2 Corinthians 5

Peter J. Leithart, May 09, 2005

When Paul brings Isaiah�s vision into 2 Corinthians 5, he speaks of the mortal being swallowed up by life. �Life�Ehas already taken on a specific coloration in the course of 2 Corinthians 4. Having spoken of the glory of Christ that has shone in his heart, Paul concedes that he has this treasure of light and glory in fragile earthen vessels (4:7), but after a description of his afflictions and the way the power of the �divine �but�� is revealed in his life, he no longer describes the treasure as �glory�Eor �light�Ebut as the �life of Jesus�E(4:10-11). That is, �earthen vessel�E(4:7) parallels �dying of Jesus�Eand �being delivered over to death,�Ewhile �treasure�Eparallels �life of Jesus.�E The treasure that Paul bears in the earthen vessel of his mortal flesh can be described as �glory,�E�light�Eor �life of Jesus.�E But this glory will someday envelop and overtake the earthen vessel, so that, in 5:4, to say that �mortality�Eis swallowed up by �life�Eis to say that mortal flesh, the earthen vessel of the tent-like body, is swallowed up in the glory and the life of Jesus, who is the image of the glory of God. Putting this together with our other findings, we conclude that being swallowed up by life involves being swallowed up into the glorious Priest Jesus, who is the heavenly temple of God.

What is the concrete referent of this exposure to the glory of the Lord? In 3:1-16, the glory appears to be revealed through the reading and preaching of the word of God, specifically the reading of Moses. The veil separates the unbelieving from the glory revealed in the Law, but conversion removes the veil so that one can see in the Law the face of Christ. In 4:1ff, what mediates the glory is the gospel preached by Paul; he moves from the veil on the heart when Moses is read to the veil over the eyes of those who cannot see the light of Christ�s glory in the gospel (4:3-4), the light of the new creation (4:6), which shines in the heart by the Spirit. Paul puts it succinctly in 3:12: he is not like Moses, who veiled his face, but is bold and open in �speech.�E The LOGOS of Paul the apostle mediates the transforming glory of the eternal LOGOS who is also the DOXA of God. Paul�s evangelistic speech, however, cannot be separated from Paul the person, and so, as N.T. Wright has argued, it is through the members of the church behold the glory of God in the mirror of other believers (1991). Like Adam, the people of God are the original image of God�s glory, and exposure to the glory-image of Christ in other members of the church transforms each member from glory to glory.

Confirmation of this is found in 8:23, where Paul refers to the members of the apostolic delegation that is being sent to Corinth to prepare for his arrival as �messengers of the churches, a glory of Christ.�E Most commentators suggest that the �messengers�Erather than the �churches�Eare here called the �glory of Christ.�E (I do not accept the interpretation that reduces DOXA to �honor.�E After so fully developing the theme of glory earlier in the letter, it is hard to imagine Paul using the term without some allusion to the earlier discussion. This argument raises the issue of the unity of 2 Corinthians. I have nothing to say in this debate, and merely cite Stockhausen�s comment that, in the light of the unanimous manuscript evidence of a unified epistle, one must be extremely cautious in claiming that the letter is a composite work.) Even if this is accepted as the primary reference, in the light of the earlier discussion of 2 Corinthians, it is hard to escape the conclusion that the church would somehow be entitled to the same description. However the phrase is interpreted, it is striking that Paul refers to people not merely as �reflecting�Ethe glory but as being the glory of Christ. Moreover, all believers, Paul says in 3:18, gaze steadily with unveiled face at the glory, and are thereby transformed from glory to glory. If the messengers are transmitters of glory, the Corinthians will reflect the glory that is transmitted by them, and thereby become glorious themselves. If the messengers are called the �glory of Christ�Ebecause they transmit the glory of Christ, believers who are transformed into the image of the glory are also entitled to be called the glory of Christ.