Full Text for God's Triumphant Captive Christ's Aroma for God (Text)

Concoll()ia Theological Montbly DECEMBER • 1951 '-----------~-~ ---ConcoJl(Ho Theological Monthly Published by The Lutheran Church -Missouri Synod EDITED BY THE FACULTY OF CONCORDIA SEMINARY ST. LOUIS, Mo. Address all communications to the Editorial Committee in care of the Managing Editor, F.E.Mayer, 801 De Mun Ave., St.Louis 5, Mo. EDITORIAL COMMITTEE PAUL M. BRETSCHER, RICHARD R. CAEMMERER, THEODORE HOYER, FREDERICK E. MAYER, LOUIS J. SIECK CONTENTS FOR DECEMBER 1951 PAGE TRIBUTE TO DR. WILLIAM ARNDT _. ______________ ,_. __ ...... 881 RESOLUTIONS OF APPRECIATION ____ __ __ . __ 882 GOD'S TRIUMPHANT CAPTIVE CHRIST'S' AROMA FOR GOD. (2 Cor. 2: 12-17.) Victor Bartling ________ .. __ 883 LUKE 17:20-21 IN RECENT INVESTIGATIONS. Paul M. Bretschef' ______ . 895 THE ApOSTOLIC PSHA! Martin H. Franzmann 908 GOD'S CONCURRENCE IN HUMAN ACTION. fohn Theodore Mueller ._ 912 CHALCEDON AFTER FIFTEEN CENTURIES. faroslav Pelikan _. _____ . __ 926 JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ON THE CHRISTIAN HOME AS A TEACHER. At·thur C. Repp . _______ 937 LITURGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN EUROPE, Walter F. BttSzin ________ . 949 HOMILETICS ______ .. __________________ . ___________ 00 __ 955 CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY is published monthly by Concordia Publishing House, 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis 18, Mo., ro which all business correspondence is to be addressed. $3.00 per annum, anywhere in rhe world, payable in advance. Entered at the Post Office at St. Louis, Mo., as second·class maner. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of posrage provided for in Section 1103, Act of October 3, 1917, authorized on July 5, 1918. ,'INn]) Df n .•.•. God's Triumphant Captive Christ's Aroma for God (2 Cor. 2:12-17) By VICTOR BARTLING THE teacher to whom we offer this eucharisterion has lived and labored among us as "God's triumphant captive" and "Christ's aroma for God." In discussing the Scripture passage giving us this view of the ministerial office we hope to do so in a bit of the practical manner which has always characterized the Scripture interpretation of our colleague. Before we take up the passage, it will be useful for us to look at the wider as well as the narrower context. Second Corinthians presents many bafiling puzzles to the critic and interpreter. A satisfactory reconstruction of the historical back­ground is exceedingly difficult, if not impossible. There are, also, many allusions in the letter to circumstances of which we are ignorant and about which Paul, perhaps with feelings of delicacy, writes with intentional vagueness. Furthermore, the unrestrained outpouring of strong and mingled emotions from beginning to end demands a special effort of sympathetic penetration on the part of the reader. Finally, there are numerous linguistic difficulties. The Greek is at times hard to construe, owing to the ruggedness of style which results from dictating when the feelings are deeply stirred. In some cases, too, the precise meaning of individual words and phrases must at the present stage of Biblical philology remain uncertain. But in spite of these difficulties the letter intrigues every reader. Here the fascinating, forceful, complex personality of Paul con­fronts us more than in any other letter. Here he reveals his own soul. We see his motives, his joys, his anguish, his hopes, his fears, his wounded feelings, his ardent love. The secret of this unique personality, his one impelling purpose, patent in every paragraph, becomes vocal in his mighty utterance: "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that One has died 883 884 GOD'S TRIUMPHANT CAPTIVE for all; therefore all have died. And He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who for their sake (better: "for them," A. v.) died and was raised." (2 Cor. 5: 13-15. R. S. V.) Especially the pastor and theologian will do well frequently to read the letter, if not in Greek, then in one of the newer transla­tions. The A. V., except in familiar passages, is all but unintelligible, we fear, to the average modern reader. No church worker can read this letter alertly and, if possible, at one sitting, without acquiring a new sense of the glory of his office and a new zeal to give his very best "for God" and for God's people. "Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God" (1: 1) -this opening note is drawn out through the entire letter. In fact, it can be called the theme of the letter. During Paul's Ephesian ministry Judaizing teachers had come to Corinth who sought to discredit the founder of the Corinthian congregation. Unscrupu­lously they libeled his character and denied his genuine Apostolic authority. Practically the whole letter constitutes the vindication of his Apostleship. In the last four chapters, known as "Paul's great invective," he answers his enemies quite directly. In the first seven chapters he does so more indirectly by supplying his friends, who formthe majority in the Corinthian church, with grounds on which they may repel the attacks made by the base intruders. In the first part of the letter there is a lengthy passage in which Paul's defense is quite complete and which submits to somewhat of an outline. The theme may be stated as "The Nature of Paul's Ministry." Dividing the material into nine sections and giving each a heading which states the dominant thought, or one of these dominant thoughts, we may say that this ministry is presented by Paul as (l) triumphant (2: 12-17); (2) accredited (3: 1-3) ; ( 3) glorious (3 :4-18 ); (4) honest (4: 1-6); (5) suffering (4: 7 -15 ); (6 ) hopeful (4: 16-5 : 10 ); ( 7) dedicated ( 5 : 11-15 ) ; (8) representative (5:16-21); (9) approved (6:1-10).1 Taking up now the first section (2: 12-17), we would suggest to the reader first to read the passage in Greek and then in the R. S. V. Paul's self-defense is "framed in a description of his journey from Asia to Macedonia, with Corinth as his aestination. His experiences on this journey constitute the thread of the letter." 