2 Corinthians 11:25 Commentary and Bible Study

‘Thrice with rods’ – those were Roman beatings, just as severe. ‘Once was I stone, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep’, in one of those shipwrecks. He was evidently clinging to a piece of wreckage for twenty-four hours before being rescued. Was he somehow spared the hardest of suffering because he was an apostle and could ask the Lord for help at any time? No, quite the opposite. He had to go through experiences which cause men the deepest of consternation, but he met these by faith, knowing that he was called to be an apostle and that God had a purpose for his life. He was made an example of suffering because there were so many important lessons attached to it.