2 Corinthians 11:22 -12:10
More than twenty years after the conversion of Saul the Persecutor further facts were added to the biography when Paul (as he was known during the years of his ministry) wrote his second letter to the church at Corinth. Charges of weakness and cowardice had been made against him, and he defended himself, not for his own sake, but for the sake of his preaching. He spoke of his trials and sufferings, but he refused to boast of his own achievements, as he knew that he owed everything to God.
In making his defense he said, “Are they Hebrews? So am I.” The Hebrews were proud of their name, and well they might be. They were God’s chosen people. They had been honoured above all other nations in being the custodians of divine revelations. To them God had made himself known in holy ordinances. They had the tabernacle, the temple, the law, and the prophets. It was a great thing to be a Hebrew. The people boasted of their honour. But Paul was not behind them in this honour, for he was a Hebrew too. They boasted of their descent from Abraham – he was descended from Abraham too. He wanted the Jewish people who were now his enemies to know that whatever of the glory of birth and ancestry they had, he had the same. They gloried “after flesh”; he had the same glory.
Again, Paul asked, “Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool.) I am more.” What does he mean? Was he more than a minister of Christ? He seems to feel the unfitness of boasting in the matter. No true man ever likes to boast or to have to uphold himself. As a patriot he could boast, but a Christian should always be lowly like his Master. What he meant was to tell of his devotion to Christ. A minister is a servant – Paul was Christ’s servant in a most earnest way. He loved to call himself Christ’s slave. This he explains and illustrates further in what he says of his services and sacrifices for the sake of Christ. It was in this way that he was more a minister of Christ than they were. We show the quality of our devotion in what we will do or suffer or give.
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