Daily Devotion for Lent 2021 - Day 37

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 10

We have here a break in tone which seems to be a different letter.  At the very least, Paul picked up his writing after taking a break from the previous letter.  When the letters of Paul were copied, there could have easily been various pieces of correspondence that all got copied into one parchment for simplicity's sake.  Unfortunately, we don't have any of Paul's original manuscripts.

Is this how the opposing
apostles saw Paul?

Earlier in 2 Corinthians 2:4, Paul states, "For I wrote you out of much distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain, but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you."  Some have postured that starting with chapter 10, this is the painful letter referenced earlier.

We definitely see the tension within the early church.  What would it have been like to be Christians in Corinth?  It would almost seem like you were in a tugging match between these authorities who keep visiting you.  Each one is claiming to have the truth.  

We can see that Paul's opponents are not afraid to slander him in his absence.  This is not surprising as he has been treated even more harshly in person throughout his ministry. 

Paul reminds the Corinthians that he was the first to reach them with the "good news of Christ" as he is a missionary willing to reach the Gentiles.  Of course, Paul's stance is that the Gentiles do not need to be circumcised or practice the dietary laws of Judaism in order to share in the faith of Christ.  History shows us that in time, Paul's point of view became the orthodox position.  I think this was because he didn't treat the Gentiles as second-class Christians.

As we consider our own authenticity during Holy Week, we might think about our own humility.  It takes humility to raise up Gentiles as equals.  But the humility of God who came to us as a human being is also a part of our faith tradition.  How can we offer faith to people without seeing them as less-than?

Prayer for the Day:

Eternal God, you shunned the infinite for the temporal and limited.  You humbled yourself as a human being that would know rejection and pain and death.  Help us to see where our fears of these very things keep us from being an authentic witness.  Strengthen our love so that we might have the courage to be vulnerable.  We pray these things in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Photo by Mark Turnauckas via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

All scripture quoted is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.