The Power of Pressure (2 Corinthians 4:6-9) - Calvary Baptist Cobourg

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Paul did love a good metaphor. He loved to paint pictures with words, images that people could draw from their own lives to help them to understand the point he was trying to make. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, Paul is using imagery that his people can understand—something that they might have actually seen happening in their world: the imagery of a gladiator. The language that Paul uses here tells a story of combat.

The first time I read about this, I thought, “Wow, that's amazing!” because I had completely missed it. It's not in my world. Gladiators are outside my wheelhouse, but in Paul’s world, this image would have made sense to people as being gladiatorial. Let me explain.

 

In the first half of verse 8, Paul says we are “hard pressed on every side.”

Our gladiator is in the arena. At his back is a wall several times taller than he is. Up behind him and filling his entire horizon—everything that he can see—are people. People who are watching him. Their eyes are on him because they want to know—is he going to win? Is he going to lose? Is he going to stand? Is he going to fall? Is he going to live? Is he going to die? Down on his own level, immediately in front of our gladiator is his opponent. Another man who is in that arena to fight (literally) for his life. So our gladiator is pressed on every side… but he is not immobilized.

 

He is not “crushed.” He isn’t constrained. He has freedom of movement. His feet and hands are free and he has weapons. He has options. He is “hard-pressed” but he is not crushed.

 

Now our gladiator is "perplexed." His mind is racing. Put yourself in his shoes: setting aside the question of ‘How did I end up here in the first place?’ focus on ‘OK, now I'm here. What do I do? What would I do if I could? Well, I can't do that. So what about...? And, oh, look, this guy, he's leaning a little bit that way. So maybe maybe he's weak on that side. Maybe that's where I should attack.’ His thoughts speed through his head. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? He is perplexed, but he hasn’t given up.

 

He puts together everything he knows, and comes up with a plan. He makes a choice, and he acts. He engages in battle, and the swords clash. The shields collide. He is perplexed. But he is "not in despair." He hasn’t given up.

 

In verse 9 we read that our gladiator is “persecuted.” This is my favourite part.

 

“Persecution” is a particular word that in the Church we usually use to describe the way that our fellow believers are treated in nations where they do not have the freedom to worship, and to gather, and to speak the name of Jesus in public that we are privileged to enjoy. In the western world, we can also sometimes in our own lives feel that we are persecuted when we see how our culture has shifted, especially over the last few decades. It's easy for us as Believers to look at the news cycle and the last few decades, and to see a trajectory in our nation where people who call themselves by the name of Jesus are increasingly ignored, dismissed, mocked and demonized in small ways that are manageable, but have a cumulative effect. And we really can start to feel the weight of that.

 

But for Paul, in his language, that word “persecuted” implies pursuit: the idea that someone is running and being chased. It's a foot race or it is a run for your life. As our gladiator is fighting, maybe realizes he's a bit over-matched, or maybe his arms are getting tired, or he has an injury and he just needs some space, some breathing room… so he runs. He dodges and he runs out into open space, where it's easier for him to catch his breath, to defend himself, to see the opposition coming. Even more, maybe he's not only running away, but running toward a section of those seats up there on his horizon where he knows that there are some people who are cheering for him--who have not abandoned him--and he wants to fight with those people behind him, hearing their voices cheering him on as he battles for his life.

 

So he runs away from the threat. And he runs towards something he needs.

 

In Philippians 3:14, Paul writes, “…forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on (I persecute the race) towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

 

We are running towards Jesus Christ. We are running as he has called us to run. We are, as Paul says, running in the “light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ Jesus.” We are running with our faces turned toward his face. And because we are running towards his face, we are not abandoned. We are not running alone. Even if… especially if... we are running pursued: if we are running with the enemy behind, if we are running from the forces who would stop us, who would turn us around, who would even turn us just slightly off course and away from the face of Christ Jesus.

 

Because those forces do sometimes catch up with us. They do sometimes strike us down.

 

Our gladiator in 2 Corinthians 4:9 is "struck down." His knees hit the ground hard. His palms are scraped and embedded with sand and stone, and he is stopped. But he is "not destroyed."

 

In Matthew 10, Jesus was sending his twelve apostles out to preach for the first time, and this was a big stretch for them. This was a big deal. This was their first big assignment, being sent out without him to preach what he had been teaching them. Jesus (as Paul would imitate later) was honest with his apostles, telling them it was not going to be easy: “When you are persecuted,” (that same word), “When you are pursued in one place, flee to another.” But don't stop preaching. Don't stop doing what I told you to do. Jesus tells them, “Don't be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” He was telling his apostles that even if they were struck down, they would not be destroyed.

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