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Thursday 1 December 2011

Day 336: Paul’s thorn in the flesh

Entering the last month! Today Paul loses the plot.
Paul sends Titus
2 Corinthians 8:16-24, 9:1-5  
Results of generosity
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
Paul defends his authority
2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Paul’s godly jealousy
2 Corinthians 11:1-15
His boasting
2 Corinthians 11:16-29
He glories in his weaknesses
2 Corinthians 12:1-5
The thorn in the flesh
2 Corinthians 12:6-10

Having urged the Corinthians to be generous in giving to the poor in Jerusalem, Paul seems to pause for breath, the launches into the most extraordinary tirade. He comes back to the theme of those dodgy teachers who keep undermining him, and robustly defends his credentials. Then he goes beyond that, and starts “boasting,” piling up a great list of his achievements and qualifications. He speaks about his knowledge, about pedigree, and even about his sufferings. Finally he speaks about his visions - he has seen heavenly things that are too much to speak of, like an Old Testament prophet. But to stop him getting proud, he has a bodily weakness, that God has refused to heal him of, in order to remind him that what he has accomplished has been done through God’s strength, not his.
These wayward Corinthians have goaded Paul into revealing much of his heart.

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