August 7, 2016: Day 70 – II Corinthians 10

So who made Paul angry?  It seems as if the entire chapter 10 is an apology for his authority and the  fact that he is the one, after all, who was used by the Lord to establish that community.  It is interesting that he uses their words as a defense of who he is.  If you look at vs.10 you will see that he is given some physical attributes.  They say that he is weak in body and that he has trouble with his speech.  I’m not sure what that looks like, but he does not seem to be the best cut out to be an evangelist.  Yet somehow it works.  Somehow he becomes, and he has already by then become, the most significant evangelist in history.  

That might teach us a lesson that if we are weak of body and our speech is “contemptible” that we are not without hope.  We can still bring people to a loving knowledge of Jesus as Savior.  Beyond that, it seems as if Paul does get somewhat defensive and says something along the lines of: it is not those who speak about themselves that are lifted up, but rather those whom the Lord lifts up.  Ironically, this is immediately after he has spoken very highly of himself.