Epilogue to the Fools Speech
12: 11-13
Epilogue to the Fools Speech DIG: How do we know this is an epilogue to the Fools Speech? What is Paul trying to accomplish in his epilogue? How had the false apostles distorted his ministry (see 2:7, 10:8-9, 11:7)? In what way had Paul not been a burden to the Corinthians?
REFLECT: How hard is it to be slandered by people that you have ministered to? How would you defend yourself and your reputation? Would you feel foolish responding to ridiculous accusations? Would you feel foolish in doing so? Or would you even dignify their comments?
The things that prove I am an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles –
were done in your presence, despite what I had to endure.
Paul began his “Fools Speech” in 11:1 (to see link click By – Being Deceived). Now, in a brief epilogue to the speech, he revisits a number of prominent themes already covered in the letter. In 12:11 he said: I have behaved like a fool, but you forced me to do it – you who should have been commending me. For I am in no way inferior to the false apostles (see Af – The Problem of the False Apostles) even if I am nothing. First, the apostle reiterates that the extensive boast that he had just completed (11:21 to 12:10) was an exercise in foolishness. In 11:1 Paul alerted the Corinthians to the fact that foolishness was coming, and he begged their tolerance of it. In 11:16 he insisted that a certain person not be allowed to cast him as a fool, but immediately Paul turned around and pleaded with the Corinthians to embrace him as a fool, since they were so good at embracing fools (11:19). At the very front door of his speech, he admitted that he was speaking foolishly (11:21). Thus, it is no surprise that, after finishing the foolish speech, he admits: I have behaved like a fool. This is the last time Paul mentions fool or foolishness in the letter.280
Supporting his contention that he lacked nothing in comparison to the false apostles, Paul continued: The things that prove I am an apostle – signs, wonders and miracles – were done in your presence, despite what I had to endure (12:12). On the day of Shavu’ot, Peter proclaimed that Yeshua’s ministry had been validated in part by signs: Men of Isra’el, hear these words! Yeshua of Nazareth – a Man authenticated to you by God with mighty deeds and wonders and signs God performed through Him in your midst, as you yourselves know (Acts 2:22a). Accordingly, the apostles themselves performed many signs and wonders, which authenticated them as genuine messengers of God. They had a one-of-a-kind, non-repeatable, and nontransferable role in the history of the Church. Therefore, Yeshua could say to the Twelve: Yes, indeed! I tell you that a person who receives someone I send receives me, and that anyone who receives Me receives the One who sent Me (John 13:20).
Dear Heavenly Father, Praise You that to follow You with all our heart is the wisest thing that anyone can do. It is foolish to hear and know about You and then not to give You everything. You are so loving! Following You, brings comfort as we seek to do Your will. Your love desires to reward Your children (First Corinthians 3:11-15). You offer crowns to Your children; the Imperishable Crown (First Peter 1:4, First Corinthians 9:25), the Crown of Righteousness (Second Timothy 4:8), the Crown of Rejoicing (First Thessalonians 2:19), the Crown of Glory (First Peter 5:4) and the Crown of Life (Revelation 2:10).
Athletes who train for the Olympics spend so much time, energy, and mental anguish over something that will soon pass away (Corinthians 9:24). Wisdom says be wise and work for an eternal reward. Whatever talent God gave you, use it wisely for Him (Matthew 25:14-30).
Wisdom looks at life thru Your lens of eternity. Fools live for life now, but the wise meditate on eternity and live pleasing You for an eternal joy! May all we do, say and think bring honor and glory to Your name. In Yeshua’s holy name and power of His resurrection. Amen
The signs that were the benchmark of a true apostle of Yeshua Messiah were done by Paul at Corinth. The passive voice of the verb translated were done emphasized that it was the power of ADONAI working through Paul that enabled him to perform those signs. The apostles were conduits for divine power, not deceptive magicians. That the Corinthians saw firsthand the signs Paul performed is another reason they should have defended him.
In addition to the supernatural signs, wonders and miracles, the Bible lists seven characteristics of the apostles. First, the apostles were sovereignly chosen by God for their ministry (Acts 9:15); second, the apostles were personally appointed by the Lord Yeshua Messiah (Luke 6:13; John 15:16); third, the apostles had to have been eyewitnesses of Messiah’s life, death and resurrection. After Judas’ defection and suicide, his replacement had to meet very specific requirements (see the commentary on Acts Ak – Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas); fourth, the apostles received the Gospel by direct revelation from Yeshua Messiah, not other men (Matthew 20:17-19; John 13-17). Paul, though he did not sit under Messiah’s teaching during the Lord’s earthly ministry, nevertheless received the Gospel directly from Him (Galatians 1:1-12); fifth, the apostles were the foundation of the Church (Ephesians 3:3-4); sixth, the apostles were given unique ministry duties, like preaching the Gospel (Mark 3:14), having the authority to cast out demons (Mark 3:15; Matthew 10:1-8; Luke 9:1), and writing the B’rit Chadashah. While it is true that not all the apostles wrote B’rit Chadashah books, all of the B’rit Chadashah was written by an apostle (Paul, Peter, John, Matthew), or a close associate of the apostles (Mark, Luke, James, Jude); seventh, the twelve apostles were promised unique honors during the Messianic Kingdom (Matthew 19:27-28) and in the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:14). Consequently, the stringent requirements for the apostolic office were such that only the Twelve and Paul qualified. Therefore, the claims of apostleship made by others throughout the history of the Church, including those who claim to be apostles today, are also false.281
Signs, wonders and miracles (12:12c): These words do not describe three types of miracles but miracles in general considered from different aspects – their ability to authenticate the message, or signs, evoke awe, or wonders, and display divine power, or mighty deeds. The supernatural miracles done by the apostles were signs pointing to them as genuine messengers of God. They were wonders that created amazement and astonishment, drawing the onlookers’ attention to the message that the apostles proclaimed.
