Paul's Thorn

2 Corinthians: Paul’s Thorn

2 Corinthians 12:1-10

2 Corinthians 12:1–10 ESV

1 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1. Introduction – This morning we come to what is quite possible my favourite section in the letter of 2 Corinthians.

a. This is a powerful section…and really this is the climax of the entire letter…It’s the high point when Paul gets to 12:9 – my grace is sufficient for you…

i. And really, that’s the pinnacle of this letter’s theme…throughout the course of this study, every few weeks, or every week lately, we’ve looked at the theme of power in weakness.

1. Notice that it is not power after weakness or power over weakness.

ii. It’s not that weakness is something to overcome…its not that power comes to us after we’ve journeyed through weakness and have come out on the other side…

1. Paul makes it very clear that in his life and in his ministry – he is given power to carry on WHILE he is weak.

a. While he is still in the midst of his weakness. In fact, ‘power in weakness’ could very well be the subtitle of this entire letter.

iii. When I am weak, then I am strong, for the power of Christ rests upon me.

1. Let’s read these climatic words together. 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.

b. Here’s what we’re going to look at this morning and how we’ll break this passage down.

i. We’ll look at vv.1-6 and look at Paul’s visionary experience.

1. Then we’ll look at vv7-10. We’ll look at Paul’s thorn, but then we’ll look at Paul’s prayer, Jesus’ answer, and Paul’s response.

2. Visions and Revelations – As we dig into this section, one can only assume that Paul is responding to another accusation against him.

a. Remember over the last few weeks – we’ve looked at different accusations levied against Paul – that wasn’t a trained public speaker, that his message was worthless because he was giving it away for free…

i. That’s he not self-aggrandizing – talking about himself all the time.

1. Well here in chapter 12, Paul abruptly switches gears. He’s going to continue to boast, because he knows that’s the only way to gain the Corinthians attention.

a. But he continues to reinforce the fact that boasting is useless and not profitable.

i. And given the climate in Corinth at the time – one can assume that the false teachers spoke often of their own ecstatic experiences.

1. That they spoke often of their visions and revelations.

ii. And their line of thinking most likely went like this – Paul never spoke of his experiences…and if he never spoke of them it probably means he’s never had any…

1. And if he’s never had any, then it must mean he’s not really an apostle. That was the charge levied against Paul.

b. So in his own way – Paul begins to boast about his visions and revelations from God – but at first he passes them off as someone else’s experience.

i. But before we look at what Paul says about his visions and revelations – I want you to understand just how important visions from God are in the Bible.

1. The prophets are the first ones that come to mind…full of visions.

a. But visions are just as prevalent in the NT. Zechariah in the Temple had a visions when he was told he was going to be a daddy.

i. Jesus’ transfiguration was called a vision for Peter, James and John.

1. The women who went to Jesus’ tomb reported seeing a vision of an angel.

2. Stephen saw the Son of Man standing at God’s right had as he was being stoned to death.

a. Ananias had a vision in Damascus to go and visit the newly converted Paul.

i. Peter had a vision to go visit Cornelius – he had another vision of an angel while being released from prison.

1. Then there’s the book of Revelation where John records vision after vision.

ii. Paul himself had an encounter with the risen Jesus on the road to Damascus, and had a vision of a Macedonia man calling him to come over and help.

1. In Galatians 1, Paul said he received the gospel by a special revelation.

a. But the experience Paul writes about here, was so great…but so deeply personal, Paul was prepared to take it to his grave…except he writes about it in order to win the Corinthian’s attention.

c. But Paul writes as if he is recounting someone else’s experience. “I know a man of Christ…” Probably the ancient equivalent of “I know a guy…”

i. A few things I want you to take note of. Paul writes about the 3rd heaven and about Paradise.

