NOTES for Co2 12:10

Why, one wonders, would Paul be content in persecutions, in weakness, or, for example, when he is insulted? And what do the words "when I am weak, then I am strong" mean? At first glance such a position can seem strange. Indeed, only masochists rejoice in suffering; normal people are not like that. Paul, however, was clearly no masochist. What, then, could make him glad?

It should be noted, however, that the matter is not, strictly speaking, joy; the corresponding Greek word denotes rather a calm and balanced state of spirit, which the apostle evidently preserves in spite of the circumstances that have arisen, circumstances that do not at all dispose one to calmness of spirit. But why does such calmness of spirit become a sign of strength? And why does only weakness make Paul strong?

One could say, of course, that the strength of a person's conviction in what he confesses and preaches is generally tested precisely in times of persecution. But the matter is still not only this. The matter is the very nature of the Kingdom. And first of all in the fact that the Kingdom, according to the Savior's word, is "not of this world." And if so, if it lives by laws fundamentally different from the laws of the untransfigured world, then the power of the Kingdom is clearly not determined by what happens to a person in this world. Such independence in itself is the best witness that a person truly belongs to the Kingdom and lives its life, a life that the evil of the world is unable to take away from him because it has nothing in common with it.

But there is another side to this situation as well. It is precisely the feeling of the presence of strength within oneself at moments of complete weakness, that is, when one knows for certain that one has no strength at that moment and cannot have any because there is nowhere for it to come from, that is the best proof that this strength is truly from God. At other moments God's strength can sometimes be confused with the powers of this world, with the natural energy inherent in every healthy person. But when there is no natural energy at all, one can be sure that any strength one feels within oneself is from God. And that means the work for which it is given is God's work.

Why, one wonders, would Paul be content in persecutions, in weakness, or, for example, when he is wronged? And what do the words "when I am weak, then I am strong" mean? At first glance such a position may seem strange. Indeed, only masochists rejoice in suffering; normal people are not like that. Yet Paul was obviously not a masochist. What, then, could make him glad? It should be noted, however, that this is not exactly about joy; the corresponding Greek word denotes rather a calm and balanced state of spirit, which the apostle evidently preserves despite the circumstances, circumstances that are in no way conducive to calmness of spirit.

But why does such calmness of spirit become a sign of strength? And why does only weakness make Paul strong? Of course, one could say that the strength of a person's conviction in what he confesses and preaches is tested precisely in times of persecution. But the matter, it appears, is not only this. The point is the very nature of the Kingdom. And above all, that the Kingdom, according to the Savior's word, is "not of this world." And if so, if it lives according to laws fundamentally different from the laws of the untransformed world, then the strength of the Kingdom is obviously not determined by what happens to a person in this world. Such independence in itself is the best testimony that a person truly belongs to the Kingdom and lives its life, a life that the evil of the world is unable to take away from him because it has nothing in common with it.

But there is another side to this situation as well. It is precisely the sense of the presence of strength within oneself in moments of complete weakness, that is, when you know for certain that you have no strength at that moment and cannot have any because there is nowhere for it to come from, that is the best proof that this strength truly comes from God. At other moments God's strength can sometimes be confused with the powers of this world, with the natural energy inherent in every healthy person. But when there is no natural energy at all, you can be sure that any strength you feel within yourself is from God. And that means the work for which it is given is God's work.

To change oneself and his life is exceptionally difficult. That is why, by calling for renovation, the apostle speaks such wonderful words. This thought became one of the most important in Christians’ conception of life and death. The apostle says that death frees us from obligations and links accumulated during life, first of all because we lose the possibility of practicing these links. That’s exactly why physical death, depriving from the possibility of committing sin, gives us the possibility to turn away from it. So, the words of the apostle give us the reason to say that Christians begin a new life, free of sin already now and here.

