II Corinthians 4:3-6 completes the remarks Paul is making regarding apostolic boldness that he began in 3:12-13. Paul is making these remarks as he continues the defense of his ministry that he will not complete until 7:1. Such controversy drives Paul back to the positions he has taken in his life. As we will see, the trip is worth taking for Paul and for us, when controversy comes our way. The stress involved in controversy can stimulate us to review our language, imagery, and actions. It can cause us to review that for which we stand. It can cause us to clarify. While controversy can make us defensive, it can start us on a journey of creativity. Paul shares some of the reasons for the challenges the church of his time encounters in its ministry. The gospel does not appear victorious.
Sometimes, seeing is believing. At other times, believing allows us to see, sometimes for the first time. For the Christian, the good news is that divine light has shined through Jesus Christ and into our lives. Yet, for many people in the world, for many of our family and neighbors, the gospel has a veil over it. What has the power to veil it? Paul is unafraid to call it the god of this world, the ruler of this age, and even “so-called” gods. Jesus faced real opposition. Those who follow him face real opposition. Yet, we who call ourselves Christians must admit that part of the veiling of the gospel is the lives of Christians and the Christian community. Paul often pointed to the suffering he endured as an apostle. Many people, even within the church, considered it a problem. The point is that Christians go through the same struggles of human life as do anyone else. Their experience of human life shows no obvious superiority to that of others. Human life has a routine and a fragile quality to it. In fact, following Jesus will lead some to increased hardship.
Christian life has the ambiguity of “already” and “not yet.” Christ has “already” come, showing the light of the gospel, especially in the resurrection. The light has “already” come upon those who believe. However, the fact that so many people do not live according to the light is a sign that we are “not yet” at the end. We are still moving toward it.
Paul has said that the truth of the gospel is open for all to see. Yet, he acknowledges that not everyone sees. Thus, 3 even if, for the sake of argument, our gospel is veiled (κεκαλυμμένον)[1] just as the law had a veil, the gospel has a veil only to those who are perishing. We find here an unexpected admission. Paul is willing to grant at least the possibility that the “gospel” has in some sense a “veil,” but what might that metaphor of “veiling” mean? Considering his previous argument, the metaphor must arise from the story of veil Moses had to place over his face and particularly the interpretation Paul offered of it as something that prevents seeing the reality of a thing. The metaphor thus anticipates the next stage of his argument. To reverse the order of Paul, just as the clay jar might prevent one from seeing the treasure inside (v. 7), so the veil prevents people from seeing “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (v. 4). 4 In their case, the god of this world (ὁ θεὸ το αἰῶνο τούτου) has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. Paul is conceding the possibility because of what the god of this age has done to people who hear the gospel. We find this expression only here in the New Testament. The more usual phrase is “the ruler(s) of this age/world” One might compare other verses that suggest a similar theme. The wisdom and rules of this age will perish (I Corinthians 2:6). His readers once lived by following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit at word among the disobedient (Ephesians 2:2). The ruler of this world is coming, but that ruler has no power over Jesus (John 14:30).[2] The phrase designates one of a variety of spiritual beings active through beliefs and social structures that have a corrupting influence in human affairs. Our struggle is not only a human one, but against rulers, authorities, cosmic powers of this present darkness, and the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12).[3]Paul seems to side with those Jews who had developed a form of apocalyptic dualism. The righteous await deliverance from the present evil age. While he believed there was truly only one God, Paul also believed there were many “so-called gods … and lords” (I Corinthians 8:4-6) that nevertheless control the actions of people because of their belief in them. We need to pause and ponder what Paul is saying here. We may well see here an attempt to explain the rejection that the church has suffered repeatedly in its history the difference between the elect and the non-elect. The elect are those who let the church draw them into the fellowship of the church and allow their fashioning into the likeness of Christ, while the reprobates are those who remain outside. Wilcken’s offers the translation, “If our message of salvation remains hidden, it is from the lost that it is concealed, from unbelievers in whom the god of this world has blinded their minds.” The problem with this view is that the church is not always a clear sign and representation of what has already dawned in Jesus Christ. The church, by its life together, often distorts its intended purpose to the point of unrecognizability. One may always find justifiable grounds on which to remain aloof from the church. Some who remain aloof do so out of disenchanted longing for the rule of God that they no longer see in the life of the church.[4] The action of the god of this age people has a simple goal. This god wants to keep them from seeing the light (φωτισμὸν) of the gospel of the glory oεὐαγγελίουof Christ (εὐαγγελίου τῆς δόξης τοῦ Χριστοῦ),
