Stations of the Cross

Kelly and I drove downtown on Good Friday. We decided to walk around the city. Someone had told us there was going to be a Good Friday service out on the Market Square Mall, so we walked that way. The city radiated with families walking, children playing in the park, and music around almost every corner.

In the middle of the square, a small crowd gathered around a large wooden cross. We joined them. Behind us a group of young, dreadlocked musicians began singing at the top of their lungs. At first I thought they objected to our gathering, but then I realized they were singing, “Will the Circle Be Unbroken.” Not a bad pick for Good Friday.

As the priest climbed up the portable riser and starting reading the Scripture, all other sounds faded in the background. We heard the agony of Jesus as he cried out, “Abba Father, all things are possible to thee; remove this cup from me; yet not what I will, but what thou wilt.” We breathed the words of Jesus in prayer.

The priest called out, “We adore you, O Christ and we bless you.”
We responded, “Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

The priest invited volunteers to step up and help carry the cross. Standing only a few feet away, I stepped forward with a few other people. Silently we walked the square. Although we shared the burden, the weight surprised me.

With each step, the weight of the cross pressed us down. We walked by people eating, children running through the park, musicians playing their songs. I cannot help but think of people carrying the weight of suffering while surrounded by a world that never stops. Never notices.

I cannot help but realize that we cannot bear this weight. We are the weak and slumbering disciples. And He is the suffering servant.

“We adore you, O Christ and we bless you.”
“Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

At each station a different minister climbed the portable riser. At each station the Word of the Lord was read. At each station we paused and contemplated our Savior.

I thought of the early church remembering the steps of Jesus. Just like the ancient Hebrews remembered Passover by rehearsing the last night in Egypt, the followers of Jesus remembered the Lamb of God by rehearsing His final hours. In the early centuries of the church, processions became a way of remembering.

The processions often lasted for hours as believers walked from church to church with a short ceremony in each church. Historian Jaroslav Pelikan explains that these early processions played an important evangelistic role as the gospel was proclaimed in song and images and sermons.

So we walked from station to station. We listened to the Word of the God. We proclaimed the goodness of God.

“We adore you, O Christ and we bless you.”
“Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

As we walked, the cross seemed obscured in a sea of faces. Round faces. Faces full of vitality and beauty. Faces aged and distorted by time and tragedy. Faces worn by the sun. Faces scarred. Faces covered with long and short beards.

As I gazed out, my inward eye beheld a painting by Hieronymus Bosch called, Calvary. In the vivid painting, Jesus is carrying the cross in a mass of people. Eyes closed and head leaning toward his destiny, Jesus is pressing through the rabble.

Calvary by Hieronymus Bosch

Most of the other faces form grotesque shapes of flatted lips, crumbling teeth, bulging eyes, and jutting chins. The faces are distorted and grotesque. They remind me of the orcs in the Lord of the Rings. In the midst of this ugliness, Jesus presses forward. The monstrous crowd is so preoccupied they fail to notice God-in-the-midst.

My inner vision of Bosch’s unsightly painting and my outer vision of the faces surrounding the cross collided. I suddenly realized it. Bosch was painting us. He captured our deformities, our misshapen heads, our twisted mouths and darkened eyes. He painted our corruption.

As Athanasius reminds us, we turned from God toward corruption. The Lord steps into our vile ungodliness and redeems us. He names us. He bears our shame, so that we might bear his glory. He declares us beautiful and we are beautiful.

As the final station came to a close, the crowd sang the old spiritual, “Were you there, when they crucified my Lord.” On this sunny, Good Friday evening, we were there. And ever-so-briefly, we beheld Him lifted up for all mankind to see.

“We adore you, O Christ and we bless you.”
“Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.”

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Meet the Family (photo by santacrewsgirl)

There is something mysteriously wonderful about sharing a meal. A couple of pots boil on the stove while a casserole bakes. A few people gather in the kitchen to watch the food and talk. Cheese and crackers lay on the counter. One person tells his story from the days events, and we laugh out loud. Soon we’re discussing a movie, a book, a dream. More cheese and crackers. I’m stirring a bowl of soup, yet listening and turning to face our little group.