It is important, because we often think that Christians wait for a sepulchral reward or we use unbiblical representations of hell and paradise, with frying pans and stream of nectar accordingly. No, Christians, in distinction from the followers of other religions, wait for nothing. They become citizens of the kingdom of Heaven already now, that’s why this word of the apostle.

People tend to experience their own weakness rather painfully. There is little they will not do in order to feel strong, significant, and worthy. We perceive weakness as our unfitness for anything good. And so we very readily use our own weakness to justify our unwillingness to resist evil. After all, what can we really do?

And now the Lord speaks these astonishing words to the apostle Paul. It is precisely in this weakness, when you yourself can do nothing, that the power of God reaches its fullness. This is very consoling: you need not fear your weakness. More than that, it turns out that a person's significance and strength consist in not seeking his own greatness, but in making room for this power of God. To do this, it is important to consent to being weak—for the sake of God and His power. It is also important to accept that whatever you do will be done not by you, but by God. And the merit will be God's. Thus you will become a participant in His life and His work, and they are eternal.

Paul, as always, expresses very deep and at the same time very ordinary things in an emotional and paradoxical form. And the point here is not only that the apostle simply gives vivid form to the most banal thought: "Well, pride is bad, while humility and sorrow are good." That is hardly the essence of the passage. After all, not all pride, or "boasting, self-exaltation," is the same, nor is all humility. The same is true of sorrows.

But the fact that various human achievements, even the most elevated and well-intentioned, very often can lead a person into the thickets of arrogance and conceit is well known. And all because these great accomplishments, whether the conversion of nations to Christianity, the building of almshouses and shelters, or the deepest mystical illuminations, mean nothing in themselves for the person carrying them out or participating in them. Only what changes the heart, making it more sensitive to evil and to good, to the pain and joy of each individual person we meet on our path, only this has any value. Thanks to this alone a person gradually becomes truly human, a person capable of becoming like Christ, the Universal Man and God-man...

Our own pain or life's hardships, received as a gift from God, bring us closer to ourselves and lower us from the clouds of fantasy to the ground of reality. They show human limitation and smallness and, at the same time, the great power of human courage and trust: everything that helps us sense, as fully as possible, the presence of the Other both amid gray everyday life and in extremely modest living conditions, in communication with the most ordinary people, during exhausting workdays, in every insignificant moment...

Speaking about his spiritual experience, Paul clearly distinguishes two different people within himself. Of course, this is not about some schizophrenic splitting of personality.

Here before us again is that objectively existing duality from which even those who live in the Kingdom cannot escape completely until the end of time. The apostle, of course, understands perfectly well that the person who was caught up to the "third heaven" (vv. 1-4) is himself. Plainly, the experience of being in the "third heaven" was an experience of the Kingdom, experienced by Paul with such vividness. But he also understands that his present spiritual state is still very far from what it should have been if he had been able to contain within himself the life of the Kingdom in the fullness that was revealed to him in his best moments (vv. 5-6). Paul, like every spiritually sober person, realizes that our spiritual state is determined not by what we can see, but by what we are able to contain. It is no accident that he speaks of a certain "thorn in the flesh," as he himself puts it, from which he never managed to be freed despite all his requests to God (vv. 7-9).

Plainly, the request was left unanswered for a reason, and the apostle understood this: if things had been otherwise, Paul could easily have thought that spiritually he fully corresponded to the revelations he had received. Meanwhile, he understands perfectly well that what is involved is, in essence, a kind of advance gift. An advance gift received by everyone who once comes to share in the Kingdom. This is not surprising: otherwise no one would ever be able even to see it. But the first sharing in the life of the Kingdom does not mean that the path is already complete. It continues further so that, once having shared in the Kingdom, the one who has shared in it would more and more contain it within himself, take into himself the breath of God with which the Kingdom is permeated, being spiritually transformed and growing. And the less strong and perfect a person feels himself to be, the easier it is for him to walk this path (v. 10). The path that leads to the fullness awaiting the inhabitants of the Kingdom at the end of time.