who is the image (εἰκὼν) of God. The likeness of God in human form found manifestation only in Jesus Christ. It would be well to ponder the Christological hymn of Colossians 1:15-20 at this point. In Christ alone we see our destiny of fellowship with God. In fact, that is the point of the revelation of divine likeness in Christ. Christian theology must read the Old Testament about our creation in divine likeness in the light of such statements in which Paul calls Jesus Christ the image of God. Such a statement that Christ is the image of God has in view a closeness to God that goes beyond the divine likeness grounded in creation.[5] 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves; a statement that may suggest his opposition is preaching themselves, we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, the simple confession of faith in the early church, and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. We should note the close connection between apostolic proclamation of the gospel and apostolic commission. Apostolic ministry is a gift and a task, not personal accomplishment and thus not a reason for self-congratulation. The result of responding to the gospel is to become a slave or servant. Paul lived his life as a servant among them. Paul's assertion underscores the depth of his conviction regarding this matter. Extending the metaphor in which he identifies himself and his ministry partners as "slaves," he implicitly regards the Corinthian disciples as their masters, thus diminishing their own standing in deference to them. One might have expected, in keeping with the spirit of this age, that a glorious gospel would have marvelous benefits for those who receive it. Rather than power, prestige, wealth, and the like, responding to the gospel means continuing the ministry of servanthood rather than lordly domination that Christ himself had already begun. We might say that some people accept the standards of this world. Paul says the standards of this world blind them. The result is that they will not see the glory of the Lord or his ministers whose slaves are serving the needs of others. In our secular culture, a primary value is that of liberating the self from external constraints of authority, especially if that authority derives from tradition. Yet, we have often exchanged the wisdom and insight that derives from tradition for the authority of an ideology, usually political, as our new master. The new master does not have the benefit of time-tested truth. Rather, the new master reveals the shallow quality of much of our thinking about that which ultimately concerns us, about social, political, and economic arrangements, and morality of our choices. Yet, Paul, his team, and many followers of Jesus through the centuries, can testify to the genuine joy they find in serving something greater than self. Parents serve their children. Children serve aging parents. The rich serve the poor. The healthy serve the sick. The strong serve the weak. Many people have found their deepest and most joyful experiences in serving. This is a challenging thing for most of us to wrap our minds around because ambition and achievement have carefully schooled us. Ambition is a wonderful thing. We do well to encourage our children to be ambitious, to work hard, and to make a success of themselves. Yet, for the follower of Jesus, the point of life is letting Jesus shine through. This approach to life will require humility. Humility needs to precede, accompany, and follow everything we do. To think of it in a physical way, humility needs to be ahead of us so that we can focus upon it, beside us so that we can lean upon it and behind us so that pride will not sneak behind us and rob us of the joy of humility.[6]
