Bible in One Year Day 341 (Acts 20, 2 Corinthians 3-5, Proverbs 28:25-28)

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Day 341:  Eternal Weight of Glory 

Agape Bible Study Acts 20 

Chapter 20: Paul's Missionary Team Leaves for Macedonia and Greece

 

The first six verses of chapter 20 describe the first stages of Paul's planned return to his home in Antioch via a visit to the mother church in Jerusalem. This is the beginning of the end of his third missionary journey. The passage is unclear, but it appears that Paul will return to the communities in Macedonia (20:1) and then will travel to Greece to visit Corinth from where he plans to sail for Syria. In Macedonia it is likely that one of the communities he encouraged (20:2) was the community of Christians in the city of Philippi who probably still met at Lydia's house (16:12-15, 40). Next Paul turns south and travels to Greece, stopping in Corinth. Many commentators suggest that during the three winter months of 57/58 AD in Corinth that Paul wrote his letter to the Romans (Fitzmyer, Acts, page 67). Luke has already mentioned Paul's plan to visit Rome in Acts 19:21. After a threat on his life, Paul returns to Macedonia, stopping at Philippi where he plans to set sail for Troas. Notice that Luke's "we/us" passages pick up again in Philippi. The "we/us" passages that have been absent since the middle of chapter 16 are reintroduced in this chapter (verses 5, 6 twice, 7, 8, 13 twice, 14 twice, 15 three times). Paul will set sail from Philippi and rejoin other members of his missionary team at Troas, a seaport city in Mysia on the northwest coast of Asia Minor (Acts 20:6).

Acts 20:1-3 ~ The Journey to Macedonia and Greece

Paul makes his farewell to the Christians of Ephesus in what is probably the summer of 57 AD (1 Cor 16:18) and sets out across the Aegean Sea for Macedonia, revisiting Christian communities on the way through the territory. He was in Macedonia in the summer and into the fall (1 Cor 16:5-8). Luke does not mention it, but after leaving Macedonia Paul travels to Corinth in Greece and spends the winter months there (1 Cor 16:6). 

Paul established a Christian community in Corinth about the year 51 AD, on his second missionary journey. It was while Paul was in Ephesus on his third journey that he received disquieting news about conditions in Corinth. Christians associated with a woman named Chloe (perhaps her church-home) wrote to tell Paul that the community was displaying open factionalism. Certain members were identifying themselves exclusively with either Paul or Apollo and it was for this reason that Apollo left (1 Cor 1:10-4:21; 16:12). There was also the problem of the faith community's unwillingness to take appropriate action against a member who was living publicly in an incestuous union (5:1-13), and other members were engaging in legal conflicts in Roman law courts, while still others may have been participating in religious prostitution or pagan temple sacrifices (6:12-20; 10:14-22). Paul needed to visit Corinth.

Acts 20:4-6 ~ Paul and his Companions Return to Troas

Paul and his team returned to Philippi, which you will recall was Paul's first European church and Lydia his first convert there (16:12-40): A number of Paul's missionary team members are named in this passage. Some we have heard of before and others are introduced for the first time like Sopater who is also called Sosipater.
Question: Who is Sopater? See Acts 20:4 and Rom 16:21.
Answer: He is a Jewish Christian from Beroea and a missionary companion of St. Paul. Paul calls Sopater/Sosipater along with Timothy, Lucius and Jason his "kinsman," meaning fellow Jews, who join Paul in sending greetings to the church in Rome.

Paul left Philippi in Macedonia in the spring of 58 AD (Acts 20:6) after having spent nearly a year in Greece and Macedonia. This may have been the time he traveled to Illyricum (Rom 15:19). It was also during this time that it is believed Paul wrote several of his letters: 

• His first letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus
• His second letter to the Corinthians from Macedonia
• His letter to the Romans from Corinth

As his third missionary journey comes to an end, he is already thinking about moving westward into the lands of the Roman Empire, and his letter to the church in Rome may be an attempt to gain their financial support as he had the support of the community in Antioch for his first three missionary journeys.

Acts 20:7-12 ~ Paul Restores a Young Man to Life

The "first day of the week" is Sunday. It is the day Christians regularly met to worship because it was the day of the week that Jesus was raised from the dead, and they called it "the Lord's Day" (Mt 28:1; 1 Cor 16:2; Rev 10:1).

