2nd Corinthians Chapter 3
Originally posted
Chapter 3:1-18 Ministers of
the New Covenant
If
we read this first passage immediately after 2:14-17 we can understand Paul's quick turn to disavow
any hint of boasting about his great work in Macedonia. As he frequently
reminds us, he has no room to boast (commend himself) of either status or
competence as a successful missionary among the Gentiles (but he
does). Any achievements are, after all, from God in Christ and
Christ in him. At a time when tensions and frayed feelings might still linger
among the Corinthians as they deal with his stern letter and changed schedule,
he doesn't want to be perceived by the community as being
haughty and self serving. His approach is to use a bit of flattery to
shift the spotlight from him toward them.
Unlike the
hucksters who are "peddlers of God's word" (2:17a), Paul does not require letters of commendation to tout his
abilities as an evangelist. He did not need them when he first came to Corinth
and he doesn't need them to be written by Corinth as he continues his work
elsewhere. Indeed, they are all the commendation he needs. The community itself
is a letter to be shared wherever he goes. The letter will not point to him,
but to the Corinthian community that has accepted Christ and turned
from idol worship to the worship of the true God. They have become
for Paul a spiritual letter of Christ written on the "tablets of
human hearts," alive and not of dead stone. Whatever competence he
has to be a minister "of [the] new covenant" is not his own
but what God has given.
His
phrase, "the letter kills" (vs.
6) and his use of the words "covenant" and
"stone" are the hinges by which Paul opens the door to his comparison
of this new covenant of the Spirit in Christ, with the old covenant
of stone in Moses (old covenant was a typical reference to the Old Testament in
general and the Law in particular). We have already read much of Paul's
understanding of the inadequacy of the Law to bring salvation, The Law (the
letter) kills because it cannot fulfill the righteousness it promises.
Therefore it is "the ministry of death" carved in stone on Mount
Sinai. Its inadequacy is evident (to Paul) as demonstrated by the example of
Sinai and the giving of the Law to Moses. When the Law was given it "came
in glory." It shone so brightly on Moses' face the people could
not look at him and he had to wear a veil. But now this ministry of death (in
stone) has been set aside and replaced by the ministry of life (in the
Spirit). The glory of the old covenant has faded away and has been
replaced by the permanent new covenant in Christ which came in a far
greater glory.
Paul
uses the comparison of the faded glory of the old with the permanent glory
of the new to address the issue of Jewish rejection of the Gospel of Christ.
While Paul and his fellow evangelists can claim the hope found in the new
covenant whose glory does not fade, those who continue to cling to the
old have not seen the setting aside of the old. Moses' veil now becomes an
obstacle to their seeing the old glory fading away. Even as the old
glory fades, the veil which only turning to Christ can remove remains
in place whenever the old covenant is read.
The
ending of the passage is in the form of a liturgical doxology. Paul emphasizes
the shifting nature of the covenant from being in stone to now being in
the Spirit. The Lord (Christ) is Spirit and the Spirit brings freedom (from the
Law). Paul writes that in our understanding of this freedom we, "with
unveiled faces," will see the reflected image of Christ's glory at
work. By doing so we are always in the process of being transformed into that
"same image of Christ from one degree of glory to another."
Beyond
the lofty words of Spirit and Glory, we cannot overlook the underlying message.
Paul understood the movement from paganism (unbelief) to Christianity as
one of absolute transformation. He frequently uses the Greek word
for Metamorphosis, a changing of form. In Greek "form" is the
essence and character of a person, the essential being. To be transformed is to
change the sustaining foundation of our essential being. In this case
Paul writes of changing from a world-centered foundation to one
centered in Christ. This does not happen (to most of us) in a
moment. It is an ongoing process, changing from one degree to
another. In Paul's view of human existence we are created in the image of
God. However, we have lost that image. It has faded away. Turning to Christ
begins the change to the image of Christ's characterized by the
relationship between Christ and God. Paul believed this is the best
expression of the Christian life well lived: to grow day by day in our
closeness to God, in thought, word and deed.
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