More people enter the kitchen. Now I can barely move from sink to stove. Voices are getting louder. More laughter. Smells encircle our stories. Like the soup on the stove, we are swirling together in a symphony of the senses. Memories and smells, sounds and touch all combine into something like a song or a stew.

Sharing a meal is not simply eating, it is sharing life. It is a communion of bread and wine, of story and song, of laughter and tears. Sharing a meal is an invitation to intimacy. We meet friends and family around a table, in a restaurant, by a fire. We share life-in-time.

Our spaces open into places of sharing life-in-time. Think about your home. Different rooms in the house offer opportunity for different ways to share intimacy.

There are times when we close the doors and lock them to keep out anyone who would seek us harm. Enemies are not allowed in our space, in our time.

At other times, we open the door to strangers and speak to them on the porch. We may want to spend more time together, so we invite them into our house to sit and talk. Then we may decide to befriend this person and invite them into an even deeper intimacy. We welcome them to share a meal with us. From the porch to the sitting area to the kitchen, we move from one level of intimacy or openness to another. Besides the bedroom, we share more unveiled intimacy at the meal table place than almost anywhere else.

In an act of sheer surprise, Jesus shares the intimacy of a meal with his enemies and unexpectedly fulfills the prayer of the psalmist, “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5Psalm 23:5
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. anointest: Heb. makest fat  

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From the Holy Communion of the Godhead, Jesus steps into communion with prostitutes and tax-collectors. He eats and drinks with saints and sinners alike.

He even bares his soul before betrayers. In the meal to end all meals, Jesus kneels before each disciple and washes his feet. He know these supposed friends will betray him, deny him, forsake him. Yet he breaks the bread, he shares the wine, he opens his heart, and he gives his life to those who seek to take it.

He invites Judas into the communion of love even while releasing him into betrayal. He welcomes the love and friendship of Peter even while revealing Peter’s inability to stand firm. Jesus prepares a meal for a world that despises him, a world that hates him, a world that is at war with him.

He turns out toward the vile, the faithless, the betrayers and the betrayed. He extends his hands to the cowards, the mockers, the cruel and the crushed. He breaks the bread of his body and the wine of his blood before a world of haters and hurters.

He takes hold of our wrists even as our bodies as sinking into death. He embraces our bent hearts even as we hide from his love.

He simply says, “Come and eat.”

We have not truly kept the fast, yet we are invited to the feast. We are the faithless and the fickle. We are the failures and the forgotten. In our immorality and even in our morality, we’ve turned away from God. We’ve exalted in our own righteousness, our own wisdom, our own strength, our own spirituality.

In the intimate light of His unveiled love, we are exposed and strangely, wondrously, we are loved. He washes our feet. He feeds us with real meat and real drink. He clothes us in robes of righteousness. He extends to us the sheer surprise of the Father’s hospitality.

In the mystery of His generosity, we are adopted into the family of God and welcomed into the communion of God.

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Cherry Blossoms (photo by missjanetb; used by permission)

The winter blasts of cool and snow and clouds have stirred a longing in our hearts for spring. Spring breaks into our world with color and light and magic. For a few weeks the ordinary world around us is lit with brilliant fire. Then it fades.

In this little poem, Ou Yang Hsiu celebrates the glory of spring but laments its transiency. As I read his sweet lament, I am reminded our our transiency and the oh-so-brief glorious moment of our lives.

Spring Walk to the Pavilion of Good Crops and Peace

The trees are brilliant with flowers
And the hills are green.
The sun is about to set.
Over the immense plain
A green carpet of grass
stretches to infinity.
The passerby do not care
That Spring is about to end.
Carelessly they come and go
Before the pavilion,
Trampling the fallen flowers.

Ou Yang Hsiu (translated by Kenneth Rexroth)

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(photo by Raideres. Used by permission.)

