BIG IDEA:
GOD GUARANTEES VICTORY IN PROCLAIMING CHRIST —
OUR SUFFICIENCY IN MINISTRY DOES NOT DERIVE FROM PERCEIVED SUCCESS
INTRODUCTION:
2:12-13 was a Transition Passage
– wrapped up the issue of the explanation of Paul’s change of plans and his heart for the Corinthian church
– introduced the forward advance of the New Covenant Gospel Ministry
David Garland: The transition in 2:14 from the previous verse seems abrupt. Since 7:5 seems to continue the thought of 2:13, some have theorized that 2:14 – 7:4 is a separate letter. If 2 Corinthians is a unity, as I have argued, it is necessary to ask how this sudden shift in Paul’s train of thought fits his argument as a whole. His outpouring of thanks to God (see 8:16; 9:15; Rom 6:17; 7:25; 1 Cor 15:57) may anticipate his joy over the happy result from the letter and Titus’s visit (7:5–16), but Paul specifically gives thanks for all that God has done in his ministry. He thanks God because God’s designs are wiser and more powerful than Satan’s (2:11). Despite failures here and there, he thanks God that the knowledge of God spreads everywhere through the apostolic preaching like an aroma. The preaching generates differing responses — both rejection, which leads to death, and acceptance, which leads to life. The life-and-death impact of Paul’s apostolic ministry causes him to ask who is adequate to shoulder the responsibility for proclaiming such a potent word from God.
What follows in 2:14 – 7:3(4) is a long explanation that establishes Paul’s sufficiency as an apostle and his justification for his boldness in his severe letter in which he must have frankly confronted them for their moral failures. In this section he does not explicitly address the issue of his rivals who have interfered in the community. Instead, he defends himself against the complaints raised by some Corinthians that he overstepped the bounds of friendship by challenging their moral failures so directly and provocatively. He had to speak to them severely to bring them back into line, but he also had to be careful so that they did not feel he crossed the line of propriety by being too severe. They would then break off relations with him completely. Paul therefore justifies his license to be so frank with them in this letter while assuring them that he meant it for their own good.
Scott Hafemann: Most students of this passage maintain that it is impossible to move smoothly from Paul’s anxiety over Titus in 2:12–13 to his praise for God in 2:14. The transition from anxiety and apparent failure to praise seems too abrupt. It is therefore often posited that Paul’s praise in 2:14 anticipates prematurely the good news Paul received from Titus as outlined in chapter 7. Others argue that 2:14 – 7:4 is a fragment from a different letter altogether, usually viewed as having been written earlier than the rest of chapters 1–7 and then inserted later between 2:13 and 7:5.
However, once the reason for Paul’s praise in 2:14 is clearly ascertained, it becomes clear that 2:14 does not pose a break in Paul’s thought at all. Rather, it introduces the necessary and logical response to the suffering introduced in 2:12–13. Without 2:14, Paul’s continuing honesty in 2:12–13 would play right into the hands of his opponents as yet another evidence of his weakness. So before his opponents can utter a word against Paul because of his anxiety over Titus, Paul praises God for it as part and parcel of his apostolic life of suffering, through which God’s power and presence are being revealed.
Paul Barnett: The word triumphal is critical in this section. It may be that the new teachers in Corinth presented themselves as sweeping all before them as they triumphantly captured the Gentile churches for Moses and the old covenant (cf. 10:13–15). To them, Paul, with his recent reversals in Corinth and Ephesus and with his message of a crucified Messiah, was a sorry, defeated figure, the embodiment of weakness compared with their self-sufficient power.
The first part of the ‘long digression’, 2:14 – 3:6, is particularly important. Paul tells the Corinthians, in vivid language, how he sees his ministry in terms of its inner reality. Let the Corinthians and the newcomers understand that so far from abject defeat God was actually leading him in a victory procession – and this regardless of rejection in Corinth, expulsion from Ephesus, turmoil in Troas and anxiety in Macedonia. Even in what appeared to be reversal and difficulty he was being led by God, a matter for which he gives thanks (14).
