2 Corinthians 11:29 Commentary and Bible Study

Look at his pastoral heart: ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak?’ Who is hurt, and I do not feel for them and feel their hurt? ‘Who is offended’ – some translate that, and it can be so translated, ‘who falls’ and I do not burn for them and grieve over them. But I think our rendering in the King James Version is a little more broad and sensible. ‘Who is offended,’ who is insulted, even, who is hurt and I burn not for them and feel for them? That is the pastoral heart. There are the people of God in many areas, terribly exploited and Paul feels and hurts on their behalf and does whatever the Lord enables him to do to help them, or to arrange help for them.How the apostle Paul identified with people! Perhaps it was a church leader somewhere who backslid, who compromised, who buckled under persecution, under great stress, and the apostle so felt for him, so anxious for him. ‘Who is weak, and I am not weak?’ All the strength would go out of his body, he so identified and felt even for people who fell or were wayward. ‘Who is offended,’ insulted, persecuted, humiliated, ‘and I burn not?’ The apostle was a man of immensely strong feelings of love and affection for Christians, his converts and leaders and churches. That is the formidable list of his sufferings. You could study the list from many points of view. You could see in it the physical sufferings which were terrible. Then you can look at the emotional sufferings which equally were extreme. And you could look at the nature of the suffering, how relentless it was and sharp and unreasonable. You can look at it from many points of view. But the apostle was a man who suffered.