My thorn and his mark
The one who conquers and who keeps my works cuntil the end, dto him I will give authority over the nations,
seems that everyone could see the thorn in the flesh Paul suffered from—it was no secret. His heavenly vision was a secret until now, but everyone saw the thorn. Some among the Corinthian Christians probably thought less of Paul because of his thorn in the flesh, but they knew nothing of the amazing spiritual experience that lay behind it.
ii. “He says, ‘There was given to me.’ He reckoned his great trial to be a gift. It is well put. He does not say, ‘There was inflicted upon me a thorn in the flesh,’ but ‘There was given to me.’ ” (Spurgeon
In the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint, the word skolops (thorn) shows “something which frustrates and causes trouble in the lives of those afflicted.” (Kruse)
d. A thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me: In a strange way, the thorn was given—ultimately given by God—but it was also a messenger of Satan.
i. Satan probably jumped at God’s permission to afflict Paul and did
so with malice towards the apostle. But God had a purpose in it all and allowed Satan’s messenger to successfully keep Paul from being exalted above measure.
ii. To buffet me means that this thorn in the flesh—the messenger of Satan—“punched” Paul. He felt that he was beaten black and blue by this messenger of Satan.
who is being most blessed of God is being most buffeted by the devil.” (Redpath)
e. It is interesting to consider what a counselor without a Biblical perspective might have said to Paul. Imagine that Paul tells the counselor about his great infirmity, his troublesome “thorn in the flesh,” and how Paul feels weak and powerless to continue on against it. We might imagine that the counselor would say, “Well Paul, what you need is a positive mental outlook to meet this problem.” Or he might say, “Paul, the power is within you to conquer this infirmity; you should look deep within the inner man to find the resources for success.” Perhaps the counselor would then tell Paul, “What you really need a support group of caring individuals.” The counselor might suggest Paul take medication for depression. Or he might even seek to challenge Paul by saying, “Paul, if you really had faith, you would be delivered from this thorn in the flesh.” Some of this advice might be good in different circumstances, but Paul will take his problem to the Wonderful Counselor, and He has something different to say.
3. Paul’s prayer regarding the thorn in the flesh (8)
a. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord: Paul did exactly what he told others to do in a time of trouble. Paul believed for himself what he wrote in Philippians 4:6: Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
b. I pleaded with the Lord three times: In fact, Paul repeatedly prayed about this thorn in the flesh. We might imagine that when the thorn in the flesh first appeared Paul thought, “This is no problem. I’ll just give it to the Lord in prayer.” But nothing happened when he prayed. So he thought, “This is a tough one,” and prayed again. When nothing happened after praying the third time, he knew God was trying to tell him something.
Some say it is unspiritual and evidence of little faith to pray for something more than once. That would be surprising to Paul, who pleaded with the Lord three times, and to Jesus, who prayed with the same words three times in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane (Mark 14:39–41).
Paul’s prayer on this matter was passionate. We wonder if he wasn’t surprised when the prayer was not answered the first or second time.
It had a physical dimension, in that it was a thorn in the flesh
• It had a mental dimension, in that it was a messenger of Satan
• It had a spiritual dimension, in that it was an unanswered prayer