The general picture in verse 14a is of a Roman victory procession, though Paul’s specific point is somewhat uncertain, as witnessed by the variety of suggestions as to the precise meaning. Military leaders were granted a public victory procession (triumphas) through Rome only after winning major battles. The most spectacular procession of the first century was the celebration of the conquest of the Jews when, in ad 71, the Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus rode in chariots through the streets of Rome behind their pathetic prisoners of war. Josephus, the Jewish historian, records this at length, and it was also depicted on the Titus Arch in Rome, where it may still be seen. It is not clear whether Paul sees himself as the conquering general or as his captive. A case can be made for both, though the apostle as a captive slave seems more likely. Whatever he meant, we can be sure that, despite the appearance of weakness, it was God who always and everywhere led Paul in triumphal procession (14).
This was not, however, the triumphalism of Paul’s opponents, who declared themselves superior to Paul in missionary success as well as in ecstatic experience. Success and strength were the marks as well as the objectives of their ministry, and significant numbers of the Corinthians came under their influence.
Frank Matera: Having explained how profoundly disturbed he was at not finding Titus at Troas (2:12–13), Paul suddenly bursts into a cry of thanksgiving that approaches a victory shout. This thanksgiving, which is a response to the discouragement that he experienced at Troas and which anticipates the consolation he eventually experienced at Macedonia (7:6–7), also marks the beginning of a new section. For the God to whom he gives thanks is the God who is leading him in a triumphal procession so that Paul is the fragrance, which is the knowledge of God and the aroma of Christ, leading some to death and others to life. Overwhelmed, Paul asks if anyone is qualified for such a ministry that results in death for some and life for others. He then explains that he does not exercise this ministry in the questionable way that so many others do, and he suggests that he is qualified to exercise this ministry. Two powerful metaphors stand at the heart of this unit: the triumphal procession and the fragrant aroma arising from incense or perhaps from a sacrificial offering.
I. (2:14-16a) THE CONSEQUENCES (OUTCOME) OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY — VICTORY IN PROCLAIMING CHRIST DOES NOT DEPEND ON POSITIVE RESPONSES – TWO METAPHORS
A. Metaphor of Roman Triumphant Procession
- God is Always Victorious (this truth is assumed)
- God Always Leads Us in His Triumph
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph”
John MacArthur: Quoting description provided by William Barclay:
In a Triumph the procession of the victorious general marched through the streets of Rome to the Capitol in the following order. First came the state officials and the senate. Then came the trumpeters. Then were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land. For instance, when Titus conquered Jerusalem, the seven-branched candlestick, the golden table of the shew-bread and the golden trumpets were carried through the streets of Rome. Then came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships. There followed the white bull for the sacrifice which would be made. Then there walked the captive princes, leaders and generals in chains, shortly to be flung into prison and in all probability almost immediately to be executed. Then came the lictors bearing their rods, followed by the musicians with their lyres; then the priests swinging their censers with the sweet-smelling incense burning in them. After that came the general himself. He stood in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was clad in a purple tunic embroidered with golden palm leaves, and over it a purple toga marked out with golden stars. In his hand he held an ivory sceptre with the Roman eagle at its top, and over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. After him rode his family; and finally came the army wearing all their decorations and shouting Io triumphe! their cry of triumph. As the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the cheering crowds, it made a tremendous day which might happen only once in a lifetime. [MacArthur takes the alternate interpretation that Paul and his associates “follow the all-conquering Commander in the victory parade, sharing in the triumph of His decisive victory over sin, death, and hell.”]
