Parting shots!
| Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Be fully restored, be encouragers, agree with one another, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. (2Corinthians13:11) |
The problem is that the original Greek is shorter and more compact - phrases like "strive for full restoration" are caught up in single complex verbs that Paul spits out like a machine gun.
Let's look at his three of his verbs:
- The verb Paul uses for 'rejoice' can also be translated as 'farewell' but in this context, the verb is in an imperative form and so most modern translations choose 'rejoice'. And I think there is good reason to rejoice - Paul's letter to the Corinthians has reminded them that they may be clay pots, but the light of Christ has shone in their hearts and they have treasure within. (Remember ch.3,4,5?) They can also rejoice that when we are weak, Christ in us is strong and His grace is sufficient for us! (Remember 12:7-10?)
- The verb Paul uses for "strive for full restoration" is used in various contexts in the New Testament where it means 'prepare', 'create', 'mend', or 'restore' (but the overall sense is restoration). My favourite instance of its use is in the gospels when the Jesus finds the disciples mending/restoring their nets. What's interesting is that the verb's form in this passage is a passive imperative, in other words they are the object and not the subject of the restoration, and so it is better to translate "be restored/mended". Furthermore, in the Hebrew culture from which Paul came, the passive voice was often used to imply the work of God without having to use His name which they held in such high regard. Paul is really saying "let God restore you." In the light of the great difficulties the congregation was facing it was clear that they would need God's help to be healed. Paul lays the foundation for this in chapter 1: "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ... Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come."
- The verb for "encourage/comfort one another" is the same one as we find in 1:3 - "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God." And again, the verb is in the passive voice, indicating that God is the one who initiates this in us.
We'll look at the rest of the verbs next week....
Rejoice! Be restored! Be comforted comforters!
Because there are good reasons to do this - because God is at work in you. This is good news!!!
