“Brothers and sisters: We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. For we who live are constantly being given up to death for the sake of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2Cor4:7-11, From the Gospel for 6/14) Because we are “earthen vessels,” we are susceptible to experiencing human afflictions and persecutions. We can be perplexed and struck down at times. All of these, to a certain extent, are signs of a type of death. They are physical manifestations of the “dying of Jesus,” which must take place within us in order to then experience a resurrection, a new life. The new “life of Jesus” that is manifested in our body as we remain free, even in affliction, and we are not driven to despair, even though we are perplexed, our persecution does not lead to our abandonment, and being struck down does not destroy us. The “dying of Jesus,” Paul explains, is always carried about in “the Body,” the Body of Christ, so that the resurrected “life of Jesus” that flows from his death can be “manifested in our body…our mortal flesh.” Since, once again, we are “earthen vessels,” this “new life” can only be manifested in this way by a power which surpasses our own, a power that brings life from death, a power that can only come from God himself. So we can endure, and even at times rejoice in our affliction and persecution, when we are perplexed and struck down, because we know that from these little deaths, a new life in Jesus can arise and we will know true freedom as we are “given up to death for the sake of Jesus!”
Posted on: Fri, 14 Jun 2013 06:20:46 +0000
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