SUMMARY
In the Messiah’s death and resurrection, God has reconciled the entire world to Godself—not counting their trespasses against them—and, in so doing, has not only shifted how we perceive and respond to the world around us, but has also given us a service and word of reconciliation for all on behalf of the MessiahThe Messiah was the one who, it was believed, would come to free the people of Israel from bondage and exile. In Jewish thought the Messiah is the anticipated one who will come, as prophesied by Isaiah. In Christian thought Jesus of Nazareth is identified... More.
ANALYSIS
As he does elsewhere in his letters, PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. More identifies the love of God with the death of JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More (e.g., Romans 5:8; cf. Galatians 2:20;), and he uses the verb sunechō to depict how this love “presses us together” in a myriad of ways (2 Corinthians 5:14). In the Scriptures the word refers to, among other things, the heavens being shut up (i.e., without rain) (1 Kings 8:35), and the distress felt by an innocent sufferer (Job 7:11) or that which comes with a guilty conscience (WisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, "The fear of the... More 17:11). It is also used to describe how the parts of a priestly vestment are joined together (Exodus 39:4, 21) and, perhaps most importantly, how Wisdom holds all things together (Wisdom 1:7; cf. Colossians 1:17).
Paul has been persuaded by what has been handed down to him by other believers—”that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures,” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Nonetheless, he gives an apocalyptic twist to this confession. As he did in his proclamation of the crucified Messiah in 1 Corinthians, he highlights the cosmic implications of the Messiah’s death for all and the way it shatters and overcomes all other powers, and the hierarchies and schemes that sustain them (2 Corinthians 5:14; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31). And it does so, precisely because it is the death of the “One,” that is, the “Lord” (in Hebrew “YHWH”) who has now come as the Messiah in Jesus. Nonetheless, the death of this “One” is also a death for “All”; the Lord who is our God is also the God of the entire universe (Deuteronomy 6:4). And that means that all of us—given the dissolution of all the false powers, hierarchies, and schemes that have held us captive—can now freely live not just for ourselves and our own interests, but for the Messiah and the new age of mercyMercy is a term used to describe leniency or compassion. God's mercy is frequently referred to or invoked in both the Old and New Testaments. More, righteousness, and justice that his death has ushered in for everyone (2 Corinthians 5:15; cf. 7:14; Romans 14:7-9).
This cosmic and eschatological event has epistemological implications: it provides us with a radically different way of perceiving and responding to the world around us. We no longer look at the world around us from a standpoint that is strictly concerned with our survival in the face of our mortality and finitude, which is what Paul means in this context by saying that we no longer look at another “according to the flesh (sarx)” (2 Corinthians 5:16a). Such a perspective is defined by the world’s ideological schemes that often keep only some wealthy and powerful at the expense of others (JeremiahProphet who condemned Judah's infidelity to God, warned of Babylonian conquest, and promised a new covenant. More 9:23); it evaluates people on the basis of whether they are wealthy or poor, powerful or weak (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25) and on such factors as their gender, ethnicity, or class (cf. Galatians 3:27-28). We even want a Messiah who fits these criteria and, as Paul noted, in 1 Corinthians, are uncomfortable with one that neither produces the miracles we want nor gives us the strategies we need for succeeding over others (2 Corinthians 5:16b; cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
Instead, something else happens when we are “pressed together” by this Messiah—a new creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and... More happens around as we enter into a new way of being in the world. Like the Messiah, we too become a place where the new age he ushered in takes place around us. A new age becomes possible, even amidst life’s vicissitudes—the new age of the Messiah’s mercy and compassion, and justice and righteousness, one in which we live in harmony with another and with the natural world around us (2 Corinthians 5:17a; cf. IsaiahIsaiah, son of Amoz, who prophesied in Jerusalem, is included among the prophets of the eighth century BCE (along with Amos, Hosea, and Micah)--preachers who boldly proclaimed God's word of judgment against the economic, social, and religious disorders of their time. More 65:17-25). And this can take place even now—in the midst of whatever is happening in our lives and in the world around us. As Paul says, “everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” (2 Corinthians 5:17b).In addition to these cosmic and epistemological implications, the death and resurrection of the Messiah has ethical implications as well; it also addresses who we are called to be and what we are called to do. Through the Messiah’s suffering and death, God has entered the very tragic and demonic schemes that hold us captive to idolatrous and unjust ways of being in the world. In so doing, God has released and healed us (cf. Isaiah 53:4-12), and called us to a new identity and purpose: to serve on behalf of the Messiah’s ministry (diakonia) of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18). In addition, since the Messiah’s death is for all, God is, indeed, reconciling the entire world to Godself—not counting their trespasses against them. Thus, our service on behalf of the Messiah is undergirded by a “word” (logos) of reconciliation that God calls us to proclaim continually to all—including to our very own selves, which are often divided, and to our enemies and those who threaten us (2 Corinthians 5:19).
RELATED PASSAGES
Exodus 39:1-31 — Vestments for the Priesthood
Isaiah 11:1-9 — The New Messianic Age
Isaiah 53:4-12 — The Suffering Servant
Isaiah 65:17-25 — A New Heaven and a New Earth
Romans 5:6-11 — God’s Reconciled Us as Enemies through the Death of the Messiah
Romans 8:31-39 — The Love of God in Christ Jesus
Galatians 2:19-20 — Living by Faith in the Messiah’s Love
Galatians 3:26-29 — Baptism into the Messiah’s Identity
Galatians 6:14-17 — New Creation is Everything!
1 Corinthians 1:18-31 — The Wisdom and Power of the Crucified Messiah
1 Corinthians 15:1-4 — The Tradition Handed Down of the Messiah’s Death and Resurrection