Raymond Collins: The marchers include Paul and his fellow missionaries, at least Timothy. Timothy greets the Corinthians in 2 Cor. 1:1 and is cited in 1 Cor. 4:17 (cf. 16:10–11) as Paul’s emissary to the Corinthian community. Second Corinthians 1:19 refers to Timothy, along with Silvanus and Paul, as having preached the gospel to the Corinthians. This evidence suggests that Timothy, at least, should be included in the “apostolic we” of 2 Corinthians. Moreover, Phil. 1:1 portrays Timothy as a slave of Christ along with Paul himself. Accordingly one must not exclude Timothy from the band of enslaved prisoners evoked by the imagery of the triumphal procession. . .
The procession honors Christ, victorious over sin and death. Paul and his companions are vanquished and enslaved. Paul was taken by God at the moment of his call, and his companions at the moment that they embraced the missionary life. Since then Paul has been enslaved (Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 3:5; 4:1; 9:15–18; Phil. 1:1; cf. Titus 1:1) and subject to harsh conditions (2 Cor. 11:23–27), almost manipulated by God. He and his companions (cf. Phil. 1:1) participate in the parade under some constraint.
Scott Hafemann: Read against the background of the triumphal procession, Paul’s metaphor in 2:14 may be “decoded” as follows: As the enemy of God’s people, God had conquered Paul at his conversion call on the road to Damascus and was now leading him, as a “slave of Christ” (his favorite term for himself as an apostle), to death in Christ, in order that Paul might display or reveal the majesty, power, and glory of God, his conqueror.
David Garland: Williamson’s evaluation of the evidence leads him to conclude: “When followed by a direct personal object, thriambeuein means ‘to lead as a conquered enemy in a victory parade.’” It was not used to refer to those who participated in the procession as members of the army. If Paul’s use of the verb accords with its common meaning, he does not represent himself as a garlanded, victorious general nor as a foot soldier in God’s army who shares in the glory of Christ’s triumph. Quite the opposite. He portrays himself as a conquered prisoner being put on display. The background of this metaphor is the celebration of a military victory in which the spoils of war, rolling stages presenting battle scenes, and pictures of the cities that were sacked were paraded on chariots through the city of Rome to the Capitoline Hill and the Temple of Jupiter. While Paul probably did not ever witness such an event, the image would have been known at least from the so-called Captives-Façade in a prominent location in Corinth. Heilig also cites the specific celebration of the victory over Britain in which Emperor Claudius was honored in Corinth with yearly commemorative festivals on its anniversary. . .
The purpose of the Roman triumph was to flaunt the power of the victorious army, the Roman nation, and its gods. The celebration reinforced the mythology of “the ruler as the invulnerable victor and guarantor of the world order.” The victory was “‘proof’ of the unique and godlike nature of the ruler” and reaffirmed for one and all that the gods were on their side. Captured prisoners were exhibited to exalt the might of the triumphant general and bring glory to the gods who won for him the victory. Paul subverts the splendorous grandeur of the Roman triumph by applying this image to God. God’s triumph is far greater than any Roman triumph, and God is owed far greater honor. The emperor is not the invincible victor and guarantor of world order. That role belongs only to the God who is fully revealed in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and proclaimed by his apostles. The image points to God’s absolute sovereignty over the world (see Col 2:15). Paul pictures himself as a previously defeated enemy of God who now lives in Christ and is being led in a triumph that reveals and heralds God’s majesty and power. Later in his argument, Paul will say that we have this treasure, the knowledge of God’s glory, “in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us” (4:7) and that the purpose of the grace that “extends through more and more people” is to “cause thanksgiving to increase to the glory of God” (4:15).
Understanding Paul to be Christ’s captive in Christ’s triumphal procession provides a transition from 1:15 – 2:13 by further defending why his travel plans seem to vacillate. As a captive he is not in control of his movements. God leads him and controls where the procession goes. Paul wrote Romans from Corinth and states that his longtime desire and plan to come to Rome and then, he hopes, to be sent on to Spain will come to pass. He recognizes, however, that it will happen only if it is God’s will (Rom 15:32).
