The Thorny Way To Heaven

(Please read 2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

Paul wrote at least two letters to the Christians in Corinth. The second was written probably around AD 56. The first letter had been written in order to deal with some glaring problems in the church, and had had a positive effect. The Christians had been brought to see their need of repentance and renewal. For this, Paul was glad (2 Cor 7:9-11).

But there were some who questioned the legitimacy of his claim to be an apostle. Who was Paul, that he could write in such a way? After all, though his writings may be strong, he was nothing to look at, and nothing to listen to (2 Cor 10:10). These opponents of the Gospel had a poor case against him, but they were beginning to argue it effectively. It was necessary for Paul to defend his apostleship and calling, which is one of the purposes for which he wrote the letter we know as 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians, therefore, is one of the most personal of Paul's letters, and in it he is not afraid to share his own experience of pain. In chapter 12 he is talking about something that took place fourteen years previously, around AD 42. There were two things he could recall vividly from all these years back. First, he had had a remarkable spiritual experience, in which he had both seen and heard things which men and women do not ordinarily experience. It is interesting that in describing these experiences, he speaks of himself in the third person: as "a man in Christ" (verse 2). Why should this be? Because he does not wish to appear to be boasting; and this attitude of selflessness is itself a reflection that the experience of pain he is about to describe had had the intended effect. God sent a "thorn in the flesh" his way in order to keep him humble (verse 7). The way in which Paul describes his experiences in chapter 12 is ample proof that the corrective had worked, and that God's dealings with the apostle had had the desired effect.

Let's pause here for a moment, and ask ourselves how much we can remember from fourteen years ago? Not much, probably; but there are some blessings we enjoy in the Christian life that are quite unforgettable. They never disappear from our thinking. They are milestones in our Christians lives, to which we may return again and again, for our benefit, instruction and blessing. Recalling the goodness of God to us is one of the pleasant disciplines of the Christian life (Deuteronomy 5:15, 32:7; Psalm 42:4,6, 77:10-11). We will carry with us to our graves the memory of all that Christ has been for us in our journey through life.

But the recollection was vivid not just because of Paul's great blessings, but also because of his great suffering. He says that "because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations ... there was given me a thorn in the flesh". In one of the most personal, honest and moving passages of the New Testament, the great apostle shares with us his experience of personal pain. There are four elements in this experience: the problem he faced, the prayer he offered, the promise he received, and the purpose he realised.

1. The Problem Paul Faced

When Paul says that he received a "thorn in the flesh", he is not saying that he had pricked his fingers on a rose bush! He is obviously using the idea of a thorn metaphorically, to describe the pain he felt. Secular poets, like the nineteenth century poet Percy Shelley, also use the idea of thorns figuratively; Shelley talks of "the thorns of life" in his Ode to the West Wind, and Shakespeare speaks of "the steep and thorny way to Heaven" in his magisterial Hamlet. Paul is talking of a thorn in this kind of figurative way, much as the Old Testament also does. Solomon said that thorns would be in the way of the perverse man (Proverbs 22:5), linking sin and suffering. Similarly, the prophet Hosea, describing God's judgement on Israel, says that "thorns will be in their tents" (Hosea 9:6), which perhaps runs the literal and the figurative together.

This is a powerful image, of course, not just because of its realism -- thorns are, after all, nasty and painful things -- but because they symbolise the curse of God on the ground because of man's sin (Genesis 3:17-18). The argument between man and God had started, and God was not going to remain silent when his word and holy law had been despised. The ground, which had looked beautiful, and which had been such a pleasure to work and maintain, would now bear "thorns and thistles", making man's life and labour full of toil and misery. That curse is what Jesus died to take away (Galatians 3:13), and it was no accident that in submitting to God's will as the Saviour of sinners, it was a crown of thorns that he bore (John 19:5). Playing their game with him, the Roman soldiers decked him in purple and placed thorns on his head. Their imitation coronation of Jesus symbolised God's actual condemnation of Jesus. He was made a curse for us, in order to redeem us from sin.

The idea of a thorn, therefore, links together sin, with all its resultant brokenness and estrangement from God, with the sufferings of this present life. That does not mean that every suffering we endure is as a consequence of some actual sin we have committed. That was the teaching with which Job's friends came to him in his pain and loss, and little comfort it brought him. In fact, as Derek Thomas reminds us in his commentary on Job, The Storm Breaks, "That suffering is not always punishment is something God emphatically corroborates by telling us so pointedly -- both before and after the trial -- that Job was 'blameless' (1:1,8; 42:7-8)" (p15). We must not think that all our pains are the consequences of all our sins, although suffering is indeed a consequence of sin. Our personal pain may well be for the purifying and improving of our graces, to show us how much more precious grace is than gold (1 Peter 1:7).

