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!