1. In Jewish writing of his time, they often divided heaven into various parts. 3 parts, 5 parts, 7 parts, 11 parts.

a. So if Paul writes about the 3rd heaven or about paradise – he is referring to the highest heaven.

i. Some scholars say that Paul means to say that he went right into the very throne room of God.

ii. It’s a place John entered in Revelation 4:5 – and isn’t it a glorious place?!

d. Secondly, notice that Paul doesn’t know if it was an in body experience - as in he was bodily whisked away…or if he had an out of body experience.

i. He doesn’t know…and quite frankly its not that important to him to figure out. God knows what happened to Paul at the time of the vision.

1. Third, v.4 makes it sound as if there was a gag order placed on Paul. That he wasn’t allowed to talk about.

a. But I don’t think it was a divinely appointed gag order. What Paul is getting at in v.4 is this – the things he heard and the things he saw…other people would not understand because they had no frame of reference to understand.

i. Try explaining electricity to a jungle tribe…there’s no frame of reference.

2. Even when John was granted access to God’s throne room, the best he could do was speak in similes and metaphors.

a. He didn’t describe the actual materials he saw…he gave a point of reference for his audience…it’s like this or its like that. Not, it IS this.

i. So Paul here, doesn’t go into the details of his heavenly vision because his audience wouldn’t understand anyway – heard things which cannot be told, which mean cannot utter.

e. Finally, what I want you to notice about Paul’s visions is this…it’s not the basis of his apostolic authority.

i. He makes it clear off the bat by saying – this ‘man in Christ…’ he doesn’t refer to his experience as an apostle, but simply as a Christian.

1. He doesn’t want his authority to be based on his ecstatic experiences.

a. In v.6 he makes clear that his authority is based on his words and actions.

i. Or as we’ve looked at previously – his conduct as a minister of the gospel – and the content of his ministry – the new covenant through the blood of Jesus.

ii. The point of this first section of chapter 12 is this…

1. Yes – Paul had visions and revelations from God – one so incredible he can’t even put it into words…

a. But it was for his own personal benefit and edification. He writes about it here as a last resort to gain the attention of a backsliding church.

i. And ultimately, Paul reiterates the fact that he despises boasting.

iii. He loathes what he is doing, so he writes as if he recounting someone else’s experience – though its pretty obvious he’s talking about himself.

1. Paul also drives home the point that visions and revelations don’t denote authority – words and deeds do…content and conduct.

3. The Thorn – Paul had a glorious and ecstatic experience. So glorious that he might be tempted to become like the false teachers in Corinth and brag about it.

a. So in order to keep that from happening – to keep him from getting conceited and puffed up his experience…Paul was given a thorn.

i. Now, unlike my commentaries which say – its best not to speculate about the nature of this thorn…and then go out to writes pages and pages speculating about what it could be…I’m not going to say anything about it.

1. It was bodily – it was painful.

b. But Paul actually tells us 7 things about his thorn.

i. First, the thorn was extraordinarily painful…to match the extraordinary nature of the vision.

1. Second – the thorn was given to him so he wouldn’t be consumed with his own importance.

a. Third – it was given to him by God. In some way God opened the door for this to happen.

i. Fourth – it was in the flesh. Paul feels like this thorn is affecting his body.

ii. Fifth – it was a messenger of Satan. This is very interesting that Paul attributes this thorn to both the work of God and the work of Satan.

1. Its like in the book of Job, where God allowed Satan into Job’s life, but Satan could never do more than God allowed him.

a. The same tension is playing out in Paul’s thorn. It is from God – Satan wouldn’t care if Paul became conceited.

i. But it was also the work of Satan in that it hampered Paul’s life and ministry.

iii. Sixth – Paul says it beat him repeatedly.

1. And seventh – Paul prayed 3 times for it to be taken away.

c. What I want us to learn about Paul’s thorn in the flesh is this…Paul is NOT describing something that should happen to all real Christians.

i. Suffering does not make a Christian…Christ does. Paul is describing something from his life – he is not prescribing something that all Christians must endure.

1. Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given to him by God – precisely to keep him from boasting and to keep him pinned close to Jesus…but a thorn in the flesh may not be how God deals with you.

a. The broader point of application that needs to be stressed is not suffering per se, as if suffering is the ultimate goal of Christianity – what needs to be stressed is not suffering but humility expressing itself in dependence on God.

d. Paul is not saying the weaker he is the strong he is – that could lead some to wrongly seek suffering for the purpose of deeper spirituality.

i. Paul isn’t a masochist – Paul’s point is that Jesus’ power is present in his suffering. That whenever and however suffering should come…Christ’s power comes his way.

1. Paul isn’t prescribing suffering as the way to heaven, Jesus is…but can we relate to Paul?

a. Can we relate to him when he writes about power in weakness?

i. Absolutely! The generality of the word ‘thorn’ and his lack of details about it – makes it easily relatable for most of us.

1. We can relate to those hard times in life when our relationship with God flourished amid hard circumstance. And those are precious and memorable times.

ii. However, Paul says in Colossians that we shouldn’t seek out suffering as a sign of our spirituality.

1. A point he is making here as well. He was given a thorn to keep him from getting conceited so he would walk humbly with God.

a. God may choose a different method and a different tactic for you. The point is that we are to live our lives in humble dependence on God.

4. Prayer/Answer/Response – And as we make our way out of v.7 and into the last few verses of this section…

a. Notice that Paul didn’t simply grin and bear this thorn…

i. Paul prayed 3 times for God to take it away.

1. John Calvin in writing on prayer rightly distinguishes between the means and end in prayer.

a. We see that here in these verses. The end that Paul wanted was relief from the pain caused by this thorn.

i. And Paul simply assumed that the means to that end…the means to his relief was the thorn’s removal.

b. But Jesus’ answer comes back with a very different means to the same end – relief.

i. But how that relief comes if not what Paul anticipated.

1. The relief Paul pleaded does come – but not by God removing the thorn…it comes by adding more grace – sufficient grace.

a. The Lord promised Paul that in the distress caused by his thorn – by the messenger of Satan – Paul would always find that divine grace accorded him the ability to persevere.

ii. Notice again that Paul’s thorn wasn’t followed by grace – weakness is not something to be endured in order to come out powerful on the other side.

1. Grace – power – was given to him in his weakness – to enable him to cope with the weakness that was not removed.

c. So we’ve looked at Paul’s prayer – pleaded 3 times for his thorn’s removed.

i. We’ve looked at Jesus’ response – not the thorn’s removed but sufficient grace to persevere.

1. Now, I want to focus your attention on Paul’s response.

a. Did he mope? Complain? Gripe about it because things didn’t go his way?

i. No – far from begrudgingly accepting what he cannot change – Paul writes that he will boast all the more gladly in his weaknesses.

ii. We see it again, Paul isn’t rejoicing in his actual sufferings – that’s sadistic. But he will gladly boast in his weakness if it means Christ’s power will rest on him.

1. He is prepared to stop asking for the thorns removal…not because he enjoys it, but because Paul knows…and I found this quote and I love it…

a. “Paul knows that the power of Christ manifests to the full its irresistible energy and attains its highest results by performing works of power with powerless instruments.”

5. For us Today – I think this sequence of prayer/answer/response gives us a beautiful example to imitate.

a. What are we to do when pain and suffering and difficult circumstances come our way?

i. We are to pray for deliverance – just as Paul did.

1. It may be that God delivers you. Don’t forget to turn back and praise God when he does!

a. But what if God gives you an answer like he did to Paul?

i. I remember being 23 years old and being in my room at my parents’ house pleading with god to take cancer out of my body.

2. He didn’t. He had different plans for me…a plan that involved chemotherapy, surgeries and losing my hair.

a. 2 Corinthians 12:9 really helped me through those difficult times.

ii. So when the answer comes back – rely on my grace…I won’t take it away, but I will give you grace to endure…how are we react?

b. We don’t whine or gripe or complain – but we are to allow our own thorns to pin us closer to Jesus – the one who imparts grace both to bear the pain and also develop the qualities of endurance and patience.