That miracles are not standard in every period in Church history should be obvious from Paul’s description of them as signs of an apostle. If they were commonplace, they could hardly have distinguished the apostles from ordinary believers. It was the fact that they were rare, as well as their unusual greatness, that made them definitive signs of the apostles. Nor were miracles scattered haphazardly throughout Church history. Scripture reveals a threefold purpose for signs, wonders and miracles that confined them to specific periods.
First, miracles introduced successive eras of divine revelation. The miracles recorded in the Bible took place during three specific time periods: the time of Moshe and Joshua, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the ministry of Messiah and the apostles. ADONAI confirmed the giving of the Torah with the miracles of Moses and Joshua. The miracles done by Elijah and Elisha symbolized the second great era of the TaNaKh, the prophets (Matthew 5:17; 7:12; 22:40). But by far the greatest number of miracles occurred during the ministry of Yeshua, authenticating Him as the Messiah, and His apostles as His representatives.
The second purpose of miracles was to authenticate the messengers of God. While all miracles are supernatural acts of God, not all supernatural acts of God are miracles. These signs, wonders, and miracles were supernatural acts done through human beings. Miracles were designed to act as signs creating wonder that drew people to conclude that the message from those who performed them came from God. Such expressions of God’s power as creation, the Flood, and other acts of divine judgment are the supernatural acts of God, but not signs and wonders. They are in a different category, so to speak.
Third, God used miracles to reveal truth about Himself to those who observed them (Exodus 6:6-7; Nehemiah 9:10; Psalm 135:9; Jeremiah 32:20). However, the office of an apostle was never intended to be a perpetual institution; in fact, there are clear indications in the B’rit Chadashah that the apostolic age was already drawing to a close. According to Acts 5:16, all the sick who came to the apostles were healed. But by the end of Paul’s lifetime the situation had drastically changed. His beloved son in the faith Timothy faced a recurring illness. But instead of healing him, Paul counseled him to treat the illness by drinking wine (First Timothy 5:23). Nor was Paul able to heal another of his close companions, Trophimus, whom he had to leave sick at Miletus (Second Timothy 4:20).
The early days of the Messianic community in Jerusalem were punctuated by signs and wonders (Acts 2:43 and 5:12). Yet Acts records no miracles in that City after the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 6:8). Some might argue that the apostles left the City, and thus were not present to perform miracles. Yet they remained in Tziyon after the outbreak of the persecution associated with Stephen’s death (Acts 8:1). The supernatural invincibility afforded the apostles during the early years (Acts 12:6-11) was also gradually withdrawn, and all the apostles were martyred except John (see the commentary on The Life of Christ Cy – These are the Names of the Twelve Apostles). Finally, the writer to the Hebrews spoke both of the apostles (those who heard the Lord) and of the signs and wonders they performed in the past tense (Hebrews 2:3-4). Their qualifications and foundational role in God’s plan for the Church made the apostles unique. Having laid a solid doctrinal foundation for the Church, they passed from the scene, along with the signs and miracles associated with them, never to be replaced.282
In 12:13 the letter returns to perhaps the main bone of contention that some at Corinth had with Paul: he would not take their money for his ministry. Is there any way in which you have been treated as inferior to any of the other congregations, except that I was never a burden to you? Paul continued to press his case with irony. He asked in what respect they were worse off than other churches except that he didn’t weigh them down with financial obligations to him. He didn’t want their money, he wanted their hearts. The “I” in “I was never a burden to you” is emphatic, meaning “I myself.” It set him apart from the false apostles who had exploited them (11:20). Surely, they didn’t believe that refusing to sponge off them somehow disqualified him as an apostle? If they counted that wrong as a sin, he mockingly asked for their forgiveness. For this unfairness, please forgive me. Unlike his opponents, he was no peddler of the Gospel and would not be put in a position where he needed to fawn over his benefactors to repay their support and keep the gifts coming. God forbid! He lived out the Gospel principle of not seeking his own advantage but that of others.283
As is his method, Paul introduces into the end of a section a theme that he will pick up and expand upon in the new section, in this case, that he has not nor will he be a burden to them. Well, the lines had been drawn, the issues put on the table. Now it was time for the church at Corinth as a whole, and those who had been duped by the false apostles in particular, to make some tough choices. To further encourage them, Paul assured them that he was going to make a third visit to see them (see Ce – Paul’s Planned Third Visit).284
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