The Feast of the Resurrection could have been celebrated in Philippi and that was why Paul waited five days, or it was celebrated on "the first day of the week" (Sunday) in Troas. The Christians of Troas are meeting in a three story building. The "breaking of the bread" was the reason for their meeting and is the way early Christians referred to the celebration of the Eucharist (see the Didache 9:3-4). Paul's homily is long because he knows he will never see them again.

Acts 20:13-16 ~ The Journey to Miletus

Luke was with Paul while the rest of the missionary team continued on to Troas. Troas, you will recall, was located at the extreme northwest region of the province of Asia and the peninsula of Asia Minor. Chios is also spelled Kios.
Assos was located on the opposite side of the peninsula from Troas. Mitylene was a harbor on the southeastern shore of the island of Lesbos. Chios/Kios was a large island that was located along the western coast of Asia Minor. Samos was one of the most important islands in the Aegean. Miletus was located about 35 miles (56 km) south of Ephesus.

Acts 20:17-35 ~ St. Paul's Farewell Speech to the Presbyters of Ephesus

Paul's farewell address to the ministers of the church at Ephesus is his third long discourse in Acts:

1. Paul's Gospel message to the Jews of Antioch, Pisidia (13:17-41).
2. Paul's speech to the Gentiles in Athens (17:23-31).
3. Paul's farewell address to the Christian ministers of Ephesus (20:17-35).

Paul's farewell address to the priests of Ephesus is essentially his last will and testament.

Paul reminds them of the standard he set in his dedication to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ (verses 18-21).

1. He speaks of his anticipated suffering in Jerusalem and alludes to his death (verses 22-27).
2. He admonishes them to be vigilant in guarding the community especially against false teachers/prophets who are certain to infiltrate the community as soon as he departs (verses 28-31).
3. He commends them to God to build them up in faith and for them to be selfless and not materialistic but full of charity (verse 32-33).
4. He testifies that he has not profited from his service and concludes with a saying of Jesus: "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (verses 34-35).

The saying of Jesus that Paul quotes is not recorded in the Gospels. When Paul says: Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock of which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, in which you tend the church of God that he acquired with his own blood, he is referring to the Blood of the Savior.

Acts 20:36-38 ~ The Farewell

At the end, Paul prays with the priests of Ephesus; these are men he ordained to ministerial service, and they are like sons to him after teaching and serving with them for what Paul calls three years. It is a painful parting but they all commend their lives to God and His will for their future whatever that may be.

Agape Bible Study 2 Corinthians 3 - 5 

2 Corinthians 3:1-6 ~ The Spirit Gives Life

Paul began a discussion of the New Covenant ministry and his role in it in 2:14, and that discussion will continue until 7:4. The first part his discussion focuses on the New Covenant and its new ministry whose principal fruit is the Spirit-empowered transformation of Christians into the "image of God" after the likeness of Jesus Christ.

The Corinthian Christians are like a personal letter written in the Spirit, unlike letters written in ink. Their conversion and continuing faith in Jesus Christ are, therefore, the basis of Paul's confidence in Christ since, through Paul's ministry, the Holy Spirit has written the law of love on their "hearts of flesh."

2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ~ Contrasting Two Covenants and Two Ministries

A key word in this passage is doxa, "glory," as Paul contrasts and compares the New Covenant and its ministry with the old Sinai Covenant and its ministry, pointing out the glory of the new over the old. Another key word is the Greek word katargeo in the passive voice (verses 7, 11, 13, 14), translated as "fade" in verses 7, 11, and 13, but in the NAB translated as "dull" in verse 14. 

Paul uses an argument from lesser to greater with the repeat of "how much more" (twice) and "much more" three times in verses 8, 9, and 11. The Old Testament reference in these verses is to when Moses received the Ten Commandments of the Sinai Covenant in letters carved on stone (Ex 32:16) and later covered his face after exposure to the glory of God's presence gave his face a divine radiance (Ex 34:30-35). Paul's point is that what only seemed glorious in the Old Covenant is surpassed in the New. The difference in "glory" between the Old and New Covenants is so great that only the New Covenant and its ministry can truly be called "glorious."

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 ~ The Most Holy Trinity Transforms Us With His Glory

Paul continues by comparing his ministry with the ministry of Moses, offering an interpretation of Moses' veil in verses 12-16.

Question: Why does Paul write that Moses covered his face with a veil?
Answer: Moses placed a veil over his face after the people saw his face reflecting the radiance of God's glory. He did this not to hide the glory, but the keep their faith from fading with the fading radiance of his face and to cause them to continue to fear disobeying him because of the "veil over their hearts" that disposed them to acts of rebellion.

