Bible Journey: 2nd Corinthians

Good morning dear sisters, it is always a joy to be able to share God's Word,
and today we will conclude the final part of the first letter to the Corinthians and talk
a little bit about the second letter to the Corinthians.

The events between the time that the first letter was written and the second
letter are not easy to understand. From the references in the second letter, we can
assume that it was written between Easter and Pentecost in the year 57.

Timothy returning from Corinth did not bring good news to Paul, he still had
too many brothers creating divisions in the community.

The first letter had impressed the community, but it was not enough to silence
their opponents.

In fact, it had become an even more serious division, some troublemakers

from outside had done wrong things that threatened to shake even Paul's authority
and make it impossible for him to return to Corinth.

The group that remained faithful to Paul wanted him to return urgently to
Corinth to solve this problem.

St. Paul could not go to Corinth at that time, so he sent Titus.

Titus went on his way with the recommendation to return through Macedonia
to Troas, where he would meet Paul. However, when the catastrophe of Ephesus
occurred, Paul was forced to leave hurriedly for Troas, accompanied by Timothy,
Gaius, Aristarchus and Second, Tychicus and Trophimus.

When he met up with Titus, he was again filled with joy, for Titus brought
good news. The incestuous man had been excluded by decision of the majority, was
avoided by all, and suffered cruelly from the situation. To the point that he asked for
forgiveness from the community, which was willing to forgive him, he was only
waiting for Paul's confirmation.

Also the men who had committed the insults that almost broke Paul's
authority were punished.

The divisions in the community had reduced, but still some were talking
about Paul's inconstancy and the sudden changes of his travels.

Some said that he did not return to Corinth because he lacked courage.
 But those who supported Paul wanted him to come to Corinth to give comfort
and forgiveness.

This news restored St. Paul's joy.

It was not yet time to return to Corinth, so St. Paul decided to write a letter that
we know as the second letter to the Corinthians, which Timothy was to sign together
with him, so that the Corinthians would be convinced that they both shared the
same ideas and that they would already be forgiven for their deviations in the faith.

If the first letter to the Corinthians is beautiful from the point of view of the
wealth of ideas, the second letter is the one that Paul wrote with more passion.

Some scholars believe that the second letter was composed of several
letters, one epistle of consolation and reconciliation (chaps. 1-7), another concerning
the collection (chaps. 8-9), and a third that would be called the letter of the four
chapters (chaps. 10-13).

The common opinion is that if the letter was not written all at once, these
three letters were written one after the other and sent out as a single writing.

What also explains why the letters seem to be three, is because Paul writes to
different audiences. But the primary purpose of the Epistle is to set forth the reasons
on which Paul's apostolic authority rests.

For those who were opposed to Paul's authority were using the sufferings, the
persecutions that Paul suffered, that this took away from his apostolic greatness in
the eyes of those men still thinking about the world.

St. Paul is going to show them that it is precisely through persecutions that his
apostolic vocation is confirmed, so in the letter he is going to highlight his sufferings
a lot.
With this small historical context we can begin our study of the second letter
to the Corinthians.

● 2Cor 1.1-14

After a prayer of thanksgiving, Paul reminds his readers of the painful events
in Ephesus. For the first time he had judged that he was at the limit of his strength, to
the point that he did not know he would make it out alive.

Paul begins to denounce this mistaken logic of interpreting changes in the

course of his travels as a personal desire.

However, the cause why Paul postpones his visit is not a whim or a fear, but an
indulgence toward them. Since Paul had already been very heavy-handed in his
words in the first letter, he did not want to return to Corinth yet, so that he would not
have to repeat the same acts because the community had not really changed.

In chapter two, St. Paul gives us a beautiful lesson in what it means to be

Catholic; he forgives the offender and asks the community to do the same.

● 2Cor 2.5-11

St. John Chrysostom has an interesting commentary on this passage: Paul not
only commands that the reproach be ended, but also that he be restored to his
former position. In fact, if one merely dismisses the one who has been whipped,
without giving him healing, he does nothing.

As Christians we must always be willing to give forgiveness.

In 2 Cor. 2:12-17, St. Paul upon receiving the news from Titus, in this part of the
letter he writes of his joy at having seen the growth of the community and for
returning to fellowship with him.

And as we have seen in several places in the letters, the images that St. Paul
uses are always very striking to his readers.

When St. Paul used the image of the aroma for the Corinthians it had a very
strong meaning.

At that time the Greeks had a tradition that when a battle was won, behind the
triumphal chariot of a victorious general, the prisoners of war and the defeated kings
used to be carried in procession; in turn, the victor was incensed with turíbolas, as if
he were a god.

