The Second Sunday after Christmas (NT)

2 Corinthians 2:1-11

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.

It would be a grave error for any of us to be outwitted by Satan. We should not be ignorant of Satan’s schemes, but we should be knowledgeable of all potential errors. This means we need to study the nature of fallen man. We need to be mindful of his misconceptions and defiance of God.

St Paul talks about people he has pained, or people that have pained him. It would be easy to see this passage teaching us that we must not ever cause people hurt feelings, or pain. But it is more important to know that there are times when we must point out the afflictions others have caused. St Paul would truly have been pained to come to Corinth and found the church following after the numerous false teachings addressed in 1 Corinthians. So in order to avoid that pain he wrote to them. St Paul likewise may have caused others pain in the harsh tones that he used. This pain must be overcome by repentance and forgiveness.

When we do something wrong, we need to address the wrong, pain, suffering, and sorrow we may have caused someone. Then we need to address the proper, correct, or right answer or doctrinal understanding. We need to find this truth so not to be outwitted by Satan, nor fall blindly into error. But we need to always conclude with forgiveness and reconciliation.

God points out our grievous errors in the flesh and how Satan has ensnared us. God then sends his Son into the flesh to reveal the truth, and die for the forgiveness of our sins. God has brought us to the truth and reconciles us to himself through Jesus Christ our Lord.