2 Corinthians 2:1-11, Forgive the Sinner

2 For I made up my mind not to make another painful visit to you. 2 For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? 3 And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. 4 For I wrote to you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

5 Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you.6 For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough,7 so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.8 So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.9 For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.10 Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ,11 so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.

Comments:

These verses speak to the mental and emotional state of Paul as he wrote this “sorrowful” letter. The previous visit to Corinth had been painful, even though Paul had hoped joy would have been the experience of all of them. Love, however, includes rebuking and correcting. It is the kind of love God shows his people. Parents discipline and correct their children because they love them. Not to discipline and correct demonstrates antipathy, the opposite of proactive love.

Apparently, an unnamed man in the church has caused pain to all, and the church voted to punish him. Now they need to play the role of reconcilers and bring the man back into the fold. Punishing this man was part of the previous tearful letter, and it was to test the character of the church—that they would actually discipline one of their own in love. Christ is present when the community acts and deals with sinful behavior. Paul is now in a positive and forgiving mood. In the Greek, Paul has a word play, saying he is “mindful” of the devil’s mind.

Reflection:

O my Lord, I discern in my anger a sense of self-righteousness which is much too close to pleasure. And I think of you, Lord. You were never angry in your own defense, and you took no pleasure in anger: else why the Cross? But you were angry for God: you were angry with those who sold him as a commodity; you were angry with those who used him for their own status; or who treated him as belonging only to them.