Catholic Commentary on 2 Corinthians 11

"I will boast of the things that show my weakness." (2 Corinthians 11:30)

Paul and the False Apostles

Paul engages in what he calls foolish boasting, forced on him by the false apostles who have infiltrated the Corinthian community. He is jealous for them with a godly jealousy: he presented them as a pure virgin to Christ, and he fears they may be led astray from sincere devotion to Christ as Eve was deceived by the serpent. For if someone comes and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus Paul preached, or a different spirit or a different Gospel, the Corinthians put up with it easily enough. The false apostles disguise themselves as apostles of Christ, as Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising that his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. The Catechism cites this passage in its treatment of discernment of spirits: not every spiritual experience or claimed authority is from God, and the community must test what it receives against the Gospel it first received (CCC 2847).

The Catalogue of Sufferings

Are the false apostles servants of Christ? Paul speaks as a fool: he is more so. In greater labours, more imprisonments, more beatings, countless times near death. Five times he received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times beaten with rods. Once stoned. Three times shipwrecked, spending a night and day in the open sea. Constantly on the move, in danger from rivers, bandits, his own people, Gentiles, the city, the country, the sea, false brothers. He has laboured and toiled and often gone without sleep, known hunger and thirst and cold and nakedness. And apart from all this, the daily pressure of his concern for all the churches. Who is led into sin and he does not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

The catalogue is not self-pity but argument. The apostle whose credentials are suffering is more credible than the apostle whose credentials are eloquence and social success. The pattern of the Cross is the authentication of genuine ministry. The Catechism identifies the marks of the apostolic ministry as inseparable from the willingness to bear the cross (CCC 852).

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Paul boasts in his weakness because his weakness is the proof that the power is God's. When was the last time your weakness became a testimony? Not a source of shame to be hidden but a form of boasting that points to the sufficiency of Christ? The sufferings you have endured are apostolic credentials if you allow them to be. Do not waste your weakness.

Prayer

Lord God, give us Paul's courage to boast in our weakness rather than hiding it. Let our sufferings be the proof that the power is yours and not ours. Guard us from false apostles who present a gospel of comfort without a cross. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

11
Paul and the False Apostles
1 I hope you will bear with a little of my foolishness, but you are already doing that. 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. For I promised you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.
 
3 I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received, or a different gospel than the one you accepted, you put up with it way too easily.
 
5 I consider myself in no way inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 Although I am not a polished speaker, I am certainly not lacking in knowledge. We have made this clear to you in every way possible.
 
7 Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you. 9 And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting of mine will not be silenced in the regions of Achaia. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
 
12 But I will keep on doing what I am doing, in order to undercut those who want an opportunity to be regarded as our equals in the things of which they boast. 13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.
Paul’s Suffering and Service
(Colossians 1:24–29)
 
16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then receive me as a fool, so that I too may boast a little. 17 In this confident boasting of mine, I am not speaking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting according to the flesh, I too will boast. 19 For you gladly tolerate fools, since you are so wise. 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or exalts himself or strikes you in the face. 21 To my shame I concede that we were too weak for that!
 
Speaking as a fool, however, I can match what anyone else dares to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking like I am out of my mind, but I am so much more: in harder labor, in more imprisonments, in worse beatings, in frequent danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
 
26 In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers, 27 in labor and toil and often without sleep, in hunger and thirst and often without food, in cold and exposure.
 
28 Apart from these external trials, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not burn with grief?
 
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is forever worthy of praise,* 11:31 Or forever blessed knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus, the governor under King Aretas secured the city of the Damascenes in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket through a window in the wall and escaped his grasp.

*11:31 11:31 Or forever blessed

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