WEEKLY SUNDAY
SCHOOL LESSON
An international
Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday August 3, 2014
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readers worldwide
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DOES
ANYONE CARE?
(Comfort
one another as we are comforted by GOD)
(2
Corinthians 1:3-11)
In A.D. 57, while visiting in
Ephesus on his third missionary journey, which was put together to raise money
for the financially ailing central Church at Jerusalem, the Apostle Paul sat
down and penned a second letter to the Church at Corinth.
Paul’s earlier letter
to the Church had not quite settled all of the issues and problems that the
Church had been faced with during the difficult days of its infancy. Then too,
for reasons not all explained in this letter, the Corinthian Church had
apparently developed deep suspicions about Paul, regarding the true legitimacy
of his proclaimed authority in CHRIST as a chosen apostle. And so, it was with
much grief and anguish that Paul wrote this second letter, which he also
intended to use to try and re-establish his authority as one chosen to lead
others to CHRIST, and to also, lead them in the faith, as Christians.
In this doctrinal
letter, Paul also covers some of the more practical matters, such as supporting
believers in other parts of the world who may have fallen on hard times, and
then, reviving them to a state of being viable, fruit-producing branches in the
newly formed Christian network.
The motif of this
letter is “triumph over adversity”, as Paul can clearly be viewed as one who
loves his people, but, at one and the same time, we can also see him as being
one who is hurt by the Corinthian’s unwarranted suspicions of him. As Paul
makes a list of his life experiences, and the intricacies, or nature of Christian
service, we can see GOD assisting him in his efforts, bringing good from the opposition
of satan, that was intended for evil.
GOD is the source of
all mercy and comfort. When HE lifted up CHRIST JESUS to complete HIS suffering
on the cross, HE also lifted mankind up from the permanency of the grave. GOD
comforts us in all of our troubles, so that when we receive the opportunity, we
can take great joy in comforting someone else. The more we suffer for CHRIST, the
more GOD showers us with HIS comfort through CHRIST (v.5). And so, when we as Christians
are weighed down with troubles for the sake of CHRIST, it can be seen as being
to the benefit and salvation of those who would otherwise be lost (v.6). When
GOD comforts us, it is always so that we can, in turn, be of encouragement to
someone else.
In the biblical Greek,
the word used for “comfort” is “parakaleo” (par-ak-al-eh-o), and it means “to
call near for the purpose of consoling, or encouraging”. It is a word that the
Apostle Paul uses 8 times here in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 3-7. The point
that he is trying to make in this passage is that, our own suffering enables us
to identify with the sufferings of others, and vice versa. We can also sense
the comfort of GOD, and at one and the same time, find our own comfort in HIM. Whenever
our weaknesses are exposed, the strength of GOD is revealed.
In verses 8-11, Paul
makes reference to his second missionary journey (Acts 16-18) when he reflects
back;
“We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the
trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and
overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live
through it. In
fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and
learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from
mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in
him, and he will continue to rescue us. And you are helping us
by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously
answered so many prayers for our safety” (NLT).
It’s
always easy for any of us to point to our own strengths as a way to defend
ourselves against negative attacks and criticism. But here, we see Paul freely
and openly sharing his “weaknesses”, as he often did. To be in pressure situations
that take us beyond our ability to endure, or extricate ourselves, is when we
realize most earnestly that we need GOD in our lives to sustain us.
Paul
already knew full well that he could not force people to respond positively to
his authority in CHRIST (you can’t make grown folks do nothing), and he has to be
patient and wait on the power of GOD to change hearts. We as Christian are all
involved in a ministry that ultimately leads to changes in the hearts of men. However,
those changes don’t occur through anything that we do in our own personal
strengths. GOD gives us assignments that only HE can complete, as we are just
vessels that HE uses to carry HIS message to someone else.
We
must be able to know, through spiritual discernment and communication with GOD,
just how far HE wants us to go, before we pause to let HIM finish the
transforming work that will ultimately save a person’s soul from condemnation
in the last days. It is not the duty of a Christian to show others how
important they are, but rather, it is the duty of a Christian to show the
world, through their behavior, that Christianity produces the best men and
women, and, to ultimately expose to the world, the importance of GOD, to the
lives that HE created, here on earth.
A
Sunday school lesson by,
Larry
D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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