The journey of lent is not a journey of morbid self-mortification. Rather, it is the wilderness path of letting go of our own visions of grandeur that we might be surprised afresh by the goodness of God.

Jesus takes us by surprise.

The lovingkindness of God overtakes us with sudden hilarity. All our serious pretensions fall under the weight of love, and we are freed to step lightly in the Breath that blows where He will.

Sitting in a counseling session, I listened to the grief of man wracked by sickness and depression. I faced him. I gave him my serious attention. I wiped my brow. Without realizing it, I spread ink from a leaked pen all across my face.

He laughed and laughed and laughed.

In the grace of my good Jesus, He made light of my serious striving. His gentle joke freed us to laugh in our wondrous world of ink and pens and faces. The dark spell over my friend fell away in the sudden interruption of love.

Jesus takes us by surprise.

Saul sets out on a mission from God: guard Torah, preserve truth, expose blasphemy. A voice penetrates his heart with Light and Light and Light, and flames of Love consume this righteous zeal.

Blinded by unrelenting Light, Paul beholds a vision of God that disorients and reorients him to the Way of the Father. In a flash, his world comes to an end, his world begins.

Jesus takes us by surprise.

Two men stumbling in the gloom of hopes dashed. The kingdom did not come. The Lord did not vindicate his people. The wicked did triumph.

They travel toward Emmaus, they pour out their grief, they share in ache of a lost friend. Stepping into their sadness, a stranger appears with story upon story upon story. He unveils, reveals, and exposes true Light from true Light. In a flash of insight, they behold the hope of the years.

Jesus takes us by surprise.

Lazarus hears his name and awakes to the surprise of being alive.
Mary meets an angel and gives birth to the surprise of all things made new.
Peter lets down his net and catches the surprise of becoming a fisher of men.
I saw a sunrise at the end of a dark night, and stepped into the surprise of a world made new.

Jesus takes us.
And when he takes us.
It is sheer surprise.
Our eyes can see.
Our ears can hear.

In the surprise of our utter powerlessness, we behold the only One who holds our future. And in the mystery of His Grace, we can finally rest.

He is coming
And when He comes,
He will catch you by surprise.

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Those Who Dwell In Silence by Ryo,

Sitting in a classroom in second grade, I looked around at the faces of other students, heard a faint sound of the teacher’s voice echoing in my ear, and wondered if I might be from another planet. Everyone and everything in the room seemed alien, foreign, strange. Somewhere I would feel at home and connected, but in this strange place, I felt like an observer, watching and perhaps collecting information for my home planet. A few minutes passed and the moodiness passed as well. I joined all the other children running across the playground during recess.

This sense of being outside, being cut off, being alienated from the world around me is a common feeling among many people. In fact, some people never feel connected and always feel outside, strange, faraway, alienated.

As Paul writes to the Colossians, he reminds them that they were once “alienated and hostile in mind” but Jesus has reconciled them “in his body of flesh by his death.” Recently, as I slowly ruminated through the opening words of Colossians, I was struck how this emphasis on alienation contrasted with the preceding doxology on the glory of the cosmic Christ.
Paul writes,

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Col 1:15-20Col 1:15-20
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: ¹⁶ For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: ¹⁷ And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. in...: or, among all ¹⁹ For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; ²⁰ And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. having...: or, making  

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Paul’s praises of Jesus soar as he proclaims the preeminence of Jesus over all creation. Using language that reminds us of John 1, Paul speaks of Jesus as Creator (all things were created by him, through him and for him) and as Sustainer (in him all things hold together), and as Restorer (through him all things have been reconciled).

From the heights of singing the glory of Jesus as the “image of the invisible God,” Paul descends to address the Colossians as a people who were “alienated, hostile in mind, and doing evil deeds.” Listening to these words, I heard the cold, shuddering wind of “alienation” chill me with icy dread.

The very word “alienation” carries the sounds of separation and forsakenness.

