2 Corinthians 11:16-33
Reluctant Boasting
16 I say again, let no one think me a fool. If otherwise, at least receive me as a fool, that I also may boast a little. 17 What I speak, I speak not according to the Lord, but as it were, foolishly, in this confidence of boasting. 18 Seeing that many boast according to the flesh, I also will boast. 19 For you put up with fools gladly, since you yourselves are wise! 20 For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. 21 To our shame I say that we were too weak for that! But in whatever anyone is bold—I speak foolishly—I am bold also.
Suffering for Christ
22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they ministers of Christ?—I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. 24 From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep; 26 in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 27 in weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness— 28 besides the other things, what comes upon me daily: my deep concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation?
30 If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. 31 The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor, under Aretas the king, was guarding the city of the Damascenes with a garrison, desiring to arrest me; 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped from his hands.
Suffering and weakness in our walk and witness bolsters our boasting with confidence in Christ alone. Paul likened this to being considered a fool for the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18, 21, 23-25), as 2 Corinthians 12:6 has already said, but which foolishness to him was boasting in the Lord Jesus Christ and the cross of His apparent foolishness to die without resistance on purpose. He died for atonement of sin for all who believe and receive Him and His work to cover our sins through His public humiliation and painful death which we alone all deserve. His substitutionary death seemed foolish until He rose from death to life out of the grave which we all are bound for. This gives us hope of our own resurrection in our redemption and so we suffer as seemingly foolish men and women for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ like Paul did. We do not boast in ourselves as others do who mock us for our faith in Christ, but in the mocked Lord who has victory over death, the eternal suffering of Hell, and the judgment we are all due from birth for our sin. Paul rhetorically asked the question of standing in the world’s eyes to demonstrate that if that mattered he would be far above most others as a devout Israelite of the faith and lineage of Abraham who ministered the gospel through more suffering and imprisonment than any of his critics. He lists some of the many trials and tribulations he endured for the work of the ministry as proof of his concern for them and all the churches. He upheld the weak (1 Thessalonians 5:14) and ministered to them all at great personal peril and threats with strong empathy and concern for their spiritual wellbeing. In all this suffering for their sakes the apostle did not care to boast of his greatness or knowledge or position, but in Christ alone and the honor to suffer for His name (Acts 5:41) and the gospel. He even recalled humiliating stories like secretly escaping in a basket to avoid arrest and imprisonment for the gospel instead of standing in great power to defeat the charges as all wise and powerful as some who are puffed up rant about in self importance even today. No, he boasted in his humiliation (2 Corinthians 12:9, Galatians 6:14) for the power and wisdom of God’s providence and deliverance to be put on display for the sake of the Lord and His gospel instead. This is our example of weakness and suffering for the gospel in which we should boast and not in our abilities or supernatural gifts that are supposed to be used for the glory of God in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and not personal honor or glory. Yes, this demonstrates the example of Weakness, Suffering, and Boasting in the Lord and not seeking attention on ourselves in the work of the gospel.
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