Paul’s warning to the church: (11:13-15):
Paul wanted to expose the so called apostles who are nothing but frauds. He calls them false apostles, deceitful workers. These false apostles are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. for no one can transform themselves. An apostle is one who is called by God, who has seen the Christ face to face and talked to Him. So these people can never become apostles of Christ. They are masquerading as apostles of Christ in order to deceive people and take more advantage from Christians. Satan himself has also masquerade as an angel of light. So Paul is warning the Corinthians not to be carried away by outward appearances. Satan has 3-forms which he normally deceives people.
- The subtle serpent
- The roaring lion,
- An angel of light.
If Satan can do such tricks in order to woo people, his followers can also do such things subtly to deceive many believers. It is foolish of Corinthians not to understand such tricks played by Satan.
A terrible condemnation is reserved for them because their end will be what their actions.
Paul’s credentials and the church: (11:16-22):
When Paul was speaking about himself, ,he would put little pint of sarcasm there by we can really make out of his hesitation to speak about himself. He would rather speak about Jesus than himself. In the previous chapter Paul said: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord”(10:17). Even John the Baptist said: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn.3:30). When Paul was serving them in humility, they disregarded him. It was the immature and unspiritual attitude of the Corinthians that forced Paul to write about his credentials and his experiences. This he had to do it to prove his love for the Corinthians and protect them from those who would lead them astray. But his boasting was not like others. If the Corinthians are wise enough to put up with so many fools, surely then can listen to Paul also. Paul must have thought to himself as “Answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself” (Pr. 26:5). So Paul boasted that it might help the church and his motives were pure and selfless, whereas the false apostles boasted for their benefit and selfishness. The Corinthians were so carried off that they are willing to listen to those false apostles who were trying to put them under the bondage of the law. They have come with domination and authority and even ill treat the Corinthians. Yet the Corinthians were happy to follow them because they were attracted and fancied by their outward appearance and the authoritative deceptive talk. Slapping on the face means that they were willing to be like slaves under the yoke of law than the freedom which the true Gospel gives. Paul admits that he is too weak to treat Corinthians in such a harsh and cruel way. The false apostles were employing 5-types of traits on the Corinthians:
- Enslaving: They brought the doctrine of legalism which was contrary to the Gospel of grace.
- Exploited: They took wages and their wealth. They were peddling the Gospel and took advantage of all financial support in contrary to what Paul was doing.
- Fooled them: They took full advantage and caught the doubting Corinthians.
- Self glory: They have exalted themselves by blowing their own trumpet. They did not glorify Christ.
- Slapped and shamed: They perhaps made verbal attacks and embarrass them in public.
In order to counteract Paul presented a briefly his credentials. He felt very foolish to boast, but his list of credentials would silence his critics. This may perhaps would help the Corinthians from slipping into the trap of false apostles. A detailed list of his credentials can also be seen in (Phi.3:4-8). Here he gives simply as that he is a Hebrew, an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham and a servant of Christ. But his sufferings in the later verses would speak volumes of commitment and dedication for the ministry.
Paul’s suffering for the church: (11:23-33):
- He was imprisoned very often and flogged: (11:23): Paul spoke of being in prison several times, even though the book of Acts tells us of only one instance in Philippi (Acts 16:20-24). The book of Acts is written much later. Five times he received 39-lashes from Jews. One less to 40 lashes are given to Paul is because Jews are afraid that they may miscount and trespass the law. As per the law “the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes” (Deu.25:3). Also it appears that the number 40 signifies completion. we find in the Bible 40-occupies a whole number. 40-years of Moses exile, 40-years rule of Saul, David, Solomon. Jesus fasted for 40-days before facing the temptation. Jesus appeared to people for 40-days after the resurrection etc.
Further the ancient Jewish writing describes the cruelty of the punishment as follows: The criminal is bound to a post, his breast is made bare. The scourge used was made of leather and have 4-tails so that each tail can hit sideways to increase the pain. The criminal is made to lie down during the punishment. The person who smites with the scourge uses his brute force so that it can cause maximum pain.