement giving their motivation for preaching, “knowing that he which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise up us also by Jesus, and shall present us with you.” He’s leveling the playing field by noting that the missionaries are going to be brought before God just like the other members. There is no VIP pass here, everyone is equal in the sight of God. But Paul also reminds them of the concept he spoke about earlier, that God uses the same power to create the universe that he does to work the gospel. The same power that God used to raise Jesus from the dead, is that same power that he will use to raise us from the dead as well.

 

That’s pretty powerful, if you think about it. The resurrection is the most important event in human history, it was the first to ever happen, and it’s the doctrine on which all the gospel hangs. The power and love and commitment that God used to resurrect Christ is the same power, love, and commitment that He’s going to use to resurrect us as well. That kind of puts us on equal footing with Jesus, even though he is the Savior of the world and the Messiah, he doesn’t want any super special treatment or gifts or privileges for doing what he did for us. Paul continues that “all things are for your sakes,” whether it be what Jesus has done for them personally or the work that the missionaries are doing so that they can hear the gospel.

 

4:16 - Paul promises that event through their afflictions, “we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” He again separates spiritual well-being from physical well-being. The physical being can be strong and capable but that same person can be corrupt spiritually and weak, whereas it is possible for someone who is physically frail to be a spiritual giant. The scriptures are full of examples of these types, and most of us are somewhere in the middle. But what’s interesting about this concept is that in the resurrection, as far as I know, it is supposed to be where our physical bodies reflect our spiritual stature.

 

4:17-18 - Even though they are persecuted on all sides, Paul refers to their experiences as “light affliction.” The IM quotes Elder Paul V. Johnson as teaching, “it is interesting that Paul uses the term ‘light affliction.’ This comes from a person who was beaten, stones, shipwrecked, imprisoned, and who experienced many other trials. I doubt many of us would label our afflictions light. Yet in comparison to the blessings and growth we ultimately receive, both in this life and in eternity, our afflictions are truly light.” This is an interesting concept because there are some afflictions that are incredibly harsh, like child sex slavery, that’s the worst possible thing that I can imagine someone having to endure. I believe that Elder Johnson’s quote is not just applicable to the persecution that happens because of our acceptance of the gospel, but would have to apply to any afflictions anyone has ever suffered, ever.

 

The law of compensation has to be so good that it can’t even be comprehended by our mortal minds because to think of the affliction of child sex slavery as “light” in comparison to the glorious nature of what’s coming in eternity, is a pretty tall order. The same with Paul’s next statement which is basically the same thing that the Lord told Joseph Smith in Liberty jail, our afflictions are “for a moment” but work for our eternal good. This sometimes has to be a concept that I have to take on faith, especially when I see some of the horrific things that happen to people. Again, it goes back to the whole “at what point is child rape going to work to my benefit?” It’s almost insulting to ask that question, but I believe that it’s true, I don’t understand how it works, I don’t understand how it’s ever going to be ok, but I believe that it will be. Like Paul says, “the things which are not seen are eternal.” I don’t have to understand or “see” right now, but they are eternal principles and I trust that Jesus is making it all right.