Alienation also sounds so very modern. I hear echoes of Paul Simon singing, “I am a rock, I am island.” This little 60s pop song responds to John Donne’s contention that “no man is an island” by expressing the angst of a person who no longer feels connected to the whole, to the continent, to the human race. That sense of being disconnected, being an outsider, being cut-off shows up in our movies, our music, and in our heroes who ride off into the sunset instead of living in community.

Alienation is not only the feel of being aloof or cutoff from the group, it can also be the very real act of a group seeking to alienate other people or groups. The most obvious act in the last 100 years is Hitler’s attempt to dehumanize the Jewish people, alienating them from the German race and attempting to alienate them from the planet through planned extermination. He sought to strip them of their identity, their dignity, their humanity and ultimately their lives.

This extreme example happens every day in smaller, more benign ways. We use language to alienate the “other” in our midst. We mock those who hold alien political views (liberal or conservative). We notice differences in skin color, in dialect, in economic status, and we form communities of like-minded people who look and talk and act like us.

We not only cut people off, we are cut off ourselves. We are left out of groups because we don’t have enough money, we don’t look right, we don’t have the right job, we’re the wrong race, we do or don’t have children, we are the enemy. At some point in our lives, we have and will know the ache of being outside the camp.

When Paul writes to the people of Colossae, he is writing people outside the covenant. They were Gentiles and not part of the covenant community of Israel. In this sense, they were alienated from God and God’s people.

This gets us closer to the heart of the matter. Alienation is not simply a social problem, it is rooted in our estrangement from God, resulting in estrangement from other people and even the world around us. While Israel is the covenant community that receives the revelation of God’s law and God’s purposes, they still experience this estrangement.

In his letter to the Romans, Paul reveals how both the Jew and the Gentile ended up being alienated from God. The Gentiles worshipped created things rather than the Creator and became corrupted. The Jewish people violated Torah and fell under the death sentence of Torah. Both peoples suffered in their exile from rest in the communion of God’s love.

Isaiah captures the intensity of the exile when he appears before God in the Temple. He cries out, “I am coming undone.” His physical body cannot bear the weight of glory and is ripping apart in the presence of YHWH’s Absolute Otherness.

If we go back to the beginning of the story, we see the root of alienation. Adam and Eve turn against one another immediately after rebelling against God. Their self-imposed alienation traps them in an alien land. They hide in terror from the loving Father who created them.

Adam who was called to govern the earth, the skies above and sea beneath experiences deep alienation from creation:

“…cursed is the ground because of you;
in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19Genesis 3:17-19
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; ¹⁸ Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; bring...: Heb. cause to bud ¹⁹ In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.  

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In his estrangement, man stands at odds with the very planet upon which he lives. Instead of caring for the plants and animals, he often brings harm and destruction to them.

This estrangement breaks the natural bond between siblings. Cain kills his own brother and then must go “on the run” in his alienation resulting from the crime. From one generation to the next, the separation and brokenness continues and is often magnified. We continue to war and strive with our brother and sister humans and nations.

When Paul addresses the ancient Colossians, he is addressing us. By the power of God’s Spirit, Paul’s word about “alienation from God, hostile in mind and deeds” resonates in our own hearts. We have known this sense of being cut-off. We have known the anguish of self-imposed exile, of self pity, of self destruction, of self hatred.

Sara Groves sings a heart wrenching song about our selfish tendency to hurt and isolate one another. Expressing the suddenness and absurdity of offense, she sings,

“weather came and caught us off our guard
we were just laughing and feelin’ alright
had such a great time just last night
we walked into a minefield undetected
you took a tone and I took offense
anger replacing all common sense”

Then like a showdown in some wild west film, she sings about the duel to the death between two lovers,

“oh run for you life
all tenderness is gone
in the blink of an eye
all good will has withdrawn
and we mark out our paces and
stare out from our faces
but baby you and I are gone gone gone”

In his fatherly compassion, Paul writes a people who have lived under the crushing pain of alienation. He reminds of the Father who is fully revealed in Jesus Christ when he enters into the absolute pain of this alien world. The Son enters into the human world and in the mystery of His love, he bears our pain in his own body.

