Today, we move to 2 Corinthians. While we would assume the letter follows 1 Corinthians, most biblical scholars believe Paul wrote another letter to the Corinthian believers that we no longer have. It would fit between the first and second letters. Their reasoning is Paul seems to address matters that go beyond what we would assume from a reading of 1 Corinthians if 2 Corinthians were, indeed, the second letter. In this “second” letter, Paul invests much time defending his apostleship and his ministry, which has come into question by the Corinthian believers. While we often assume the first century church was purer than the church in our day, people have always been people. The “flesh” continues to struggle with the Holy Spirit for leadership in our lives. The Corinthian believers show us even with a leader such as the Apostle Paul, we can still assume we know better than our leaders. That ought not surprise us, because the disciples sometimes thought they knew better than Jesus, and He is God!
In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul’s salutation reminds the Corinthian believers of the hardships he has faced for the gospel, and that they have shared in his sufferings. After this “pleasant” introduction, Paul moves to engage the Corinthians over the reason he did not come to visit them as he had planned originally. He points out his “Yes,” is not “Yes and no,” but “Yes.” This is the same for Timothy. This defense of himself continues as we move to chapter 2.
In 2 Corinthians 2, Paul becomes more direct in defending himself by saying he didn’t come when he planned, because he didn’t want to grieve them, or be grieved by them. He goes on to tell the Corinthians it is time to forgive one of the brothers, because he had suffered enough. Paul reminded them when they forgave anyone in Christ’s name, those forgiven also received Christ’s forgiveness, and the same was true when Paul forgave someone. In the closing portion of the chapter, Paul reminded the Corinthians they were the “aroma” of Christ. This is a powerful image, and particularly so, because Paul told them that aroma was either an aroma of life or a stench of death, depending on whether the person breathing it in was following Jesus or perishing.
In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul offers a reminder he didn’t commend himself to the believers there, but his commendation is the Holy Spirit. He also pointed out the surpassing glory of the Spirit’s presence and power. He compares it to the glory of God demonstrated in Moses’ life when his face radiated after meeting with God. He said the present glory would be much greater, because it comes from the power of the New Covenant, not the covenant of Moses, which had passed away. What a crucial reminder for us. We must always remember we live on the resurrection side of Easter. God has done a new thing in and through Jesus. Therefore, we must always live in that resurrection power through the Holy Spirit.
As we return to Matthew 22, Jesus tells the Parable of the Wedding Feast, followed by the religious leaders offering three “tests” to Jesus. The chapter ends with Jesus raising a question for them about the Messiah’s relationship to King David. In the Parable of the Wedding Feast, the master invites guests to come to his wedding, but no one will come. The excuses offered by the invited guests are ridiculous. In anger, the master invites those no one would expect, so his wedding party will be full. Jesus’ point is clear: Those one might expect to be part of His kingdom might not be, while many no one would expect to be there will. The first “test” Jesus faced dealt with the relationship between our commitment to follow God and Caesar. In that test Jesus responded we must give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s. This wasn’t an answer in the basic sense of the word, because it left open for all to interpret what Jesus meant. What it did, though, was show the religious leaders, they had their hands full.
The second “test” came from the Sadducees, who didn’t believe in the resurrection. They offered a scenario where one woman was married to eight brothers, one at a time. Each of the brothers died, and finally the woman died. The Sadducees’ question was, “Whose wife will she be in the resurrection, because each of the men were married to her?” Jesus’ response clears up some matters for us. He said the Sadducees were wrong, because in heaven we are neither married nor given in marriage but are “like” the angels. He also reminded the Sadducees when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush, He told them, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,” meaning those patriarchs were alive, because God is the God of the living not the dead.
In the final “test,” Jesus was asked which commandment in the Law of Moses was greatest. He responded quickly: to love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. This would have been expected. Jesus added a second commandment, which He said was like the first: Love your neighbor as yourself. This would have surprised the religious leaders, but they couldn’t argue with it.
Finally, Jesus asked the religious leaders how the Messiah could be the descendant of David, when David wrote in the Psalms that the Messiah was his Lord? No one had an answer for the question, and the religious leaders decided not to ask Jesus any more questions.