THE PARADE OF TROPHIES

Paul erupts into a doxology (2 Cor. 2:14) when the positive report from Titus (2 Cor. 7:5-7) transforms his despair into delight. "But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ" The present tense of the verb (θριαμβευοντι) coupled with the adverb "always" (παντοτε) expresses a truth Paul now realized. Triumphing was taking place even while despairing. The sun is always shining above the clouds.

The verb translated "leads us in triumph" is one word (θριαμβευοντι). The word can mean "cause us to triumph" (see KJV), but the primary meaning of the word is to "lead or exhibit in a triumphal procession" (BAGD, p.363). Some argue that the latter meaning is incongruous. Paul does not picture himself as the conquered person but as a partner in the conquest (Hodge, Second Corinthians, p.44). At the very least, some say, we should picture ourselves as soldiers in a Roman triumphal procession (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p. 458).

Paul is painting the picture of a Roman triumphal procession for a victorious general - an ancient ticker tape parade. We have many descriptions of these triumphal processions in ancient literature. It was called "A Triumph." The parade began with the city officials followed by trumpeters. The spoils taken from the enemy followed by white oxen to be sacrificed came next in the parade. Then the prisoners of war were paraded in chains before the soldiers marched through the city followed by musicians and dancers celebrating the victory. Finally, the victorious general riding in his chariot arrayed in a purple toga entered the city as the honored leader (Rienecker, p.457).

We, like Paul, are the prisoners of war, not the soldiers, in this triumphal procession. We are trophies of God's grace being paraded through the streets of this world (Witherington, Conflict & Community in Corinth, pp. 366-370). As trophies, we are in the parade not to bask in the glory of the king as soldiers but to be "Exhibit A" of the greatness of His grace. This theme of a suffering captive sets the tone for Paul's great discourse on the "glory of the ministry" in 2 Corinthians 2-7 (Robertson, Glory of the Ministry).

What happens to the captives? The prisoners of war are killed in the end! We, too, die to bring Christ glory! The death of the prisoners was not immediate, however. The emperors often kept prisoners of war around for years as Julius Caesar did with the Chief of Gaul (Robertson, Glory of the Ministry, p.40). Vercingetorix, Chief of Gaul, was killed eventually to glorify Caesar. We die eventually to glorify Christ. Until then, we live as trophies of His grace bringing glory to our King!

SOUL CORROSION

Conflict corrodes the souls of spiritual leaders. The byproduct of soul corrosion is despair. Many call it "burnout." We feel this soul weariness in our ministries, and Paul felt it in his ministry.

"Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ and when a door was opened for me in the Lord, I had no rest for my spirit, not finding Titus, my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went to Macedonia" (2 Cor. 2:12-13).

"For when we came to Macedonia our flesh had not rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within" (2 Cor. 7:5).

Paul uses the same expression in both verses separated by four chapters in his letter to the Corinthians. He writes, "I had no rest" (εσχηκα ανεσιν - εσχηκεν ανεσιν). The verbs are in a perfect tense because Paul was stressing the strain on his spirit continuing until he met Titus returning from Corinth in 2 Corinthians 7 (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p. 457). The word translated "rest" (ανεσιν) means relief or relaxation for his spirit (BAGD, p. 65).

Paul was so depressed that he could not even enter the door (θυρας) that the Lord had opened (ανεωγμενης) for ministry in Troas. The passive voice shows that the door was opened by God. The perfect participle indicates that the door continued to stand open (Rienecker, Linguistic Key, p.457). The pit of despondency so sapped the energy out of Paul's ministry that he couldn't even take advantage of God's opportunity for reaching people for Christ. God gave him an open door, and he walked away in despair. Churches, sadly, are littered with burned-out ministers like Paul.

Conflict had erupted in the church at Corinth. Paul had written two letters to the church - Corinthians A and B. Corinthians A (1 Cor. 5:9) is a letter we no longer have, and Corinthians B is our 1 Corinthians. Paul had followed up with a personal and very painful confrontation in which the opposition reared up to attack Paul (2 Cor. 2:1). He left Corinth in despair and wrote a third letter (Corinthians C) which we also no longer have (2 Cor. 2:3-4,9). It was a painful letter and, after sending Titus with the letter to Corinth, Paul was filled with anxiety regarding how the letter would be received (F.F. Bruce, Apostle of the Heart Set Free, pp. 264-279)

Paul describes his feelings in 2 Corinthians 7:5. He was pressured (θλβομενοι) in everything (παντι); battles raged outside his soul (εξωθεν μαχαι) meaning with other people - either enemies of the gospel or fellow Christians who criticized him. He felt terrors within his soul (εσωθεν φοβοι) that he was a failure in ministry. Few fears are more demoralizing than feeling like all your years of hard work are going up in smoke!

If we know the dark side of ministry, Paul knew it too! But burnout need not be permanent. It wasn't for Paul! In between these two descriptions of despair is a grand parenthesis of triumph in Christ (2 Cor. 2:14-7:4). A.T. Robertson titled his exposition of these chapters "The Glory of the Ministry: Paul's Exultation in Preaching." Ministry burnout leads to the glory of the ministry when lifted from the pit of despair by God's grace.

PERFECT LOVE'S PRESENCE

The purpose of Christ's revelation of God to us is the presence of His perfect love in us. Jesus closes His priestly prayer for us with these words dripping with tears of love. "I have made Your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:26).

The Father's love for His only Son is the same love that lives in us. God revealed Himself to us in His Son for the express purpose of making His love live in us. The expression "the love with which you loved Me" (η αγαπη ην ηγαπησας με) is called a "cognate accusative" (Blass/Debrunner, Grammar, p. 85). It is a Semitic idiom consistent with the Hebrew style of writing that John often displays. The noun (αγαπη) is followed by the same root as an Aorist verb (ηγαπησας) to form a cognate accusative (Moulton, Howard, Turner, Grammar, 3:245).

The cognate accusative expresses the content of the Father's love (Robertson, Grammar, p. 477). The inner content of the Father's love for us is His love for the Son. He loves us with the same love He possesses for His only Son. It is not merely - if we can ever use such a word to describe God's love - the fact that He loves us. Jesus prays that God's love might be "in them" (εν αυτοις) so, by extension in us.

God's perfect love lives in us. It is not just that God loves us. God intends the inward presence of His perfect love to fill our lives. God's purpose is that His perfect love will rule our lives and govern our relationships (Meyer, John, p. 475). We can love others with God's love because God's love is present in our hearts in a way that was impossible for us as unbelievers. Perfect love is in us because Christ is in us! His presence creates the capacity for our love which is why Jesus adds "and I in them" (καγω εν αυτοις).

There is a rich and precious implication of these words that we should not miss. The Father loves the Son who lives in us! God's love does not attach itself eternally to sin so the object of perfect love is the perfect Christ living in us and reproducing His life in us (Godet, John, p. 905). Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Romans 8:39) because Christ is in us and nothing can separate the Son from the Father (John 17:26).

Love is the perfect end to His priestly prayer for us because love is the end of God's eternal purpose for us.

"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:13).