May 30 / II Cor. 8:1-15

II Corinthians 8:15

…they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. (v. 5b) Here Paul is speaking of the Macedonians’ contributions toward the financial relief of the Jerusalem church. I understand “giving themselves to the Lord” to mean that they prayed and sought the Lord’s will in their donations. That’s what David tells us on Ingathering Sunday, not to pledge or give out of guilt or some sense of responsibility, but to seek the Lord and give with a happy heart.

Understanding the geography and the chronology often helps us to fill in the gaps and understand Scripture better. That’s clearly the case with verse 6: Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. Paul had sent Titus from Ephesus to Corinth, with either I Corinthians or Paul’s “lost letter” in hand. Part of Titus’ mission while there was to encourage the Corinthians in their giving. Paul had earlier instructed them as to his wishes (I Corinthians 16:1-4). So Titus went to Corinth and stayed there a while, then headed to Macedonia to meet with Paul, who is in Macedonia writing II Corinthians. Now Paul has met Titus in Macedonia (with joy!) and now is sending Titus back to Corinth to get them to finish their Jerusalem collection before Paul, himself, goes to them as he leaves Macedonia. Yes, it gets confusing!

As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.” (v. 15) Paul is writing here about the manna in the wilderness. I had always imagined that verse to suggest that each person gathered exactly when he/she needed. But my Study Bible suggested that there was sharing of the manna among the people. Some gathered more than they could eat and gave their excess to those who had gathered too little. Such a nice thought; I had never considered that!

Slava Bohu!