What can we say, then, about Paul's 'thorn'? We can say, first, that his pain was physical: it was 'in his flesh'. I think there is a tremendous contrast here between the extent of the blessing Paul had enjoyed fourteen years previously, and the pain he had endured thereafter. The blessing had been so great that he could not tell whether he had remained 'in the body' or 'apart from the body' (verse 3). When we see the glory of Christ in the Gospel, then "the things of earth will grow strangely dim" ... to see Him is to be aware of little else.

But do you see the contrast? This 'thorn' was very clearly in Paul's flesh! Talk about coming down to earth with a bump! The pain was very real, and it was in his body. Certainly at this particular point, Paul gives us no indication as to what that pain was, or what part of his body was afflicted. It is better to err on the side of caution here, and admit that we do not know. After all, as Don Carson reminds us in From Triumphalism to Maturity, "explanations are legion, and include malaria, a serious eye condition, feelings of guilt and depression ... epilepsy, a marked speech defect, some sort of continued temptation (taking 'flesh' to refer to unregenerate nature) and many more" (p144). Like James Denney, "I do not feel called on to add another to the numberless disquisitions on Paul's thorn in the flesh" (The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, p352). Let's just state the obvious: this was something very new, very painful, and very hard to bear. In fact it was torturous.

But Paul says more about the thorn. He says that in the affliction he recognised the hand of Satan; in fact, he says that it was a 'messenger of Satan', sent to 'buffet' or to 'strike' him. The same verb is used of the Roman soldiers in Mark 14:65, when they struck Jesus. A word ordinarily used for physical striking is used now by Paul to describe this sore trial. He is in a boxing ring with the devil himself, and, as the present tense of the verb reminds us, the fight shows no sign of letting up.

The reality of Satan's power is stressed throughout the Bible. We see Satan tempting Adam and Eve into sin in Genesis 3; we read of him tempting David to sin by numbering Israel in 1 Chronicles 21; we find him obtaining permission to strike Job in Job 1; we see him engaging in conflict with Jesus, and trying to tempt the Son of God in Matthew 4. And four times in 2 Corinthians, Satan is mentioned by name (2:11; 6:15; 11:14; 12:7). Little wonder Paul says in the first of these references that "we are not ignorant of his devices". Satan will always take opportunity to try, test and tempt. He is the enemy of every child of God.

And he will exploit every weak point, every Achilles' heel he can find. We must be careful here, of course. Healing sicknesses is not a case of driving out demons; the answer to every physical problem is not an exorcism! Nevertheless, in our pain and suffering, Satan will press for an advantage. He will strike; sometimes he will seduce, sometimes he will entice; sometimes he will roar (1 Peter 5:8), and sometimes he will just try to wrestle grace itself out of our souls by racking our bodies with pain.

But Paul also detected in this thorn the hand of God -- he says "there was given me a thorn...". The path was to be difficult and the experience hard, but throughout there was the realisation that what came Paul's way came by God's express decree, permission and ordination. Sometimes that is the greatest comfort of all -- the simple knowledge that nothing happens without the knowledge of our Heavenly Father (Matthew 6:25-6). In his own trials, Job could say at last, even when prayer refused to comfort, and Heaven's door seemed closed, "God knows the way that I take, and when he has tried me I shall come forth like gold" (Job 23:10). Nothing gives us peace like the knowledge that the problems and sufferings of this life are given within the security of a covenant relationship that binds the child of God to the king of Heaven. If we have that assurance, we have everything we need in order to bear the pain and sufferings of this present, sinful world.

2. The Prayer Paul Offered

In verse 8, Paul tells us that when this thorn afflicted him, "I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me". That he could pray at all with this distraction in his weakened body, was quite remarkable, but his response to it was equally remarkable.

Have you ever noticed what Paul did not pray for? He did not pray for grace to endure the trial, or for strength to withstand the onslaught of Hell. He did not come to God with a heart full of praise for having brought him to the 'third Heaven'; saying "I saw and heard inexpressibly glorious things -- it doesn't matter what I suffer now, because the blessing was worth it all". He does not hanker after the experience of blessing. He does not come with sins in repentance, or in humility seeking assurance. All he wants is for God to take the pain away.

I know that God can, and does, heal. I know that he can make "beds of illness" places of sweet communion and fellowship. I know that he can supply rich provision when we are physically drained and pained. But I know something else. I know that pain can drive a man or a woman to a state of absolute distraction, where nothing matters but the possibility of a little relief. This may all sound very unspiritual to some people, but the reality is that even the most important issues of all -- issues of eternity, of salvation, of Heaven, of Hell, of communion, of Bible reading -- become temporarily eclipsed under a wave of pain and physical torment. Those who have been there know what I am saying. For those who are truly suffering there is only one prayer -- "Lord, take the pain away".

