… whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.
Summary: Paul, writing from prison, talks about sharing in the grace of God. This leads us to wonder about what “grace” is and what it means.
Have you ever noticed that whatever you are looking for, you always find it in the last place you look? It’s funny because it is true! It is also “funny” (odd) because sometimes the last place we look is the last place we would ever think to look.
For example, whoever thought the world would be saved by someone crucified by the Romans two thousand years ago?
Crucifixions were not something you would watch if you didn’t need to. People who were crucified were considered the scum of the earth. They were mocked, tortured, beaten, and dragged out of town to a place that smelled of death. People traveling along the road wouldn’t dally. The screams of pain could not have been pleasant to listen to.
If the crucifixions had been a billboard, the message emblazoned in blood-red colors would have said something like “THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO DISOBEY.” The Romans didn’t like people disobeying them.
People in prison were in a similar situation. The fact that they were in prison was a message to others. People in prison became the message, “DON’T DISOBEY!”
The message was vulgar, crude, and horrifying. It would be natural to shrink away as you passed by, just as one would give a wide berth to a rattlesnake on the road. Danger and unpleasantness are things to be avoided.
Yet, here in the upside-down world of Christianity, we find hope at the crucifixion of Jesus, and God’s grace in the prison where Paul is in chains (2 Corinthians 12:9).
What does this mean?
Prison and crucifixion are what we deserve. Not because we have disobeyed human laws or Roman rules, but because we have failed to love God above all else. In the Garden of Eden, it was easy to love God. Human eyes had not yet been opened to wanting to “be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). We hadn’t yet learned to compete with God. All we knew how to do was depend on him, trust him, and love him.
The last place we would look for grace is a Roman killing ground or a Roman prison. Yet, because of God’s infinite mercy, we find grace. God is willing to let us live in the hope that we will return to him. He is willing to send his Son, Jesus, to the cross to take the hit for us (Romans 5:8). He does this knowing that we don’t deserve it and may not even appreciate it. He does it hoping that we will turn and come home. This is called grace.
Application: Recognize God’s grace for what it is.
Food for Thought: How can Paul think he is sharing in God’s grace while confined in prison?
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