Text for the Week: Not Crushed

Scripture: 2 Corinthians 4:7-18

⁷ But we have this treasure in clay pots so that the awesome power belongs to God and doesn’t come from us. ⁸ We are experiencing all kinds of trouble, but we aren’t crushed. We are confused, but we aren’t depressed. ⁹ We are harassed, but we aren’t abandoned. We are knocked down, but we aren’t knocked out.

¹⁰ We always carry Jesus’ death around in our bodies so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies. ¹¹ We who are alive are always being handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that Jesus’ life can also be seen in our bodies that are dying. ¹² So death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

¹³ We have the same faithful spirit as what is written in scripture: I had faith, and so I spoke. We also have faith, and so we also speak. ¹⁴ We do this because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus, and he will bring us into his presence along with you. ¹⁵ All these things are for your benefit. As grace increases to benefit more and more people, it will cause gratitude to increase, which results in God’s glory.

¹⁶ So we aren’t depressed. But even if our bodies are breaking down on the outside, the person that we are on the inside is being renewed every day. ¹⁷ Our temporary minor problems are producing an eternal stockpile of glory for us that is beyond all comparison. ¹⁸ We don’t focus on the things that can be seen but on the things that can’t be seen. The things that can be seen don’t last, but the things that can’t be seen are eternal.

Questions

1. Why does Paul use the metaphor of “clay pots” and what is the treasure that we store in them?
2. How are we to read verses 8-9, are these real scenarios that Paul went through, are they generalizations for all believers?
3. How do we read this passage without falling into a martyrs complex where we are always looking for the oppression described in these verses?
4. What is the distinction Paul is trying to create between the death of Jesus and life?

Background

Related Scriptures: Psalm 116, Acts 16:16-40, Romans 8: 35-37, 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, Philippians 3:12-16

While it might be tempting to think that Paul is talking about human bodies when using the phrase “clay pots” he is highlighting how much more important the Gospel message is than the people who proclaim the message.

The list of antitheses in verses 8-9 are designed to highlight the differences between human weakness and frailty and divine power. This is not simply a perspective change by Paul but represent a form of divine deliverance. The first half of the antithesis states the problem then the second element uses an intensified verb to correct the issue.

Jesus’ death in this passage is meant to remind us that we, like Jesus, are persecuted for how we adhere to God’s ideals. Jesus’ life is a reminder that when we are borne through adversity by God we display the glory of life in Jesus.

The process of being renewed is not the process that makes us more Christlike, rather it is the process of being refreshed each day, more like how sleep refreshes a person than how weight-lifting builds muscle.

For more background watch my video here

Reflection

Paul had no shortage of difficult times, he was imprisoned (Acts 16), beaten, shipwrecked, stoned, (2 Corinthians 11), to say nothing of his temporary blindness (Acts 9) and the many times he narrowly escaped mob violence in cities. Paul had an intimate knowledge of difficult times and 2 Corinthians 4 is his reflection on those experiences. He is very upfront with his readers that even though they are committed to the sovereign God of the universe that does not mean they will escape difficulty. In verses 8-9 Paul speaks honestly about these difficulties, he has experienced confinement, doubts, harassment, and been knocked down not just by life but specifically in service to proclaiming the Gospel. Last week I pointed out how we are all meant to imitate Paul in being ambassadors for God and though there is delight and joy in that mission we cannot overlook the sufferings. I do not anticipate suffering in the same manner as Paul (I doubt I will be stoned) but I will likely face my own difficulties.

It is important at this point to remember that the Bible does not present a picture of Paul being obnoxious or overly confrontational, he does not go looking for a fight or suffering such problems are thrust on him. We might be tempted to think that the suffering we cause can somehow be equated with what Paul experienced but he was trying to be a lawful and upright person so that when people abused him he was above reproach. Paul recognizes that the confinements, harassment, and doubts he experienced were part of how the world reacts to Jesus and so natural for him to experience as he carried Jesus’ death in his own body. Paul recognized that he took on the sufferings that Jesus went through—carried Jesus’ death—and that came in the form of the rejection that Jesus experienced as he came into conflict with humanity.

Yet even as Paul has experienced these difficulties and witnessed to the death of Jesus in his own life, he has also recognized that in going through these difficulties he has allowed the Life of Jesus to shine through. Paul’s commitment to Jesus has been honored in that the glory of Jesus was on display, not just as Paul endured the difficulties, but also in his recounting them in this letter. How he conducted himself during the difficult times spoke to people about the nature of life in Jesus and helped them to see they could overcome death through Jesus’ life that was on display in Paul. Thus, Paul tells us that even though he was confined, he was not crushed, he had doubts, but was not despairing, was harassed, but never abandoned, and knocked down but not out. But unlike other philosophies of his time, namely the Stoics, and even in other NT passages, Paul gives the glory to God. Paul says that everything he suffered might have ended him, had it not been for God’s enduring presence strengthening him. Paul did not survive because he was especially tough or had cultivated remarkable resilience, he was pulled through because God is faithful and responded to his needs. Paul even admits in 2 Corinthians 1 that he had despaired at one point and implied that this despair ended when he learned to see God’s faithfulness. It is a reminder to us that when we are relying on our own ability to endure life we will fall short, we will come to despair, but if we learn to lean on God we will grow overcome the darkness. Had Paul given in to despair he would not have allowed the Gospel light to shine through the gloom in his countenance, but in learning to place his hope in God’s faithfulness he was able to be the hope that the Philippian jailer needed to see. It can be difficult to accept that we will go through stressful times and harsh treatment, and even harder to accept that to endure I need to accept the fact that it is by God’s grace and not my effort that I will pull through and so I should be focused solely on emulating Jesus.

Takeaway

We are committed to proclaiming the Gospel in our lives, and we will most likely have times of suffering on account of Jesus—where we live out his death—but God is faithful to ensure that these difficulties do not crush us and that we can endure so that the Gospel will shine through us into the world.