It also introduces the major issue of the role of suffering as part of his defense of why his apostleship is the way it is. Paul understands his suffering to be a necessary part of his apostolic ministry, but the Corinthians believe it discredits his apostolic authority. From the perspective of those in Corinth who were overly enamored with power, success, and triumphalism, Paul’s suffering only displayed impotence, which, in turn, cast doubt on his power as an apostle. The metaphor of being a captive in Christ’s triumphal parade fits the wider context of his dealings with the Corinthians, who regarded him as a figure of shame who was exposed to ridicule. . .
Paul’s joyous thanks to God derives from his understanding of the paradox of victory in Christ (1 Cor 15:57). The image of the conquered slave exhibited as a showpiece of God’s triumph matches his assertion in 12:10: “I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” His conquest by God allows him to take part in God’s triumphant march as one now reconciled to God. Paul’s theology is remarkable for its sense of paradox. He suffers with Christ so that he will be glorified with him (Rom 8:17, 37). Victory comes in defeat; glory in humiliation; and joy in suffering (Col 1:24). The foolishness of the cross reveals the wisdom of God (1 Cor 3:18). Christ who was rich becomes poor in order that “by his poverty” we “might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).
- This Triumph Is in Vital Union with the Lord Jesus Christ
“in Christ”
B. Metaphor of Fragrant Aroma
- We are Channels for the Revelation of Christ to Others in Every Place
“and manifests through us . . . in every place”
R. Kent Hughes: The bottom line is this: Suffering/death (which is part and parcel with the cross) is the very thing God uses to make himself known. Therefore, Paul’s driving point is that his suffering, pictured here as being led to death in the Roman procession, is the medium through which God is revealing himself.
- (Expansion of the imagery) — We are a Fragrance of Christ, not merely channels of that fragrance
“the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him”
Raymond Collins: The juxtaposition of the two metaphors, with their appeal to different senses and their complementary references to time and space, involves Christ in two different ways.
- In the image of the triumphal procession, Christ is implicitly compared to a victorious general to whom Paul and his fellows are subservient.
- In the image of the aroma, knowledge of Christ is produced through the efforts of Paul and his companion missionaries.
John MacArthur: The sweet aroma of the Triumph arose from the incense-filled censers carried by the priests in the parade and from the garlands of flowers that were thrown into the streets. The fragrance speaks of influence; Paul’s point is that God, in wonderful condescending grace and mercy, manifests through believers the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Christ in every place. He uses human preachers to give off the sweet aroma of the gospel, to influence people with the saving knowledge of Christ.
- God Always Appreciates this Fragrance
“For we are a fragrance of Christ to God”
R. Kent Hughes: Odors and fragrances are intrusive. You can be driving seventy miles an hour, and if a skunk has suffered displeasure along the highway in the last two hours, you will know it. Or perhaps you’ve had the experience of driving with your windows up and the air on and pulling up behind a car in which a man is smoking a cigar — and smelling it! . . .
So it is when your life bears the crushed fragrance of suffering and daily death. As God led Paul in triumphal procession, the fragrance of God wafted over the ancient world. It could not be shut out. Grace lingered in its train. Even the imperial palace smelled it — and all the saints from Caesar’s household will one day greet us (cf. Philippians 4:22).
Eric Mason: Consider the Roman generals who would kill the paraded victims in front of everyone. The smell of death remained because sometimes those parades would last for days. They would begin to smell the rotting bodies, so they would burn incense to cover up the smell of death.
Let me give another example. Before I knew Christ, I was in my college room, rolling up and smoking things. We would have incense because it would get rid of the smell of weed. I didn’t want anyone to smell the death that I was going through in my room. In other words, I was trying to hide the death with a fragrance.
It is the same for us: when you’re dying in your circumstances, you also tend to try to hide the brokenness. When you get broken in death, a fragrance comes out of you; God is taking you through something to release the fragrance of Christ out of you. To release his fragrance, you have to be broken. You must be split open so that the glorious aroma of Christ can come forth. So Paul is worshiping and thanking the good Lord for this beautiful experience of being led in triumphal procession.