Through the death of his body in the suffering of the cross, he steps into and beyond all human separation. In the love between Father and Son, he rises again bringing our once alien humanity into the unspeakable glory of unending love between the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Paul writes that our hope is hid with Christ in God, and at at the same time, he says that God chose to “make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” By His life, His body, His action, His lovingkindness, His suffering, we are no longer aliens. He has brought us who were outside His love into the unending circle of His love. At the same time, He enters into us by the power of His Spirit, so that even as we dwell in Him, He dwells in us.

Overcome by this ungraspable love that has grasped us, we fall down in praise and glorify the One who is worthy of all praise and glory and honor and wealth and wisdom.

The next time we feel the cool blast of isolation from friends and family and the world around us, instead of falling under the self consuming power of alienation, we might return to Colossae and remind ourselves of this love that we cannot grasp.

From this place of peace, from the place of absolute rest and protection and love, we come to realize that we are not aliens. We are at home. We are safe. We are free to embrace the outsiders among us. We are free to suffer alongside them. We are free to lay down our lives as we follow the gentle call of His ever-loving Spirit.

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Crystal Garden by Orbital Joe

Not to be confused with the rolling kind, living stones might be more like the dancing kind. Peter speaks of Jesus as the Living Stone, and the family of God as living stones. But before I think about these living stones that take part on a cosmic dance, I might back up to think of the colored, shiny kind. This morning as I read about the breastplate of Aaron, two things jumped out at me:

1. The gemstones are engraved with the names of the sons of Israel. (Exodus 28:9Exodus 28:9
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
9 And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and grave on them the names of the children of Israel:  

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2. The gemstones serve as “stones of remembrance” for the sons of Israel. (Exodus 29:12Exodus 29:12
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
12 And thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock, and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger, and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar.  

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This caught my attention because stones as memorials show up again and again in Scripture. After crossing the Jordan, Joshua builds a stone memorial to the event. Stones are used throughout Scripture to mark boundaries, remember key events and record important information (like the 10 Commandments). In other words, stones serve as testimonies. They last from generation to generation and they continually testify to past events, laws, covenants, or people.

Think of stone: precious or otherwise. It is hard. Rain, snow, storm will probably not sweep it away (unless we’re thinking of sandstone or some other soft stone). It is durable. Then at we think about crystal formations within stones, we encounter stones that can refract and reflect light. We engrave everything from life-death notices (gravestones) to laws to images in stone. If something is “written in stone,” we take that to mean it is permanent.

The idea of stones continues to play a role in the New Testament. Jesus tells his hearers that the stones can “cry out,” bearing testimony to his glory. Paul suggests that our life’s work is either made of wood, hay and stubble, or gold, silver and precious stones. Only that which is done in love will endure the fire. The enduring quality as well as the beauty and rarity of stones, silver and gold make them precious. Of course, Peter suggests that one thing is far more precious even than gold–blood.

According to Peter, there is a fire that even gold will not withstand, but the blood of Jesus and our faith in that blood are more precious than gold (1 Peter 1:7, 18-191 Peter 1:7, 18-19
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:  

WP-Bible plugin). This precious life of God in Christ transforms us into “living stones” built into the Living Stone of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4-51 Peter 2:4-5
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ⁵ Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. are: or, be ye  

WP-Bible plugin). he links this to our role in the holy priesthood to which we’ve been called. This image of us as living stones in a holy temple of holy priests can then be viewed against another image of the stones: the law. The law written in stone is now written in hearts (living stones).

We bear witness. The testimony of Christ is being revealed in us, and it is to us–not impersonal stones–that God points when he wants to show the “powers” his glory (Ephesians 3:10Ephesians 3:10
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
10 To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,  

WP-Bible plugin). We are living testimonies, bearing witness to the faithfulness of God. In our brokeness, in our frailty, in our weakness, we are being shaped, formed, perfected into a living, precious stones that will reflect the glorious light of Christ throughout the city of God, the New Jerusalem.

