Scripture Daily

Context No. 2017 of 4322 · 2 Corinthians

Context · Reflection

2 Corinthians 7:1-7: in context

1Having therefore these promises, beloved, let’s cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2Open your hearts to us. We wronged no one. We corrupted no one. We took advantage of no one. 3I say this not to condemn you, for I have said before that you are in our hearts to die together and live together. 4Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I overflow with joy in all our affliction. 5For even when we had come into Macedonia, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Fightings were outside. Fear was inside. 6Nevertheless, he who comforts the lowly, God, comforted us by the coming of Titus, 7and not by his coming only, but also by the comfort with which he was comforted in you while he told us of your longing, your mourning, and your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more.

Paul writes with unusual openness about a hard season. When we came into Macedonia, he says, our flesh had no relief, but we were afflicted on every side. Conflicts were without, and fears were within. Even the apostle Paul was downcast, pressed on every side, with fears inside him. And then relief came: but God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus, and by the encouragement Titus brought of the Corinthians' longing and concern for Paul, so that he rejoiced still more.

Two things stand out in Paul's account. The first is his honesty about being downcast: conflicts without, fears within, no relief. Paul, whom we might imagine always confident and unshaken, admits to being pressed down and afraid, in a season of affliction that gave him no rest. There is comfort simply in that honesty: that even the apostle knew what it was to be downcast and fearful, and did not pretend otherwise. And the second is how God's comfort came: by the coming of Titus. God, Paul says, who comforts the downcast, comforted us, and he did it through the arrival of a friend, through Titus's coming and the encouraging news he brought. God's comfort reached Paul not by some inward experience alone, but through a person, through the presence and encouragement of a fellow believer. This teaches us something about how God's comfort often comes. We may wait for comfort to descend directly, some inward consolation; and God does comfort inwardly. But very often his comfort comes through people, through the coming of a friend, the presence of a fellow believer, the encouragement one person brings to another. God comforted downcast Paul by sending Titus; and he often comforts us the same way, through the friend who comes, the presence that steadies us, the encouragement carried by another. This has two implications. It means that when we are downcast, we need not despise the comfort that comes through people, as though only a direct inward consolation counted; God's comfort often wears the face of a friend. And it means that we may be, to others, the very means of God's comfort, that our coming to a downcast friend, our presence and encouragement, may be how God comforts them. God who comforts the downcast comforted Paul by the coming of Titus; and he still comforts the downcast through the coming of friends, so that we both receive his comfort through others and become, to others, the bearers of it.

When I am downcast, do I wait only for a direct inward consolation and overlook the comfort God sends through people, or can I learn from Paul, whom God comforted in his affliction by the coming of Titus, both to receive God's comfort through the presence of friends and to be, to others who are downcast, the very means by which God comforts them?

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