Paul says that Christ’s aroma spreads everywhere: “For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing” (v. 15). God puts you in situations to encourage those who are being saved. That means those who are going to get saved as well as those who are already saved, who are growing spiritually. So God strategically puts you in trials for others to take notice.
See, that’s why you shouldn’t close the blinds and sleep in when God takes you through something. Many of us hide because we want to be viewed as strong all the time. God says, open the blinds, wash your face and everything else, put on some clothes, eat something, and go out in your brokenness because I want my strength to be shown through your weakness. You can’t always be seen as the pillar of the family. You can’t always be seen as the one who knows everything. You can’t always be seen as the one whom everyone confides in. You need to show everyone that the reason you have a reservoir for them is because of the God who is in you.
- Same Message but Different Responses Yielding Different Results
a. Different Responses
1) Those Who Are Being Saved Respond Positively
“among those who are being saved”
George Shillington: The aroma of Christ is to some a deadly odor, from death to death. Herein lies the paradox. The same word that brings life to one group brings death to another. “Paul was not unfamiliar with the notion of a message that could be both healing and poisonous in its effects.” Jewish sources speak similarly of the Law (Torah): “As the bee reserves her honey for her owner and her sting for others, so the words of the Torah are an elixir of life (sam hayyim) for Israel and a deadly poison (sam ha-maweth) to the nations of the world” (Barrett, 1973:101). From death to death can also imply that those who reject the resurrection of the crucified Jesus remain in death.
More likely than not, Paul is thinking of those who see only offense in the death of Jesus. To them, the ugly death of Jesus brings death. On the other hand, those who accept the offense of the crucified Messiah receive newness of life (Rom. 6:4). Paul has already wrestled with this problem in 1 Corinthians. The preaching of the cross is an offense to both Jewish and Gentile minds, but to the ones called, it is the power of God (1 Cor. l:23f.). In the present text of 2 Corinthians, the same thought may well be present in the metaphor of the aroma. To unbelievers, the aroma is an odor of an offensive death by crucifixion, nothing more. To believers, the crucifixion is a fragrance of life that gives life to them. The ground is thus laid to pose the question that will guide the argument to its end at 7:4.
2) Those Who Are Perishing Respond Negatively
“and among those who are perishing”
b. Same Message but Different Results
“to the one an aroma from death to death,
to the other an aroma from life to life.”
Frank Matera: Thus, if the starting point is construed as the death of Christ, Paul is saying that those who view this death apart from its saving effect are moving from this understanding of Christ’s death to eternal death, whereas those who believe that this death is the source of resurrection life are moving from an understanding of death as life to eternal life. . . his ministry, like the gospel he preaches, is paradoxical in nature and results in a profound division among people.
- The Victory Is the Same in All Cases –
It is God’s victory in which we share (He is accomplishing His sovereign purposes).
II. (2:16b-17) THE CONFIDENCE (SUFFICIENCY) OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY – VICTORY IN PROCLAIMING CHRIST DOES DEPEND ON PERSONAL FAITHFULNESS
Question: Who is sufficient for these things?
Answer: Those, such as the apostles, who demonstrate faithfulness in the following areas:
George Shillington: Who is sufficient for these things?
That is, the things he has just now set out in metaphor and cryptic phrases in 2:14-16a. Who is qualified for a paradoxical ministry like this? The question is posed from Paul’s perspective. The answer he intends his readers to give is this: No one. In one’s self, no one is qualified. Not Paul, and certainly not his opponents. One must assume from the form of address that the opponents were calling for Paul’s credentials for ministry. Who has authorized him to preach the gospel of God’s Messiah? Who among the Gentiles is to say whether his preaching is authentic
Paul’s rhetorical question stands as his answer. The ministry is too much for any human being. While answering thus, Paul stands in the tradition of Moses, whose self-assessment as minister of the Lord was similar: “I am not qualified” (hikanos, LXX, Exod. 4:10), the same word Paul uses here for sufficient. The enabling for such a ministry comes strictly from the Lord, not from any human source.