2 This is the GOD'S 1'RIUMPHANT CAPTIVE 885 actual itinerary that he had projected in his First Letter (1 Cor. 16:5-9). In the meantime, as we learn from the writing before us (2 Cor. 1: 15-16), he had revised his plan, telling the Corinthians that he intended to visit them first and then go on to Macedonia, from where he would return to give them thus double "pleasure" or "grace" (depending on whether we read XUQav or xaQLv). But now arose the serious crisis which threatened to destroy Paul's work in Corinth. Paul thought it wise to refrain from a personal visit at this time and to send Titus in his stead to deal with the difficulty and reduce the rebellious persons to submission ( 2 : 13; 7 : 6-7, 13-15 ). Meanwhile he started from Ephesus in Asia to Macedonia, as originally planned. This change of plan was made the basis of the charge of levity, instability, and insincerity against him. Paul, . it was said, was a yes-and-no man, whose word could not be trusted (d. 1:17-20). Coming to Troas, Paul found a good opening for missionary work. But his hope that Titus would meet him there on his return from Corinth was not fulfilled. The suspense concerning the state of affairs at Corinth became so intolerable to Paul that he threw up his work at Troas and crossed over to Macedonia, in order to meet Titus the sooner. This time he was not disappointed (7: 5 ff.). The report of Titus about the result of his mission was so unexpectedly favorable that Paul, in a fervor of thankfulness and affection, at once began to dictate this letter, in order to make the reconciliation between him and the Corinthian converts complete and to rout his opponents for good and all. The passage before us shows the torturing suspense of Paul at Troas. This comes out also in the surprising use of the perfect tense in v.l3: oux EOX'I']XU aVEOLv. Since he wrote after hearing the good news from Titus, we would have expected the use of the aorist, OUX EOXOV, "I got no relief." Instead, reliving the period of anxiety and tortured love just now happily ended, he says: "I have gotten no relief," just as though Titus' good news were too good to be true." We may be startled to read that Paul left the promising opening for new conquestS for Christ at Troas. Probably he felt that it was "as necessary to secure ana confirm old converts as to gain new ones." Besides, the work was begun at Troas, a nucleus for a con-886 GOD'S TRIUMPHANT CAPTIVE gregation was formed (v. 13 ). Some months later Paul was to spend a whole week with the flock there (Acts 20:6 ff.). Certainly the Christians at Corinth must have been struck with shame at the loss which their sinful disorders had entailed upon these people across the sea, robbing them of an Apostle's ministry; and if they could reflect at all, they must have felt the depth of his love for his unruly spiritual children. At v.14 Paul suddenly breaks off his narrative and begins a doxology. We can imagine the surprise of the amanuensis when Paul so suddenly changed his line of thought and began to dictate the next words. We have looked ahead to chapter seven and seen the reason. So overwhelmed was Paul with thankfulness· at the thought of the victory of God's cause at Corinth reported by Titus that he thought of the victory of the Gospel generally and his own God-given share in tI1.at triumph: T<$ ()E {}E<$ xaQI.~ T<$:rtavToTE {}QLa~l~ElJOVLL 11~a~ EV XQL(l'L<$. There has been some dispute as to the precise meaning of {}QLa~~E{,(j) here. This dispute is reflected in part in the difference of translation in the A. V. and the R. S. V. The A. V. renders: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 4 In this rendering, God makes the Apostles the tri­umphatores. The R. S. V. translates: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumph." Here God is the Triumphator, while the translation leaves it open to regard the Apostles either as associates of His triumph, even as the victorious Roman imperator was attended by his staff and soldiers, or to regard the Apostles as God's captives on exhibition before the world. The only other use of the word {}QLa!A-~E{,ELV in the N. T. is in Co1.2:15. Here the way of Jesus to the Cross, by a magnificent paradox, is represented as God's triumphal procession: "He dis­armed the principalities and powers and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in Him [i. e., Christ}" (R. S. V.), or "in it [i. e., the Cross}" (A. V.). In this Pauline passage the "principalities and powers" are definitely the capti1!eS of the triumphant God. There is no need and no reason for departing from this sense in our present passage. Some, it is true, would surrender the military metaphor and make the verb mean "to make a show of" or, still more colorless, "to lead about." 5 But in Paul's GOD'S TRIUMPHANT CAPTIVE 887 Rome-dominated world triumph us, triumph are, triumphator and the Greek equivalents must have been terms as common as Worid Series or championship bout in our American world, and there is no need to abandon the original coloring here. Nor should any Christian balk at the idea of the Apostle Paul or himself as captive in the heavenly Conqueror's train and thus an instrument of God's glory. Of course, in an ordinary Roman triumph the captives had no share in the victory. The victory was not only a victory over them, but a victory against them. But when God wins a victory over man and leads him captive in triumph, the victory over him is a victory for him; it is the beginning of all triumphs for him. Paul had once been an enemy of God in Christ; he had fought against Him in his own soul and in the Church, which he per­secuted. God vanquished him at Damascus. The mighty man fell. The weapons of his warfare, his pride and self-righteousness, col­lapsed. He rose from the earth to be a slave of Christ. Indeed, Paul's characteristic phrase "slave of Christ" is a parallel to the concept of "captive" involved in our passage. Only as slave of Christ, Paul or any man is truly free, and only as God's captive, Paul or any man is truly victorious. "To God be thanks," Paul cries out, "who always leads me as His captive in His triumphal procession in Christ." "In Christ" the captive found victory, free­dom, and work. Of the new work "in Christ," Paul now speaks, again in picture language: "And through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him· everywhere" (v. 14 b, R. S. V.) -xal L~V OGfl1)V L~C; YVWo£(OC; ul,-roii