We often hunger for more in life. Such a hunger can have a positive dimension in that our hunger can drive us to new pursuits. Yet, it has a darker side with which most of us are all too familiar. I share a story of a humble barber who was passing by a tree that turned out to be haunted. From out of the tree, the barber heard a voice: "Would you like to have seven jars of gold?" Looking around, he saw no one. He could not imagine where the voice was coming from. However, the voice aroused the greed already in him. He shouted eagerly, "Yes, I certainly would." "Then go home at once," said the voice. "You will find them there." The barber ran all the way home, and it turned out to be just as the ghostly voice had promised. There, sitting by the hearth, were seven jars, six of them filled to the brim with gold -- and the seventh, which was only half-full. Of course, the barber was delighted with the unexpected gift, but something bothered him. He could not bear the thought of having a half-filled jar. He knew that, somehow, he had to fill it. If he did not, he could never be happy. Therefore, he took all his wife's jewelry, and begged his family and friends to loan him theirs. He threw them into the half-filled jar. However, the jar was enchanted. No matter how much treasure he threw in, it remained half-filled, as before. He saved, scrimped, and starved his family, but he could never bring the level of that seventh jar any higher. One day, he asked for an audience with the king and demanded that the king double his salary. The king agreed, but still it was no good. The jar devoured each piece of gold he flung into it. When the king summoned the barber to cut his hair, he noticed how desperate and unhappy the man looked. "What is wrong with you?" he asked. "You used to be so happy when your salary was smaller. Can it be that you have been given the seven jars of gold?" The barber was astonished to hear this. "Who told you about that, Your Majesty?" The king laughed. "I know the symptoms. The ghost once offered the jars to me. When I asked if I could ever spend the money, or if I must merely hoard it, he vanished without a word. Take it from me: you will never spend that money. It only brings with it the compulsion to hoard. Go and return the seven jars to the ghost this very minute. You will be a happy man once again." So he did and so he was.[7]
6 For it is the God, as opposed to the false god of this age, who said, showing that the human situation is not hopeless, “Let light shine out of darkness,” (rather than “in” darkness, suggesting a reference to creation in Genesis 1:3). This true God has shone the light in our hearts to give to others the light (φωτισμὸν) of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The light has come to the apostles so that they may enlighten others. Such a notion has firm Old Testament roots. People who lived a deep darkness have the experience of light shining upon them (Isaiah 9:2). The people of God can have their light rise in the darkness if they feed the hungry and minister to the afflicted (Isaiah 58:10). When the prophet sits in darkness, the Lord will be a light to him (Micah 7:8).[8] We may justly ponder if Paul offers us a reflection on his personal experience of conversion and calling to apostleship.[9] The gospel of Jesus is an unveiling. God has removed a barrier between God and humanity in the gospel. Light shines into darkness. God grants access to the divine to those whose rebellion forbade it. What one needs is to lift the veil and allow the light to reach those who are perishing is a new creation, a new age that will free them from the influence of this world-age. Therefore, the God who brought light to the primordial darkness has shined in our hearts. Those whom God enables to understand divine glory clearly at last shines through the human Jesus and his ministry have the veil lifted from their eyes that would obscure the truth of the gospel, and so God saves them from perishing.
This text, first, gives a realistic appraisal of the mission of the church. The church faces real opposition. Paul follows this by a reaffirmation of the message of the church and the place of believers in it. Lastly, Paul brings the rationale for hope to the level of personal experience. It is precisely amid life, at times routine and at times fragile, that one knows the divine splendor.
[1] That statement is in Greek the protasis of a “concessive” clause with the verb in the indicative mood “even if [it] has been veiled”). Such statements have the nuance of things conceded or granted “for the sake of argument.”
[2] I Corinthians 2:6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish.
Ephesians 2:2 in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.
John 14:30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me;
[3] Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
[4] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 524-5.
[5] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 176, 208, 215, 219.
[6] The way to Christ is first through humility, second through humility and third through humility. If humility does not precede and accompany and follow every good work we do, if it is not before us to focus on, if it is not beside us to lean upon, if it is not behind us to fence us in, pride will wrench from our hand any good deed we do at the very moment we do it. --Augustine.
[7] The Song of the Bird, Anthony de Mello
[8] Isaiah 9:2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness-- on them light has shined.
Isaiah 58:10 if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday.
Micah 7:8 Do not rejoice over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD will be a light to me.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 354.
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