Next, in verses 17-18, Paul describes the Holy Spirit's continuing work of transforming Christians into the glorious "image of God." It is an image that was lost in Adam's fall from grace but restored by Jesus. In verse 18, Paul repeats the word "glory" three times; it is the number of the Trinity. 

Chapter 4

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 ~ The Integrity of Paul's Ministry

In this part of his letter, Paul commends his ministerial conduct to the Corinthians in which he is not discouraged because he proclaims the Gospel openly through his preaching and humble service as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God (4:1-6).

3 And even though our gospel is veiled, it is veiled for those who are perishing ...
Paul picks up the allusions to "veiled" and "unveiled" from the last chapter. The Holy Spirit "unveils" the Gospel for those who accept Christ with a pure and humble heart. However, Paul writes the Holy Spirit veils the truth of the Gospel and the glory of Christ from the unbelievers whose unbelief will condemn them to eternal death. This statement recalls what Paul wrote in 2:15-16 that the Gospel is like an odor of death that leads to death for those who view Paul's suffering and humble service as foolishness and weakness.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12 ~ The Paradox of Christian Ministry

4:7-5:10 begins the second part of Paul's extended discussion on apostleship (2:14-7:4). When Paul writes about "earthen vessels" in verse 7, the image recalls Jeremiah's object lesson of the clay jar in the potter's hands in Jeremiah 18:1-6. Whenever the clay vessel turned out badly, the potter tried again, making another vessel. Then the word of God came to Jeremiah saying, "Can I not do to you, house of Israel, as this potter has done?" The lesson is that God is the author of life who created Adam from the clay of the earth, and He has the power to destroy or restore according to whether His people disobey Him or fulfill His plans.

Our fragile human bodies are the earthen vessels or instruments God uses to continue His Divine Plan for humanity. But, what is the treasure these vessels hold? The context of Paul's earlier passage in 4:1-6 suggests three possibilities:

1. "This ministry" of the New Covenant (4:1).
2. "The Gospel of the glory of Christ" (4:4).
3. "The knowledge of the glory of God on the face of Christ" (4:6).

 

Paul lists four pairs of participles to illustrate his point in verses 8-9. Paul's list of sufferings in 4:8-9 is the first of four lists in his letter (also see 6:4-10; 11:23-33; 12:10). Some of these hardships he passively endures and others he willingly takes on. In each pairing of verses 8-9, the first participle refers to Paul's suffering and the second to God's deliverance:

1. afflicted in every way, but not constrained
2. perplexed, but not driven to despair
3. persecuted, but not abandoned
4. struck down, but not destroyed

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1 ~ The Promise of Eternal Glory

In verse 13, Paul quotes from Psalm 116 from the Septuagint Greek translation in which the psalmist, a righteous man, tells his story of suffering. The psalmist identifies himself as God's "slave/servant" and the child of God's maidservant (Ps 116:16). Twice he refers to an event in which he suffered (116:6, 10), describing his suffering in vivid terms as he was caught in "the cords of death" and the "snares of Sheol/Hades" seized him (116:3). Nearing death, he cries out "O Yahweh, save my life!" (116:4), and promises to praise Yahweh by raising "the cup of salvation" and fulfilling his vows to Yahweh "in the presence of all his people" (116:13). Finally, near the end of the psalm, the righteous, suffering man cries out that the death of one of God's holy ones is precious before the Lord (116:15), and vows, "I will offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of Yahweh" (116:16). In quoting from the words of the psalm, Paul evokes the entire story of the faithful, righteous suffer who has served as God's slave and has trusted in God to deliver his soul from death.

Life is already present and revealing itself, but life will outlast the present experience of suffering and dying because life is eternal (verses 17-18). He urges them not to become discouraged, despite the experience of death that all humans must face. He contrasts one's "outer self," meaning what the individual is subject to in earthly perception and observation in the temporal body, to the "inner self" that is the interior and hidden self which undergoes renewal, as he writes, "being renewed day by day" by divine grace to be ready to receive an immortal, resurrected body (verse 16).

Paul suggests that a process is at work. The renewal is already taking place even as one moves toward death in one's life journey. Paul and other Christians already have a share in the life of Jesus through the Sacrament of Christian Baptism and the Eucharist. But we only recognize this by faith as we journey through "light affliction" that "is producing for us an eternal weight of glory" (verse17). In 5:1, Paul calls our earthly bodies a "tent," meaning a temporary structure. St. Peter uses the same descriptive term for the perishable human body in 2 Peter 1:13, I think it right, as long as I am in this "tent," to stir you up by a reminder, 14 since I know that I will soon have to put it aside, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. 

