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Triumphal Procession

2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle

Apr 8, 2018


by: Jack Lash Series: 2Corinthians: Paul's Most Underappreciated Epistle | Scripture: 2 Corinthians 2:14

I. Introduction
 A. Next week Philip Rice will be preaching. And then the next week I will preach on Isaiah 55, in light of the retreat.
  1. And please pray for me as we approach 2Cor.3. Chapter 4 is wonderful, but ch.3 is very difficult.
 B. This was originally supposed to be the Easter sermon, but then I studied the passage carefully and it doesn’t say what I thought it said and it no longer seemed best for Easter.
 C. Paul had written a severe letter to confront sins in the church at Corinth, and sent it in the hand of his coworker Titus. But his love for the Corinthians was such he was very anxious about how they might respond. So much so that even though he had an opening to preach the gospel in Troas, he hopped on a ship across the Aegean Sea in order to catch Titus on his way back and find out how the Corinthians had taken it.
 D. 2Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
II. Explanation of “But thanks be to God”
 A. 2:14 “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ.”
 B. The "but" that begins this verse is in happy contrast to the "no rest" in v.13. When Paul finally found Titus in Macedonia and heard the report of the Corinthians’ generally positive reaction to his severe letter, he gives thanks to God (cf. 7:6-9).
  1. He recognizes that the positive response to his letter was a result of the work of God.
  2. All of life is relational – between God and us. So, when something good happens, we are not alone in that, just as we are not alone in the experience of trouble.
  3. The missing part of prayer
   a. Where should we go when God answers our prayers?
   b. The tendency to ask but never thank.
   c. It’s OK to be driven to prayer by fear or by need, but we should also be driven to prayer by joy. (Cf. James 5:13)
  4. Prayer chain: send the answer so we can all praise God for His answer.
III. Explanation of “who always leads us in triumph in Christ”
 A. After his "thanks be to God," Paul says: "who always leads us in triumph in Christ."
 B. But it doesn’t mean what you might think it means.
 C. THRIAMBEUOMAI: the Greek word here translated “leads in triumphal procession” refers to the elaborate celebration of victory for a conquering Roman general returning home and parading through the streets of Rome.
  1. But here’s the twist: when it is used in its transitive form (as it is here) it refers to one specific part of a Roman triumphal procession: a group of chained captives being marched through the streets on their way to be executed.
  2. This image was widely known in the ancient Roman world, and especially so in a Roman city like Corinth.
  3. So, the idea here is not of a victorious army being led by its captain after a mighty battle. Rather, the image is of captives being led by a captain who has captured them, displaying His mighty power by exhibiting his conquered foes.
  4. Thus, the NIV reads, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession.” instead of “who always leads us in triumph in Christ.”
  5. Some have objected to this and taken it instead as a metaphor about the triumph of the gospel. But we can’t just make it say what we want it to say. We’ve got to deal with it saying what it says. And the implication of it in the Greek is that the way Christ leads us in perpetual triumph is as His subdued captives, not as His victorious army.
 D. Now this is a strange image for Paul to introduce here. Why does he do so?
  1. This image is part of Paul’s response to accusations which some in the Corinthian church had raised against Paul.
   a. As in our day, some Corinthians were enamored with power, success, & triumphalism. The idea of what constituted a good leader in the Greek and Roman mind was a man who was upper-class, independently wealthy, well-esteemed, successful, educated, benevolent, free, patriarchal, and worldly-wise. Basically, it’s the same expectation that has dominated most of the American concept of leadership down through history.
   b. But Paul’s leadership claim and style of exercising authority was markedly different. In his teachings and writings (e.g. 1Cor 9:16–18) Paul depicted his leadership as a form of slavery – to Christ – and that his only authority derives from his master.
  2. In the eyes of these Corinthians, Paul’s suffering, persecution and life of trouble meant he was not respectable and implied impotence & cast doubt on his legitimacy as an apostle.
   a. They were critical of him for his weakness, suggesting he was a person of shame and ridicule, basically a low-life, not consistent with their concept of what an apostle should be.
 E. How does Paul respond to these criticisms? He did not shy away from them or apologize for them. Over and over again in 2Corinthians Paul not only justifies his experiences of peril, affliction and humiliation, but he glories in them!
  1. “I will boast of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2Corinthians 12:9–10
  2. In 1Cor 4:9–13 he had already addressed their criticism of him, seemingly using the same image as he uses here in 2:14: “For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like men condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to men. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! (Here he’s using sarcasm to belittle their view of leadership.) We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.” (NIV)