There is a corollary to that, of course. It serves to remind us that we must make use of all the opportunities we have to think and pray, in the absence of pain. I have watched people die, lingering on the brink of eternity, drugged and comatosed, unresponsive to any external stimulation, and I have often sent a prayer of thankfulness to God that I had made peace with God long ago. I thank God for every deathbed conversion, every eleventh hour transformation. But if you are reading this now, pain free, able to think and able to pray -- I beg of you, make your peace with God in Christ right now. A man in pain can think of nothing but that he might get a little relief. A man facing death may have no opportunity to think of Christ at all.

And did you ever notice how fervent Paul was with this prayer? Three times he asked God to take the pain away; and three times God said no. There is nothing wrong with offering the same prayer three times; Jesus himself did that in the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:44). The repeating of the prayer shows the agony of Paul's soul. There is nothing wrong with the repetition of a petition. Praise God that that is so! Indeed, James assures us that "the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much" (James 5:16). And I dare say that Paul's prayer on this occasion availed much too, but not in the way that he thought.

I think, though, that there is something else here. Sometimes we miss the obvious, and fail to see the wood for the trees. Yes, Paul prayed for something contrary to the will of God, over and over again. There is a lesson for us there. He prayed for relief from pain. There is a lesson for us there, too. But is there not a primary lesson for us in the fact that he prayed at all! That it was to God he went with his thorn in the flesh. Remember, he had detected three distinct elements to his pain: the affliction of his body, the boxing match with Satan, and the sovereign will of God. If he was to have any remedy at all, it was neither in himself nor in Satan that he was to find relief. What relief there was to be had could only be had in God.

Perhaps you are reading this having suffered some pain in your own life. I urge you to remember that help is not far away. You may be driven to a kind of insanity with the intensity of your pain. Maybe the only prayer you have is that God will give you a little relief. But whatever your condition, at least follow Paul's example: come to God with your burden, and he will sustain you. He may not give you the relief you are crying out for, or answer you instantly in the way you want. But often the discipline of prayer has its reward not in our speaking, but in our being heard. Prayer draws us to the source of all blessing. That is enough for us.

3. The Promise Paul Received

God answered Paul. He did not take the pain away immediately, nor did He give the instant relief Paul was looking for. Instead his reply to Paul was "My grace is sufficient for you, my power is perfected in weakness" (verse 9). I am going to suggest that there are three great elements to this promise.

First, there is the indication of God's personal interest in Paul. One of the beauties of this oft-quoted verse is in the simple fact of the relationship, the "my ... you" and "my ... your" construction. There is something in what is true about God that can connect with what is true about Paul at this very moment of pain and suffering.

One of the recent developments in theology has been something called "process" theology. Process theologians have argued that traditional views of God have left us with a God who is at a great remove from us, and has little or no relationship with the real world. We have applied the superlatives to him, described him as omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient; we have applied the negatives to him, described him as immutable, impassible, infinite, and so on. The net result of this, we are told, is that we have a stand-still God, who cannot relate to an ever-changing world. The more of these traditional, Calvinistic adjectives we apply, apparently the further away God gets pushed. We need, we are told, the God of the process, the God who is said in the Bible to repent, to change, to suffer, to feel, so that the changing God of the process can relate to us in a way that the stand-still God of the past cannot.

But perhaps the problem has not been with the words we have used, but with our failure to emphasise the personalness of the God whom the Bible reveals. I believe God IS everything we have always believed him to be, and rejoice in all that I have yet to discover of his greatness and glory. There are unfathomable depths to the God who remains the sovereign, electing, all-powerful, unchanging God of the universe.

Yet if I learn anything in the Bible, I learn that that God is a personal God, who takes a personal interest in my personal needs. Martin Buber (1878-1965), a Jewish philosopher who had a profound impact on modern theology, wanted to stress what he called the "I-Thou" relationship of love and personal interest between God and his people. It was not, he said, an "I-it" relationship. God is not something out there; he is someone who has come close in Christ, and who takes an interest in my case.

That, I think, is fundamental to the promise God gives Paul here. It is full of this personal commitment, this personal interest. We may be suffering, and in pain, to the extent that God's face is lost to us. But one thing is certain -- our face, our pain, our suffering are not hidden from God. He makes contact with us, and says to us "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine" (Isaiah 43:1).

Second, there is the indication of God's sufficient grace for Paul. What a wonderful word grace is! It is the heart of the Bible, the centre of our message. Grace provided a Saviour and a salvation (Romans 5:15; 2 Corinthians 8:9; Ephesians 2:5-8), enables us to serve God in this world (Hebrews 12:28), and is characteristic of the throne where Jesus now sits (Hebrews 4:16). And, furthermore, it is there for us to obtain in needy times (Hebrews 4:16; James 4:6).

