Apostle of the Crucified Lord: A Theological Introduction to Paul and His Letters by Michael J. Gorman

Author:Michael J. Gorman [Gorman, Michael J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-08-19T14:22:00+00:00

"Grace" (charis) in 2 Corinthians 8-9

CHRIST, THE MACEDONIANS, AND THE CORINTHIANS (8:1-24)

Paul begins his appeal with a description of the incredible generosity of the Macedonian churches - probably those of Thessalonica, Beroea, and Philippi. He views their largess as an operation of divine grace in their midst (8:1). Paul knows that their generosity was the gracious work of God because their "wealth of generosity" overflowed from their abundant joy and poverty during a time of "severe ordeal" (8:2). Although they were persecuted, they were joyful; although poor, they were generous - beyond their "means" (NRSV, NAB) or "ability" (NIV), as Paul himself has witnessed (8:3). In fact, they begged for the chance to share in the fellowship of such a ministry of God's grace (8:4). They did so completely as an act of self-dedication to the Lord and to the work of God entrusted to Paul (8:5). The entire experience was a profoundly spiritual exercise for the Macedonians. Who could deny that this is grace at work?

Paul is obviously depicting this overwhelming Macedonian response as an example for the Corinthians, as it has already inspired him to resume, through Titus, his appeal to them (8:5-6). Recalling their abundance of spiritual gifts and such (cf. 1 Cor. 1:7), Paul invites them to abound in this work of God's grace, too (8:7; unfortunately, the image of abundance is missing from NRSV, NAB, and NIV, all of which use "excellence/excel"). Paul will not issue an order to the Corinthians, but he is not ashamed to engage in a bit of rhetorical comparison to motivate them, for he sees this issue as a test of the "genuineness of [their] love" (8:8). They have faith and knowledge, and they have received plenty of love (8:7), but Paul seems to wonder if they are capable of showing love.

Not surprisingly, the mention of genuine love takes Paul to the incarnation and death of Christ, whose love "urges us on" (5:14). The brief narrative of Christ's love (8:9) echoes the famous hymn of Christ in Philippians 2:6-11. In that text, which (as we have seen) functions for Paul as his master story, the one who was in the form of God emptied himself and took the form of a slave by becoming human, completing his self-humbling by dying on a cross (vv. 6-8). The basic narrative pattern of that story is `although x, not y but z': although Christ was equal with God, he did not exploit that equality for himself but emptied-himself in obedience to God and (as Paul interprets the story) for our benefit and salvation.

Here in 2 Corinthians the story line ("although ..") is similar, but Paul has altered the images to address the specific situation concretely: "[Although] our Lord Jesus Christ ... was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (8:9).12 The image is appropriately economic, one of wealth choosing poverty for the enrichment of the poor. It is parallel to another story line

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