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A few years ago, I led a retreat on weakness, using 2 Corinthians as our text. As I studied the text, it seemed even more apropos because the letter confounds many scholars and appears to be an amalgamation of two or more letters. So even as we study the text, we begin in weakness, trusting the Spirit to reveal the Risen Christ in our midst. As I read Scripture, I try to read and consider the text as received even when the flow appears uneven or unclear, so my approach to 2 Corinthians is to read it as we have received it today in the form of one letter.

Lately I’ve been paying attention to Paul’s language of “in Christ” and in “one another.” He moves between both ways of talking, and I believe we are encountering a way of life that flows from the Father, through Christ, by the power of the Spirit. In other words, we are encountering “perichoresis,” the dance of life between Father, Son and Spirit. When Jesus Christ speaks of being in the Father and the Father being in Him (John 14:11John 14:11
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.  

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Instead of speaking and thinking in terms of isolated individuals, the Gospel reveals the Creator as one God in a mutuality of three persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. This idea of mutual indwelling or perichoresis shows up all across Paul’s letters. Here is a quick outline of thinking  about 2 Corinthians in a perichoretic way. (I realize this is rough and is not complete in any way.)

1. Comfort and Affliction (Chapter 1:1-11r 1:1-11
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans ^{1 1} Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, ^{2 3} Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; ⁴ And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: declared: Gr. determined ⁵ By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: for obedience...: or, to the obedience of faith ⁶ Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: ⁷ To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; with: or, in ¹⁰ Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;  

WP-Bible plugin) – Paul opens with language of comfort that flows from the “God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are comforted in our afflictions and our comfort then flow to others who are afflicted. The affliction and comfort that we share with other is a comfort and affliction that we also share with Christ in His sufferings. So in a few sentences, Paul reveals a mutuality between himself, the people of Corinth and the Triune God. In this mutuality of suffering and affliction, we may know deep despair that even draws near to death, but we also know the Resurrection life in Christ that flows from the Father by the Spirit.

2. Paul and Corinth (Chapter 1:12-3:3r 1:12-3:3
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
12 That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. with: or, in ¹³ Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. among: or, in ¹⁴ I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. ¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. ¹⁸ For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; ¹⁹ Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. in them: or, to them ²⁰ For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: so...: or, that they may be ²¹ Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. ²² Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, ²³ And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. ²⁴ Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: ²⁵ Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. more: or, rather ²⁶ For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: ²⁷ And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. ²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; to retain: or, to acknowledge a reprobate...: or, a mind void of judgment or, an unapproving mind ²⁹ Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, ³⁰ Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: without natural...: or unsociable ³² Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. have...: or, consent with ^{2 1} Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. ² But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. ³ And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? ⁵ But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; ⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds: ⁷ To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: ⁸ But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, ⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; Gentile: Gr. Greek ¹⁰ But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: Gentile: Gr. Greek ¹¹ For there is no respect of persons with God. ¹² For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; ¹³ (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. ¹⁴ For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: ¹⁵ Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) their conscience...: or, the conscience witnessing with them the mean...: or, between themselves ¹⁶ In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. ¹⁷ Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, ¹⁸ And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; approvest...: or, triest the things that differ ¹⁹ And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, ²⁰ An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. ²¹ Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? ²² Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? ²³ Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? ²⁴ For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. ²⁵ For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. ²⁶ Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? ²⁷ And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? ²⁸ For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: ²⁹ But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. ^{3 1} What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? ² Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. ³ For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?  

WP-Bible plugin) – Paul transitions to a key theme that resurfaces at the end of the letter: his relationship with Corinth. As he introduces the relationship, he highlights a bond between him and Corinth that is established by God in Christ (2:21). This relationship, in the mist of the challenges, is a relation of mutual indwelling that has been created and is sustained by the Father in Christ through His Spirit. Paul reinforces the mutuality of relation by highlighting how those whom Corinth forgives, he also forgives. He is bound with them in Christ.