Death will destroy our temporal bodies, but that doesn't matter because we have a building from God, a dwelling not made with hands, eternal in heaven (5:1). That eternal "dwelling place" is life in the Spirit that we will experience in Heaven at the end of our earthly lives, and the promise of the bodily resurrection at the end of time. This contrast recalls Jesus' saying about the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple and the construction of another "building not made with hands" in Mark 14:58; it is a prediction applied to Jesus' own body (Jn 2:20) and our bodies on the day Christ returns to raise the dead to new life in imperishable bodies.

Chapter 5: The Corinthian's Future Destiny and Paul's Ministry

2 Corinthians 5:2-5 ~ Our Eternal Destiny

Question: How many different metaphors has Paul used for our temporal bodies? See 4:7, 16; 5:1 and 2.
Answer: He has referred to our present earthly condition as "earthen vessels," "our outer self," "our earthly dwelling," and a "tent."

Each metaphor expresses the temporal condition of our bodies. Although we know that our earthly bodies are temporal, we want to avoid death and the loss of our bodies (verse 4). However, Paul writes that when we have "taken it off,' referring to our physical bodies in death, that "we shall not be found naked." 

In the ancient world, a slave owner branded his slave with an indelible mark, and Roman soldiers received the brand of the legion to which they were assigned. These were indelible marks of ownership or belonging.

After receiving the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation, the person shares completely in the mission of Jesus Christ and the fullness of the Holy Spirit so their lives may give off what Paul called "the aroma of Christ" (2 Corinthians 2:15; CCC 1294). The seal of the Holy Spirit marks a Christian's total belonging to Christ and the enrollment as an apostle in His service forever. It is an "installment" on the promise of eternal salvation and provides God's divine protection in the great eschatological (end time) trial before Christ returns to judge the living and the dead (Mt 24:31-46, CCC 1038, 1295-96). 

2 Corinthians 5:6-10 ~ Have Courage as You Prepare to Join the Lord

The promises of the resurrection and eternal life should make us courageous in facing the trials of this temporary life.
Question: In verse 6, what does Paul remind Christians about the world and our earthly bodies, especially in light of using the "tent" metaphor in verses 1-2, suggesting the abode of a nomadic wanderer?
Answer: St. Paul reminds Christians that the world is not our home and our bodies are only temporal dwellings. We are on a journey through this life and in exile in a land that is not our home. Our destiny is to be reunited with Jesus in Heaven, our true home. 

2 Corinthians 5:11-15 ~ Impelled by the Love of Christ

This passage is transitional as Paul sums up what came earlier in his letter. Referring to being "clearly apparent," he again defends his transparency before God and the Corinthians in contrast to the self-commendation, boasting, and the preoccupation of what is worldly and external that others have presented to the Corinthians (see 1:12-14; 2:14; 3:1, 4:6).

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 ~ A New Creation in Christ and the Ministry of Reconciliation

Paul's point is that since the coming of the Christ, we no longer judge anyone's worth according to the standards of wealth or social rank; even in Jesus' case, it does not matter that He was a poor Jewish carpenter from the Galilee. All Christians are equals in Christ.

 

20 So we are ambassadors for Christ as if God were appealing through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
In the ancient world, as today, an ambassador of a king or a national leader carried the king or leader's authoritative message to whomever the king or ruler sent him. In the same way, Jesus Christ, the King of kings, sends forth all Baptized Christians as His ambassadors with His message of salvation to the world (Mt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8). It is the duty of every Christian to carry on the work of Christ in the world, doing works of mercy and sharing the Gospel of salvation.

Jesus is our eternal High Priest who continuously offers an infinitely meritorious sacrifice to God on behalf of the human race in the heavenly Sanctuary (Rev 5:6). That sacrifice is Christ's life, His sufferings, His love for the Father and humanity. His unblemished offering satisfied the demand of divine justice. In His willing sacrifice, according to the will of the Father, Christ merits the gift of salvation for all human beings who, in His name, accept His gift of eternal life. Jesus could not remain the "unblemished Lamb of God," presenting Himself to God in the heavenly Sanctuary, if He bore the stains of our sins; He could not have even entered Heaven. It was the punishment for our sins that He took upon Himself.