Every one of the letters of the apostle Paul, and indeed all of the books of the Bible, have their own particular appeal, and that is no less true of this great second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians. What is the appeal of this book? I suppose it appeals to different people in different ways. When we read the Bible through the context and turmoil of our own lives, there are things that speak to us and we appreciate the material for that reason.
Yet chiefly, I think 2 Corinthians appeals to us because of what it tells us about the apostle Paul. In my view there is no letter in the New Testament that tells us so much about the writer. Now Paul was always personal. Throughout his letters he tells us things about himself, often indicating his plans, or things that had happened. He also sends greetings from the church where he was residing at that particular time. But what he does in this letter far exceeds what he normally often does. The reason Paul speaks so autobiographically here is that his apostleship was being challenged for a number of reasons. It was in order to defend that and explain his actions that this letter is so personal.
In addition to finding out what we do about Paul, 2 Corinthians is also known for giving unexplained information. We read some parts and wonder what Paul is referring to. One of these is in our text for this chapter. He speaks of the peril or trouble that he faced in Asia, so much so that he despaired even of his life. Paul does not explain what that is. We read the book of Acts, and we may find some things there that seem to suggest what Paul is describing here, but we are not sure.
Another example of unexplained information occurs in the twelfth chapter. There he speaks about a man who he says fourteen years ago was caught up into the third heaven. Most people, myself included, think that Paul is talking about himself at this point. But whether it is Paul or not, we are still left to wonder what he means. A third example again comes from chapter 12, where he discusses his “thorn in the flesh.” We use that expression ourselves to refer to an affliction that we cannot get rid of, which is probably the case with Paul as well. Again, he does not go into any detail that would reveal to us what the nature of his suffering is.
2 Corinthians was written out of his anxiety for the church in Corinth. He spent about eighteen months there, and he acknowledged in his first letter that God had done marvelous things. People had responded to the Gospel, and the church grew. But there were problems in the church, which we learn about from 1 Corinthians. There were divisions in the church. There was immorality. There were lawsuits. There was a dispute about the resurrection. Paul wrote his first epistle to this church in order to straighten these matters out, and like a good pastor he waited during the interval to see how his letter to them would be received.
Eventually, he sent Titus because he wanted to know how the Corinthians were doing in response to another correspondence Paul had written. Apparently the plan was that Titus was to go ahead to the Corinthian church and see how well they had responded to Paul’s admonitions. Then Paul and Titus were to meet again at Troas. Paul was in Ephesus at the time, and he was going to travel north through Asia towards the Hellespont, where one crossed over into Europe. Titus would head north from Corinth, through Achaia, and then cross over through the Hellespont and over to Troas. Paul arrived in Troas first, but when he did not find Titus he went to Macedonia and met Titus there.