At the end of this section, Paul discusses how the people at Corinth are the “letter of recommendation” concerning his authority and ministry. This twist is fascinating because he does not point to external documents or some hierarchical form of authority but a relational authority that is still valid even when there is tension in the relationship between him and Corinth.

3. Mutuality in Covenant (3:3 – 5:10) – Paul’s mention of the letter of recommendation written on hearts transitions to a discussion about the mutuality of covenant with God between him and Corinth and between the contemporary followers of Christ and the ancient people of Israel who followed God through Moses by Torah. The law that was written on stone is now written on hearts but it is the same spirit who is bringing His people into life and glory even as they face suffering and pain. Even as our bodies weaken, we are stilling dwelling in Christ and in one another by the power of God’s Spirit who is bringing us all into glory.

4. Mutuality in Reconciliation (5:11-7:16) – Even as Paul celebrates God’s covenant binding of HImself to His people in Christ, he emphasizes how this is externalized in a life of reconciliation. We are reconciled to God and we are called to reconcile the world to God in Christ. Even as Paul talks about reconciliation, he also talks about his own relationship with the people at Corinth. This reconciliation is not simply between God and man, but must take form in relation between Paul and the people at Corinth.

In the midst of this discussion of reconciliation and Paul’s “open heart to the Corinthians,” we hear a warning about being unequally yoked. Paul raises the idea of relationships that are not based on mutuality in Christ but actually opposes the mutuality in relationship in Christ. While the idea of being unequally yoked is often applied to marriage (and rightly so based on some of Paul’s other comments), I think he is talking about relationships that break up the covenantal love of God’s people. And I think he returns to this later in the letter.

At the end of this section, Paul expresses his love and comfort in relationship with the people of Corinth. This comfort is from God mediated by Corinth through Titus (7:6-7). Paul finds joy in Titus who has found joy in Corinth, and this joy is but the grace of godly repentance by the Spirit. So all their lives are intertwined by God’s Spirit. They are being made into the prayer of John 17.

5. Mutuality Between Communities (8:1 – 9:15) – Paul now steps back from his relation with Corinth to focus on the relation between Corinth and the other churches. There is a mutuality of life shared between all of God’s people, even when they don’t know one another personally. This mutuality takes expression in sharing of life and resources. So even as Corinth prospers, they can strengthen other communities that are weak. Interesting that this passage is often used for giving to the church. Paul is encouraging giving, but the focal point of this giving appears to be from communities rich in resources to those who are in need of resources.

6. Mutuality of Adam and Eve (10:1 – 13:14) – In the final sections, Paul returns to his relationship with Corinth. He works out from the argument that just as the Corinthians are in Christ, so Paul is in Christ, and his authority derives from this relation (10:7-16). Then Paul does something that is shocking and fascinating, he connects his relationship with Corinth to the bond between a man and wife, and even further he connects specifically to Adam and Eve. I think Paul proceeding argument is based on the mutuality of husband and wife and the responsibility that Adam had to protect Eve (and according to Genesis he failed).

Corinth is in danger of being unequally yoked with people and ideas that are in opposition to mutuality in Christ, and ultimately are in service of Belial (7:14) or the seduction of the serpent (8:3). Satan is testing, tempting Corinth, and Paul will defend and protect his beloved no matter how much shame and humiliation it causes him. He is willing to humble himself if the community is exalted (11:7). He is willing to suffer humiliation, stoning, beating, imprisonment and more for the sake of this call in Christ. Of course, we can never forget that Paul is writing out from the mutuality of relation he shares with the Father in Christ by the Spirit. Even though he may rebuke at times, his heart is for building up the community at Corinth and not tearing down (13:10).

As we consider what does it mean to life in the reality of the Triune life of God, 2 Corinthians fleshes out an image of mutual indwelling in Christ in the midst of severe challenges and threats from inside and out. We also see a picture of Adam defending and guarding Eve with his life. This same image is fully revealed in Christ who steps fully into the suffering of the cross on behalf of his Eve.

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