Paul rejoices, then, in the humble role that is reserved for him in the triumphal
procession of his Lord: to serve as a victory trophy to his Master and to spread, like
the thurifer, "the odor of his knowledge. As the odor of incense rises to the altar and
progressively spreads throughout the sanctuary, so Paul divines the entire coastal
region of the Aegean Sea drenched in the sweet odor of the Gospel.

Raise your burning heart to Christ, while your vital energy is consumed like a
burning coal. The whole earth breathes this odor: "To these, the odor of death to
death; to those, the odor of life to life.

Chapters 3 and 4 are beautiful. St. Paul has no need for letters of
recommendation, like his opponents:

● 2Cor 3.1-4.6

In this last part St. Paul alludes to the deepest reason for his vocation as an
Apostle: the radiance that surrounded his heart with the glorious light of Christ in
Damascus.
 In chapter 4.7-15 St. Paul will write another of his beautiful images, he will talk
about the treasure in earthen vessels.

● 2Cor 4.7-15

After speaking of all the greatness that the Word of God does in our lives, he
already anticipates a possible objection: "But your appearance in no way
corresponds to this. This gives the Apostle a reason to speak of the contrast
between his outward appearance, unremarkable, weighed down by sickness and
suffering, and his soul full of the Holy Spirit: 2 Cor. 4:7. And then he goes on to the
great confession of his life: just as Jesus' life was a continuous life of sacrifice, a life
of obedience even to death on the Cross, so the Apostle's life shows his
resemblance to the Master's, especially in his slow, dangerous and oppressed
apostolic service.

His willingness to serve and the humiliation of himself constitute his daily
martyrdom: 2Cor 4.7-10. For the Apostle, suffering is, so to speak, a sacrament by
which his mystical union with Christ is realized.

The more he suffers, the greater his strength and authority; the more he
suffers with Christ, the closer he is to Christ. For Paul knows that he must suffer more
than others, just as he knows that he has a particular function to perform in and for
the Church.

If he can endure these tribulations, the communities will be strengthened

mightily in the faith.

Between the two main parts of the Epistle, there is inserted a passage
concerning the collection for Jerusalem.

● 2Cor 9.1-15

This broad work of charity was the object of special solicitude on the part of
the Apostle, who could not allow the ties with the mother church to be broken and
the communities scattered throughout the world to split the mother church, and
presented the proceeds of this collection personally in Jerusalem, accompanied by
his collaborators.
 The way he promotes and prepares this initiative is a testimony to his fine
discretion. He did not like the role of a collector of money, nor did he have the least
inclination to deal with financial matters; moreover, he knew that his opponents were
spying on his every act in order to condemn him.

Therefore, he asks each community to seal its offerings and to have them sent
to him by specially chosen messengers, and, in order to take away any appearance
of business, to designate the collection with religious terms.

It is always good to demonstrate by deeds our submission to the Gospel.

Between chapters 9 and 10 there seems to have been a more or less long
interruption, during which some event of importance must have occurred. For no
apparent reason Paul changes the tone of his letter.

Probably new news has arrived from Corinth. It is possible that the sowers of
discord had received reinforcements from Jerusalem, without the authorization of
James and Peter. They accused Paul of being arrogant, they said that his letters
were impudent, and that he himself was a glory-hungry madman.

That his collection represented a very cunning and offensive maneuver

against the rights of the community.

Under the mask of Greek irony. Paul accepts the role of braggart they assign
him, and from that position he mercilessly attacks his detractors. They accuse him of
ambition, of selfishness, of eagerness to rule, while he himself proclaims his
friendship with the great men of Jerusalem, presents himself as superior men, runs
from house to house and invites himself, talks continuously and does not tolerate
being contradicted.

We see this in 2 Cor. 10:1-17

The last part I would like to share with you is about the false apostles that
Paul mentions in chapter 11.1-15

Fr. Josef Holzner concludes his commentary on the second letter to the
Corinthians with this chapter, and with these words I would like to conclude our
formation today: Titus and two other brothers, perhaps Luke and Aristarchus, took
the Epistle to Corinth. The impression made by reading the letter seems to have
been decisive. It constitutes the Apostle's testament to the Church for which he had
given his heart's blood. But already in the second century Corinth seems to have
forgotten Paul's merits. But there is one point which will always remind us of the
Apostle's heroic attitude: when the temptation arises to accommodate Christianity to
this world, when the danger of emptying the dogma of its content, of submitting the
Spirit to the century and to external activity, comes upon us, Paul will rise again and
will invite the Christians to recollection and to the interior life: 2 Cor 11.13-14; 2 Cor
13.11.
 I hope that I have helped you a little in getting to know these two beautiful
letters that St. Paul used a lot of tears and blood to write, but which are very
necessary for the growth of our Church.

Just as for Paul his greatest fruitfulness came from where the most pain was
generated for him, we too have received this same grace, that through our pains and
challenges we may become signs of Jesus to the world.

Amen.