  3. Paul argues that his suffering and humiliation does not nullify his power as an apostle but that it reveals more clearly the power of God.
  4. Paul’s philosophy of ministry is summarized well in 2Corinthians 4:10 “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (NIV)
 F. You see, Paul isn’t just proclaiming the apostolic message of the cross. He is living it out the message of the cross in the flesh. The cross has set the tone and provided the paradigm for Paul’s message and for his style of ministry.
IV. One of the reasons I wanted to spend a whole week on this little verse is that it is a good place to introduce this theme, which is one of the main themes of 2Corinthians.
 A. This is radical stuff.
 B. Rome was not the big power in the world in the 1st century, just like Russia, China and the US are not the big powers in the world today.
 C. God is THE supreme power in the world.
 D. The purpose of the Roman triumphal procession was to flaunt the power of Rome. It reinforced the myth that the Roman emperor was the god-like strongman of the world.
 E. But the real conqueror is Jesus Christ, and we are His captives. We were once His enemies (Rom 5:10), part of Satan’s empire. But now we have been subdued by the power of God and have become the happy captives of Jesus Christ:  "He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son." (Col.1:13)
  1. What Paul is saying here is not that Christians are victorious generals — or even soldiers — in God’s army, sharing in the glory of Christ’s triumph. Rather, he says we are former enemies, now defeated and being led as a part of a display revealing the
 F. God did not capture us in order to show off OUR glory/intelligence/strength/power. He captured us and put us on display in order to show His majesty and the overcoming power of His grace.
 G. We are His trophies of war so that all the world can behold His mighty grace — not by the humiliation of His captives, but by the humility of His captives — along with our health, our happiness and our hope. Our Christ-filled lives are exhibited before a world which knows nothing of the power of His grace.
 H. As Christ triumphed by dying a humiliating death on a cross, so His followers triumph with Him by being likewise defeated.
  1. You see, in order for us to be delivered and enjoy true freedom, God has to shatter the fortified walls of our own strength, our own wisdom, our own ‘having it all together’ and make us slaves to Christ.
  2. But we have not been defeated by a vengeful deity. We have been captured by love, a “love that will not let me go.” But this Love knows that true deliverance for us can only come from the defeat of our old life — our pride, our self-sufficiency, our ambition, our independence.
  3. And so it is that Christ’s aim is not to turn His followers into winners (in the worldly sense). He is more interested in our growth in humility, and in our dependance on Him. He is more zealous to teach us about our own weakness and need, so we know that any good which comes to us or through us is from God.
  4. Martin Luther said: “God creates out of nothing. Therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him.”
V. Conclusion
 A. Brothers and sisters, this is so important for us to hear.
  1. One of the greatest struggles I’ve had as a pastor is the struggle of ministering in strength, confident in my own abilities. And God has been shattering my pride and my confidence in my own abilities. And I’m so thankful!
 B. One of the major words of derision the world uses is ‘loser.’ As in “You’re such a loser!” That reflects how the world thinks.
  1. In Paul’s mind, God does not make the followers of Christ winners, as the world defines winners. Rather, He captures them and leads them as humbled prisoners.
  2. Paul is happy to say, “Yes, I boast in the fact that I am a loser. Christ has won me. I am now proud and happy to be His slave.”
 C. In don’t mean that we don’t share in Christ’s victory. And I don’t mean by God’s grace, we don’t live victoriously in Christ. But before we are winners, we are losers. In the biggest struggle of our lives, the one between us and God, we are losers. He is the winner.
 D. You see, you only get raised from the dead when you die first.
  1. We can’t have resurrection life without going through death.
 E. Is it wrong to avoid pain? Sometimes it is. It’s wrong to avoid pain when it involves withholding love. It’s wrong to avoid pain when you’re just thinking about yourself.
 F. I think this is one of the main reasons so many of us isolate ourselves and live in a Christian cocoon.
  1. Out there in the world Christians get belittled and ridiculed. They get crucified.
  2. Just as Jesus said in John 15, those who preach Christ crucified cannot expect to be crowned with glory by the world which crucified him.
  3. Out there in the world it’s confusing and you face things you don’t know how to deal with.
  4. I think the reason we are not bold is not because we’re weak. It’s because we don’t want to be weak, we want to be strong and be in control. We want to know everything and know how to do everything, we want to be safe, or else not get involved.  
  5. But God wants us to be compelled by His love (2Cor.5:14), and content in our weakness, because God’s power is made perfect in our weakness. – 2Corinthians 12:9
 G. This is one of the things I most respect and appreciate about Sonship. It grasps the principle of how God’s power is manifested in our weakness. It emphasizes the power of the cross. I’m looking forward to the retreat.