RARE TREASURES IN COMMON PLACES

God houses extraordinary treasures in ordinary people. It is not in the ornate palaces of the wealthy where God stores His riches. It is not the mighty and magnificent whom God uses but the humble and common people of this world. Paul wrote: We have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves (2 Cor. 4:7).

The word for "treasure" (θησαυρὸν) can mean either the place where something is kept or the treasure that is stored up (BAGD, p.361). Here Paul refers to the treasure itself and not the storeroom. The treasure could refer to the ministry because Paul started this segment with since we have this ministry (2 Cor. 4:1). However, the antecedent of treasure is more likely the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ because the expression is closer in context (2 Cor. 4:6).  Christ's light kindled in our hearts is the treasure we have (Meyer, 2 Corinthians, p.494).

We hold this treasure in "clay jars" (ὀστρακίνοις σκεύεσιν). The ending on the word "clay" (ὀστρακίν-οις) indicates the material out of which something was made (Rienecker & Rogers, Key, p.463). Interpreters have suggested numerous explanations for the imagery of the clay jars (Martin, 2 Corinthians, p.85). Paul may have been referring to small lamps which could be purchased in the stores of Corinth. The connection to the light of Christ makes this idea very possible although the Corinthian lamps, while made of clay, were often ornately decorated and fragile so not very cheap. The descriptive word "clay" more likely refers to common earthenware jars found in every home. These common clay pots were cheap and ordinary. The Jewish Rabbis taught that just as fine wine could not be stored in pots of gold but must be stored in common earthenware jars, so the wisdom of the Torah was housed in humble humans (NIDNTT, 3:914).

We find an interesting connection to storing treasure in cheap pots from the Roman triumphal processions which Paul referenced in 2 Corinthians 2:14 where he referred to us as captives in the triumphal procession exalting Christ's victory. The custom of the triumphal procession was to carry the gold and silver plunder from the victory in common earthen jars. Plutarch describes how three thousand men carried silver coins in seven hundred and fifty clay pots through the streets of Rome to celebrate a great victory over the Macedonians (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.136).

God's greatest treasures are stored in cheap pots so that the surpassing greatness of the power might be of God and not out of us. The word translated "surpassing greatness" (ὑπερβολὴ) is a single word. It literally means "throwing beyond" in the sense of exceeding all boundaries, a power in excess of all limits (Hughes, 2 Corinthians, p.136, fn5). This extraordinary power (τῆς δυνάμεως) is a genitive (ablative) of source in that the surpassing greatness owes its existence in our hearts to the power of God at work in us (Dana & Mantey, Grammar, p.82).

God's purpose (ἵνα) in housing His treasure in cheap pots like us is that the surpassing greatness of power might be (ᾖ ) demonstrated to be God's and not ours. It is not "the surpassing greatness of our ministries might be of God's power." The word order argues against taking "power" with "God." It should read that "the surpassing greatness of the power might be of God and not us" (Meyer, 2 Corinthians, p. 495). The clause following ἵνα is an expression of "conceived result" using the present subjunctive "might be" to point to a result conceived but not yet achieved (Burton, Moods and Tenses, p.92). Our ministries are not extraordinary. His power is extraordinary when housed in cheap pots like us.

Our humility in service highlights His power in ministry. We must never worry that others look down on us as ordinary because God specializes in transforming the ordinary into the extraordinary. We must also beware of elevating ourselves because the more we call attention to ourselves, the less we call attention to Him; the better we look, the worse He looks; the bigger we grow, the smaller He becomes. The more that people see us as cheap, common pots, the more His extraordinary power is visible in whatever we do for Him.