12:14 Now for the
third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for
I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the
parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly
spend and be spent for your souls; though the more abundantly I love you, the
less I am loved.
I know this is bad exegesis. (Study/explanation of the text)
Technically this is Paul speaking to the church in Corinth but do you know what
I hear? I hear Jesus speaking to humanity.
"For the third time I am ready to come to you." The
first time He came to Adam and Eve after they ate and hid. The second time
(officially) He came as a baby in Bethlehem. Now He is waiting to come
again.
Paul says he isn't going back to Corinth to seek their stuff
but to seek them. What a powerful statement. He doesn't want their money. He
isn't looking for a job. He isn't even coming for reasons of ego. None of it is
for his benefit. He wants them, the people. Isn't that true of Jesus too? What
else could He be coming but us? What could we possibly have to offer more than
ourselves?
Jesus came and was spent for us. He left "nothing on the
table".
The last line of this section is a serious gut check. Do I
really love Jesus less the more He loves me? Did I resist and resent my parents
the more they tried to help me and guide me? Are we that stubborn and foolish
that we push away those who truly care and run after other voices? Do we prefer
"another gospel" to the good news Jesus has for us? Are we that
resistant to His correction? Is it true that the more He loves us the less we
love Him?
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