Scripture: 2nd Corinthians 1:1-2
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God that is in Corinth, including all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thought for the Day: Though Paul is given top billing in the Epistles, it often seems as if he was co-writing them. In 1st Corinthians, it suggests that both Paul and Sosthenes were writing the letter. And here at the beginning of 2nd Corinthians, it appears that Paul and Timothy were collaborating in writing the letter. At the end of 1st Corinthians, we read:
I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand.
This suggests that until this greeting Paul had not been the one actually writing the letter. It may have been someone acting like a scribe or maybe it Sosthenes who wrote a portion of it with suggestions from Paul. We don’t know for sure, except to say that the Epistles attributed to Paul were probably not written exclusively by Paul in some sort of ivory tower. There were other voices being brought to the page (in this case, the parchment). For some people, this might be a troubling thought. I, on the other hand, find it fascinating and a wonderful insight into the early church using the available tools and personalities to get the message out.
Prayer: With your guidance, Lord, let us work together to bring the Good News of your love to more and more people…even if a few of us don’t get top billing. Amen.
TODAY
AT NOON & 6:30PM
