Today's Scripture Reading (May 10, 2024): 2 Corinthians 11
Once upon a
time, there was a man who fell in love with a woman. She was everything he had
ever wanted: beautiful, intelligent, and filled with a godly spirit. The
relationship between the two people grew and blossomed. Even the friends of
this couple approved of their relationship and loved to be around them.
Then, one
day, the man decided that this was the person with whom he wanted to spend the
rest of his life. And so, he asked this woman to marry him. She said yes, and these
two people started a new phase of their relationship, and they began to plan
the wedding.
Weeks passed,
and plans for the wedding progressed, but one of the future groom's friends
began hearing some rumors. The gossip was hard to believe but also difficult to
ignore because it told of a burgeoning romantic relationship between the bride
and another man. Luckily, the groom had not yet heard the rumor, but his friend
took it upon himself to discover the truth of the situation. The friend became
jealous in the groom's place and confronted the bride. Is your love for my
friend, or is there someone new in your life? You can't have it both ways.
Either you love my friend, or you love someone else. And my friend deserves to
know if your feelings about him have changed.
Essentially,
this is the story that Paul is trying to tell. Playing the part of the groom is
Jesus Christ. His promised bride is the emerging Christian Church, but in this
version of the story, it is specifically the Corinthian Church. And playing the
role of the groom's good friend, Paul of Tarsus. Paul wants an answer from the
Corinthians. Do they still intend to be in a relationship with Jesus, or were
they listening to other voices and critics and settling for something less?
Engagement in
Paul's time was not taken lightly. To cheat on your fiancé was to commit
adultery. And to break the engagement meant that you needed to get a divorce.
Paul rightly understood that our God is a jealous God, and he would not share
his position with anyone else. And so, he warns the Corinthians that continuing
to listen to his opponents and critics would carry them in a direction they
shouldn't want to go.
Paul hoped
that the Corinthian response to his message was to return all their love to God
and his son. But all Paul could do was tell them they would have to decide
their actions for themselves and choose to whom they would give their love.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 12 & 13
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