Sometimes life is the pits. Pressure mounts. Circumstances compress our options to slim and none. We have two choices in the pits. We can compare our situation to our personal expectations and be discouraged. Or we can compare our circumstances to the end result of God's process and be encouraged. When we compare our plight to others in this life, our burden feels heavy. When we compare our circumstances to His eternal plan, our load is light. Light and heavy are relative to the standard we use to measure the weight. Paul wrote: For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison (2 Cor. 4:17).
Paul sets up a parallelism here.
momentary, light affliction
vs.
eternal, weight of glory
Momentary (παραυτίκα) is the opposite of eternal (αἰώνιον). Light (ἐλαφρὸν) is the opposite of weight (βάρος). Affliction (θλίψεως) is the opposite of glory (δόξης). The word translated "momentary" means "on the spot" or "for the present" (BAGD, p.623). The trials we face are temporary - until life ends or the Lord returns (R&R, Key, p.465). The word translated "light" means easy to bear or insignificant. It can even mean frivolous or fickle! (BAGD, p.248). The word translated "affliction" means pressure generally brought on by outside circumstances (BAGD, p.362). Distress or tribulation presses us down from circumstances beyond our control.
The insignificant, frivolous pressures we find ourselves experiencing in life are producing for us an eternal and glorious result. The verb translated "producing" (κατεργάζεται) is in the present tense indicating that the action is ongoing action taking place in our lives right now. The verb means to achieve or accomplish something (BAGD, p.421). The pressures we face now are - right now - achieving something of inestimable value for us.
The value being accomplished is eternally weighty in glory. The expression "weight of glory" (βάρος δόξης) is likely a play on words from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Hebrew word for "glory" can mean either to be heavy or to be honored. Job uses the word to refer to his grief being heavier than the sands of the sea (Job 6:3), but he also says that his sons might achieve honor or glory that he does not know about (Job 14:21). The same word is used for both heavy and glory (Nicoll, Expositor's, 3:64). Since value was often determined by weight, there was a natural correspondence between weighty and glorious. Even in English, we speak of something as weighty in importance.
Our burdens are not light by themselves. Our burdens are light by comparison. The Greek text places "far beyond all comparison" (καθ᾿ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν) between the two corresponding descriptions to emphasize the significance of the comparison. Paul has already used this same expression earlier in his letter to the Corinthians to stress that he was "burdened excessively" (καθ᾿ ὑπερβολὴν) beyond his strength so that he despaired of life (2 Cor. 1:8)! Burdens can certainly be excessive. We can feel overwhelmed by the pressures to the point that we become discouraged. Paul does not deny that reality. Paul says that by comparison, the burdens are light because they are producing in us something much greater. Here Paul uses a double expression of excessiveness which is difficult to translate literally. Literally, our pressures are transformative to the degree that they are beyond measure to and extraordinary extent. The glory produced is "out of all proportion" to the pressure experienced! R&R, Key, p.465).
As extreme pressure and high heat produce expensive diamonds, the same elements are producing great glory for us. Buried under mountains of affliction, God is creating over time His glorious masterpieces forever.
The insignificant, frivolous pressures we find ourselves experiencing in life are producing for us an eternal and glorious result. The verb translated "producing" (κατεργάζεται) is in the present tense indicating that the action is ongoing action taking place in our lives right now. The verb means to achieve or accomplish something (BAGD, p.421). The pressures we face now are - right now - achieving something of inestimable value for us.
The value being accomplished is eternally weighty in glory. The expression "weight of glory" (βάρος δόξης) is likely a play on words from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Hebrew word for "glory" can mean either to be heavy or to be honored. Job uses the word to refer to his grief being heavier than the sands of the sea (Job 6:3), but he also says that his sons might achieve honor or glory that he does not know about (Job 14:21). The same word is used for both heavy and glory (Nicoll, Expositor's, 3:64). Since value was often determined by weight, there was a natural correspondence between weighty and glorious. Even in English, we speak of something as weighty in importance.
Our burdens are not light by themselves. Our burdens are light by comparison. The Greek text places "far beyond all comparison" (καθ᾿ ὑπερβολὴν εἰς ὑπερβολὴν) between the two corresponding descriptions to emphasize the significance of the comparison. Paul has already used this same expression earlier in his letter to the Corinthians to stress that he was "burdened excessively" (καθ᾿ ὑπερβολὴν) beyond his strength so that he despaired of life (2 Cor. 1:8)! Burdens can certainly be excessive. We can feel overwhelmed by the pressures to the point that we become discouraged. Paul does not deny that reality. Paul says that by comparison, the burdens are light because they are producing in us something much greater. Here Paul uses a double expression of excessiveness which is difficult to translate literally. Literally, our pressures are transformative to the degree that they are beyond measure to and extraordinary extent. The glory produced is "out of all proportion" to the pressure experienced! R&R, Key, p.465).
As extreme pressure and high heat produce expensive diamonds, the same elements are producing great glory for us. Buried under mountains of affliction, God is creating over time His glorious masterpieces forever.
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