1May you bear with me in some little foolishness! But surely you will. 2I confess that I share the jealousy of God for you, for I have promised you in marriage to Christ, the only spouse, to present you to him as a pure virgin. 3And this is my fear: the serpent that seduced Eve with cunning could also corrupt your minds and divert you from the Christian sincerity. 4Some one now comes and preaches another Jesus different from the one we preach, or you are offered a different spirit from the one you have received, with a different Gospel from the one you have accepted – and you agree! 5I do not see how I am inferior to those super-apostles. 6Does my speaking leave much to be desired? Perhaps, but not my knowledge, as I have abundantly shown to you in every way.
Paul commends the apostle Paul
7 ① Perhaps my fault was that I humbled myself in order to uplift you, or that I gave you the Gospel free of charge. 8I called upon the services of other churches and served you with the support I received from them. 9When I was with you, although I was in need, I did not become a burden to anyone. The friends from Macedonia gave me what I needed. I have taken care not to be a burden to you in anything and I will continue to do so. 10By the truth of Christ within me, I will let no one in the land of Achaia stop this boasting of mine.
11Why? Because I do not love you? God knows that I do! 12Yet I do and I will continue to do so to silence any people anxious to appear as equal to me: this is my glory. 13In reality, they are false apostles, deceivers disguised as apostles of Christ. 14It is not surprising: if Satan disguises himself as an angel of light, 15his servants can easily disguise themselves as ministers of salvation, until they receive what their deeds deserve.
16I say again: Do not take me for a fool, but if you do take me as such, bear with me that I may sing my own praises a little. 17I will not speak with the Lord’s authority, but as a fool, bringing my own merits to prominence. 18As some people boast of human advantages, I will do the same. 19Fortunately you bear rather well with fools, you who are so wise! 20You tolerate being enslaved, and exploited, robbed, treated with contempt and slapped in the face. 21What a shame that I acted so weakly with you!
But if others are so bold, I shall also dare, although I may speak like a fool. 22Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23Are they ministers of Christ? (I begin to talk like a madman) I am better than they.
Better than they with my numerous labors. Better than they with the time spent in prison. The beatings I received are beyond comparison. How many times have I found myself in danger of death! 24Five times the Jews sentenced me to thirty-nine lashes. 25Three times I was beaten with a rod, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, and once I spent a night and a day adrift on the high seas. 26I have been continually in hazards of traveling because of rivers, because of bandits, because of my fellow Jews, or because of the pagans; in danger in the city, in the open country, at sea; in danger from false brothers. 27I have worked and often labored without sleep, I have been hungry and thirsty and starving, cold and without shelter. 28Besides these and other things, there was my daily concern for all the churches. 29Who is weak that I do not feel weak as well? Whoever stumbles, am I not on hot bricks? 30If it is necessary to boast, let me proclaim the occasions on which I was found weak. 31The God and Father of Jesus the Lord – may he be blessed for ever! – knows that I speak the truth. 32At Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed the city under guard in order to arrest me, 33and I had to be let down in a basket through a window in the wall. In that way I slipped through his hands.
- 2 Cor 11,7 In chapters 11 and 12, Paul will compare himself to the apostles who managed to be appreciated by the Corinthians, and on which his opponents are relying. Paul wants not to treat them as equal to equal: he is conscious of who he is, he can judge them. A dangerous position, even for someone who believes he is truly inspired by God! and yet, see 1 Cor 2:14-15. To begin with, Paul is sure of a direct call from Christ: this contact with the risen Jesus has given him a transforming presence of Christ. He knows that his criteria, his decisions, his prophetic intuition have bypassed his adversaries. It is precisely because he has reached a superior level of life in the Spirit that he feels free vis-u00e0-vis the religious obligations that are given such importance, even first place, by his opponents: compare paragraph 11:4-6 with Gal 2:6-10 and 5:7-12; see also 1 Thes 3:2-11. Their attachment to the observance of the Jewish Law does not come from a different, legitimate view of matters of faith. They hold to it, because in their own lives, they have not discovered the best of Christian experience. Jesus had already shown, as in the case of the Pharisees that strict observance of religious rites comes from a lack of true faith (Mk 7:6). Whoever has the experience of life in the Spirit, shocks, without wishing to do so, any religious people and such was the case of Paul in the Church. In 11:22-30, Paul speaks of his labors and the risks he has taken, the persecutions he has known. He does not do this to be well thought of. He wants to show others, and remind himself, that he is gifted with an exceptional grace. All are called to follow Jesus and carry his cross, all are called to evangelize. Why is it that so few undertake the true work of evangelization among those who are afar, as Jesus and Paul did? That in itself is a grace, and those who have not received it do not perceive the calls and miss the occasions. Paul intends to remain inimitable, not through vain glory but in fidelity to the way on which Christ has placed him.
