Paul's Thorn

Some facts pertaining to Paul’s Thorn in the Flesh:

Acts 9:15-16: “..the Lord said to (reluctant) Ananias, “Go! This man (Paul) is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” Acts 20:19: “..I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents…”
2 Corinthians 11:22, 24-25 “Are they Hebrews? So am I.  Are they Israelites? So am I.  Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I….Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones….”
Acts 20:23 “….in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.^” Acts 21:11 “….he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” Acts 22:3-4 “I am a Jew,  born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison…”

No one could be any more Jewish than Saul of Tarsus. He had the credentials and the zeal. However, as Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, he was despised and rejected by HIS OWN PEOPLE. To them he was a traitor.

Acts 21:28 “…Fellow Israelites, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”

Why did Paul do this? Because his people meant so much to him that he was willing to compromise doctrine by trying to reach them on their own terms. It backfired. It always does.

Romans 9:2-5 “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.  For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race,  the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.”

Paul, like the Lord Jesus Christ, had people problems. So do you, if you serve the Lord.

John 15:18-19 “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.”

Reason for the THORN IN THE FLESH: to teach humility! “to keep me from exalting MYSELF!” (stated twice, for emphasis.) TO KEEP ME FROM EXALTING MYSELF!”  2 Corinthians 12:7:

“there was GIVEN me” part of Paul’s grace provision
“a THORN” resulting from the curse on the earth, a constant source of pain
“in the FLESH” genealogical. Pertaining to human relationships. Probably emotional pressure that can’t be ignored. (“my kinsmen, according to the flesh. Romans 9:3)
“a messenger of Satan” who knows our every weakness. Knows just where it hurts.
“to buffet me.” (to hit with a fist) Matthew 26:67, Mark 14:65 believe me, that’s how it feels!

2 Corinthians 12:10

“weaknesses” emotional pull toward kinsmen, toward the Law, toward Gamaliels’s teaching? A desire to ‘show’ them, by boasting about the ‘revelations’? A tendency to compromise in order to reach them through their own system?
“insults” you’re a fool, a fanatic, a traitor to your own people!
“distresses” sorrow and unceasing grief
“persecutions” beatings, stonings
“difficulties” personal inconvenience, physical problems, material needs
“FOR CHRIST’S SAKE”! compare Philippians 1:29 “For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake..”

So you’re frustrated, lonely, unable to communicate the doctrine you love to the people you love? You’re begging God to remove the burden? Consider this: 

Luke 13:34 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” Matthew 12:49-50 “Pointing to his disciples, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers.  For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”

Our Lord didn’t suffer physical illnesses, diseases, pains, etc. in His body; He had no old sin nature, which is the source of those kinds of sufferings. His suffering was the rejection of His people even as He prepared to receive their sins in His own perfect body on the cross.

How do we share the sufferings of Christ? John 15:20 “Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.  If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.”

John 15:27 “And you also will bear witness…”