What is grace? Nothing but the willingness of God to look on sinners in love. Sin brought sickness, death and suffering into the world. But God's grace came down from Heaven (Titus 2:11), and is able to restore what sin robbed from us (Romans 5:20; cf. Psalm 69:4). There is grace with God, and it is seen supremely in the coming of Christ, who is full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

God's promise to Paul was not that he would take the pain away, or that he would remove the thorn, or that he would ease the burden. Again and again Paul came, beseeching God to take the thorn away. Instead, God comes to him and reminds him of the sufficiency of grace. Paul cries, "This thorn proves to be too much!" God answers, "My grace will not prove to be too little!".

To put it another way, God did not give Paul what he asked for; instead, he gave him what he did not ask for. And, implicit in the verses is the fact that the proof of God's promise was to be seen in Paul's coming again and again to God with his burden, even when he did not get the relief he longed for. Do you see it there in the text? Do you want evidence that God's grace was, in fact, sufficient? It is to be found in the fact that God's first "No!" did not hinder Paul's second "Please!" Even before he asked, his heavenly Father knew what he needed (see Matthew 6:8).

James tells us that God will give more grace (James 4:6). But he never promises to give more than enough grace! The child of God is content to know that what grace there is will be tailored to his very need, by the God who knows him better than he knows himself.

Third, there is the indication of God's unlimited resources for Paul. "My power is to be perfected in your weakness", God says. Paul knows about God's power, over creation, over life, over death. He knows that the weakness of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25), and that God has worked in the hearts of his people precisely to show that it is by his power, not by theirs, that they persevere in the Christian life (2 Corinthians 4:7). Paul must learn it by experience now.

We are accustomed to hearing of scientists preparing for large projects by testing things on a small scale. For example, a recent television documentary on the efforts to build the world's largest plane showed how electronics engineers scaled down and replicated different parts of the aircraft to test them on a small scale first. You don't think about it when you are crossing the Atlantic in a jumbo; but without these small-scale trials and tests, in windtunnels and hangars on the ground, the air crew would not dream of taking you 30,000 feet up into the sky.

One day the world will see God's power. It will be displayed in judgement and consummation, when Jesus will return in his glory, with all the angels (Matthew 25:31). Every eye will see him, and every knee bow before him (Philippians 2:9). And that same power is being revealed on a small scale in each life that God has touched. The power that made the universe, and that will bring everything to its final destiny and climax, is the power that says to Paul: "you are weak, but you are a test case". Paul would endure to the end, bearing the burden, upheld by a power greater than anything in the universe, and able to keep all those who put their trust in Jesus Christ.

That was what the risen Christ promised his disciples: "You will have power" (Acts 1:8). It is what Paul ascribes to the Holy Spirit in Romans 15:13 and 19. It is what he encouraged the Corinthians to put their faith in (1 Corinthians 2:5). And now it is what will enable him to "glory in his infirmities" (verse 9), so that the power of Christ will rest in him. The thorn had weakened him, drained him of all resources. The very thing that struck him was his powerlessness. But his Lord would strengthen him, and keep him, and raise him up again.

4. The Purpose Paul Realised

One of the most moving aspects of this chapter is Paul's candid statement about the purpose he learned through it all. The pain was hard to bear; his prayers seemed to be unanswered. But he learned why God had done it. It was simply to keep him humble. In case the blessings he had received would exalt him unduly, making him think that he was something special, God kept him down.

God has his own different ways of teaching the same lesson. Like the skilled teacher who reinforces the same point in many different ways, God teaches us the best lessons of life in many different ways. We think we are something; our hearts fill with pride. Did not God use us in his kingdom? Are not our sermons second to none? Our prayers ceaseless? Our hearts righteous? Are we not indispensable to God's cause? Then -- just at that point when our hearts are ready to burst with pride -- God lets us fall into sin, or suffer loss, or yield to temptation, or slip, just to teach us that without him we can do nothing. Or, like Paul, he may send the pain to show us that the mercies of God are on the low shelf, not the high shelf. It was John Bunyan, in Pilgrim's Progress, who learned that

He that is down need fear no fall
He that is low no pride;
He that is humble ever shall
Have God to be his guide.

So here is this extraordinary spiritual man, the apostle Paul, whose graces were unique, whose life was free from guile, whose evangelism was fuelled by a desire to make Christ known. Yet Christ needs to drive a thorn into his very flesh just to keep him from being unduly exalted!

We may not always learn why God allows some things in our lives. One day, perhaps, we will. Paul learned it on this occasion. We may still be asking "Why?", or perhaps "Why now?", when there is so much work to be done, and so much ground to cover? Let us learn the great lesson of this testimony of Paul's: God knows what we need before we ask. Let us learn to cast the burdens on him, and if he does not give us what we want, it is only because what we want is not what we need, and what he will give us will prove in the end far more rewarding than what we could give ourselves.

© Iain D. Campbell 2001