For a long, long time, the Jewish people had been waiting for the kingdom of God. When it arrived, the Lord would bless His people and vanquish their Gentile rulers and foes. He would set everything right.
Israel wanted a Savior.
The Old Testament proclaims the Lord God to be the Savior of His people. Take the confidence of David as an example:
“They will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God their Savior.” – Psalm 24:5
And Hosea reports the word of the Lord as follows:
“But I have been the LORD your God ever since you came out of Egypt. You shall acknowledge no God but Me, no Savior except Me.” – Hosea 13:4
The New Testament holds to this belief, too. In her song, Mary declares,
“My spirit rejoices in God my Savior” – Luke 1:47
But the New Testament describes both God and Jesus as Savior. Here’s Luke’s report of a comment in one of Paul’s sermons:
“From this man’s descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as He promised.” – Acts 13:23
In this verse, God kept His promise to Israel by sending Jesus the Savior.
But elsewhere, Paul refers to God, not Jesus, as the Savior. Paul uses this language in his first letter to Timothy:
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope” – 1 Timothy 1:1
So is Jesus our Savior or isn’t He?
We can attach another question, too. Is Jesus God or not?
Yes to both!
“While we wait for the blessed hope–the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ” – Titus 2:13
“Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours” – 2 Peter 1:1
The apostles Paul and Peter treated Jesus the same way the Old Testament prophets regarded the Lord. He was God and Savior.
The Scriptures declare the divinity of the Son.
“Thomas said to Him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” – John 20:28
“Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.” – Romans 9:5
But Jesus didn’t come to this world to impress people or put on a miracle show.
He came to save.
In Christ, God gave the Israelites they’d been waiting for. And in Him, the Father offers to everyone what they need.
You know how crossword puzzles like to repeat certain words or phrases? The clues vary from game to game, but the same answer will pop up in successive puzzles.
Doing crosswords is how I learned that Bert Lahr was the actor who played the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz. I saw his name enough times that I can’t forget him now!
Well, it turns out Bert wasn’t the first to fill that role. Centuries earlier, many in the church at Corinth viewed the apostle Paul as the Cowardly Lion. Paul was aware of this, and he addressed it in the following verse:
“Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ–I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!” – 2 Corinthians 10:1
(I’m quoting from the NASB in this post.)
Paul was behaving like the movie character. From a distance, he could talk (and sing) with bravado, but in the presence of his opponents, he seemed like a wimp.
At least that’s how the Corinthians judged him.
But were they right? Did Paul lack confidence? Did he need a wizard to give him the Triple Cross ? (That’s the medal the lion got which had the word “courage” on it.) Well, let’s dig into the verse!
Paul presents a clear contrast. On one side, he sets “meekness,” “gentleness,” and “meek.” On the other, he mentions being “bold.” It looks like both describe him, depending on the circumstances. The Corinthians contended that in their presence, Paul treated them with deference. But when he wrote them, he’d use bombastic, daring language.
It turns out the Greek verb translated “bold” occurs six times in the New Testament. And what surprised me is that Paul is the only writer who uses it (except for the writer of Hebrews 13:6). And to be more specific, all his references are in 2 Corinthians! Here are the other four verses besides 10:1.
“Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord” – 2 Corinthians 5:6
“But we are of good courage and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord.” – 2 Corinthians 5:8
“I rejoice that in everything I have confidence in you.” – 2 Corinthians 7:16
“I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I intend to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.” – 2 Corinthians 10:2
Boldness, courage, confidence–call it what you will! But it was important to Paul in his dealings with the Corinthian church. Unlike the Cowardly Lion, Paul wasn’t searching for boldness; he claims he has it! It’s how he serves the Lord.
But remember, the apostle contrasts boldness with meekness. Well, to be precise, Paul writes about two nouns (meekness and gentleness) and an adjective (meek). These are synonymous; they portray a posture which the Corinthians interpreted as timidity bordering on cowardice. They got Paul all wrong! He doesn’t have a Courage medal; he has Spirit-inspired boldness poured into his heart! He’s confident in the gospel of Jesus Christ. It changed his life and it can save others, too!
Why did the Corinthians misunderstand Paul? It’s for the same reason we’re liable to misconstrue his meaning in 2 Corinthians 10:1. The meekness Paul refers to has less to do with emotion or attitude than it does with status. In the ancient world, social status was everything. The more elevated one’s status, the more honor one received. And the opposite was also true. The lower one’s status the less honor one held, even to the point of shame.
The Corinthians assumed that if Christ chose Paul, it was because he was smart and spiritual. But he didn’t promote himself. Instead, Paul sought to train others in the ways of the Lord so they could take on the personality of Jesus. As a result, the Corinthians misinterpreted Paul’s lowliness and weakness. It’s as if he had little social and spiritual clout in their eyes.
Big mistake!
But we’re liable to commit a related error. It’s easy for us to view Paul’s meekness as emotional or attitudinal. While it involves these elements, it exceeds them. Lowliness describes how he ministered. The apostle behaved as a servant, not a master. He put himself down on the social status hierarchy so that he could lift up others and exalt Jesus Christ.
The Corinthians had trouble learning that lesson. I hope we don’t! People will see Jesus in His followers if we can accept God’s call to walk in humility. As we do, our ministry and our message will touch people’s lives with power because nothing in us hinders. Our aim is to please the Lord and bless people with the good news.
