Reflection on 2Cor 4:10-11

What precedes these verses? Verses 8-9: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…” Verses 10 and 11, which we are going to repeat for two weeks as the Word of life, speak about the death and the life of Jesus. We read: “We are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake.” How are we to understand these words and how to put them into practice? The word “always” means that something is repeated again and again. It does not mean second by second, but in certain moments the same thing happens – we are delivered to the death of Christ. The word “always” further reveals that this statement of the Apostle Paul does not refer so much to physical martyrdom, because this happens only once, but to an inner dying for Jesus’ sake, which we can repeat every day.

What does it mean to be delivered to the death of Christ? Example: If you are to bear witness to Christ in a particular situation, and you know that it is the will of God for you to do so, you have to be innerly prepared beforehand for being ridiculed or persecuted, which is like being spiritually killed for the sake of Christ. Or a similar situation: You act according to conscience and it is disadvantageous to you. It would be easier to commit fraud or betrayal. However, you refuse to do so. Aware that God sees you, you want to keep Christ’s commandment in this situation and make this sacrifice for His sake. When you are to overcome fear and to resolve to accept suffering, it is like being united to the death of Christ on the cross.

So there is physical martyrdom, but there is also spiritual martyrdom. If you choose God when even making a decision in small matters, and it requires a sacrifice, it is just what the Apostle Paul speaks about when he says: we are delivered to the death of Christ. Certainly, you can find yourself in a situation similar to that faced by martyrs, for example – you will be confronted with an uncompromising demand that you must renounce Christ under threat of death – as happens e.g. in Muslim territories. Several Christians have died martyrs recently in Egypt, Ethiopia and other countries. Because they confessed Christ, their heads were cut off. The same happened to Armenian martyrs 100 years ago. 1.5 million Armenians preferred to die – not only men but also women and children. Millions of martyrs have died for the sake of Christ; however, those martyrs first needed to have a true inner relationship to Jesus to be able to enter into the death of Christ even in little things and to remain faithful to Christ. And when they finally came to face the hardest trial, they did remain faithful and even shed their blood for Christ. Even if you will not shed your blood, dying as a martyr for Christ, you can suffer a spiritual martyrdom in little things which you can offer as a sacrifice out of love for Jesus, e.g. when you have to overcome your fear or selfishness. So you can enter into the death of Christ too, and you may do so several times every day. You thus revive your faith – you know that God sees you and you give yourself wholly to Him at that very moment. You put everything into His hands, because even if you will not die a physical martyr, you will die one day anyway – either of an illness, or in a car accident, or of old age. One way or another, at the last moment of your life you will need to give Jesus everything. This inward surrender of everything to Him is expressed in the words: we are delivered to the death of Christ. And to be delivered to the death of Christ is, in fact, the essence of the first and great commandment: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Download: Reflection on 2Cor 4:10-11