Yet the force of the argument is that Paul is abundantly qualified for the ministry in Corinth or anywhere else in the world, because God has called him and qualified him (see 2 Cor. 3:4-6; cf. Gal. 1:15-17). What greater qualification can anyone have? This manner of speech is more than an effective way of writing for Paul. He deeply believes in God’s enabling grace for ministry. He will testify in the Letter of Defense to an enabling oracle of God to him: My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
A. Faithfulness to the Message
“For we are not like many, peddling the word of God”
Raymond Collins: Peddlers of the Word
Describing the peddlers of God’s word, Paul uses a Greek term (kapēleuontes) that does not appear elsewhere in the NT but was known to those familiar with philosophical debates. It was used to disparage pseudo-philosophers, especially Sophists, who delivered shallow lectures for monetary gain. Receiving pay for their lectures was one of the ways such philosophers supported themselves in the ancient world. Other philosophers were clients of a well-to-do patron, while some supported themselves by exercising a trade or begging. Paul preached the gospel free of charge. That was problematic for some Corinthians who thought, People pay to listen to what is important.
David Garland: “Many” need not refer to some particular group but may be a contemptuous reference to “the mob of teachers.” The description can apply to both Christian and pagan teachers. Concern for money undermines their sincerity as they tailor their teaching to the audience. It causes preoccupation with success and to cultivation of only those with money. By contrast,
(1) Paul speaks as one who is sincere (see 1:12). God’s grace in his life, not worldly cunning, determine his manner and methods.
(2) He speaks as one whose message comes “from God.”
(3) He speaks before God (4:2; 12:19) knowing that God will judge him.
(4) He speaks as one who is “in Christ.” Speaking in Christ (12:19; 13:3) is synonymous with being taught by the Spirit
(1 Cor 2:13; 7:40; 12:3; 2 Cor 4:13).
What follows is Paul’s bid to establish in his converts’ minds not only the sufficiency of his ministry but its superiority. This ministry is centered on Christ and therefore can only be bold in its open proclamation of what God has done in Christ.
B. Faithfulness to One’s Own Conscience
“but as from sincerity”
C. Faithfulness to the Authority of God
“but as from God”
Scott Hafemann: Understood as a reference to his practice of self-support, verse 17 continues Paul’s argument for the legitimacy of his ministry introduced in 2:12–13. In other words, the description of his ministry in 2:14–16 is framed by two examples of his love for the Corinthians:
- his willingness to leave Troas and
- his willingness to preach the gospel in Corinth without charge.
Both occasioned great suffering on his part that he nevertheless embraced for their sake and for the sake of the gospel in response to God’s call in his life. In short, Paul ministers as one “sent from God” (2:17c).
D. Faithfulness in Union with Christ
“we speak in Christ”
E. Faithfulness in the Light of Accountability
“in the sight of God”
Scott Hafemann: At the same time, far from calling his apostleship into question, Paul’s apostolic suffering “in Christ,” as the embodiment of his proclamation, is that which shows him approved by God. In Paul’s words, knowing that he speaks “before God” as judge, Paul does so with the “sincerity” that comes from the grace of God himself (2:17b; cf. 1:12). As a result, Paul’s assertion that he is not like his opponents is an evidential argument for the divine origin and approval of his apostolic ministry.
* * * * * * * * * *
PREACHING CHRIST:
1) The victory already accomplished by Christ cannot be stressed enough. Although we are engaged in a mighty conflict of unseen spiritual forces, the outcome is not in doubt and the victory is not ours to secure. We have been graciously granted victory by being united to the Victor Himself.
2) The knowledge of Christ is a precious, sweet aroma that should permeate those around us and accomplish God’s purposes in the lives of those we touch.
3) The message of the gospel leads to either life or death – but in either case God is accomplishing His sovereign redemptive purposes and is ultimately glorified.
4) All of our testimony springs from Christ Himself as we speak in Christ in the sight of God.