"… he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor. 12:4).
Having just stated that he would rather glory in his infirmities than in his strengths, Paul gives an extraordinary example of one ground for personal boasting. At some point, 14 years prior to the writing of this letter, he was taken either physically or spiritually into heaven. There, Christ revealed to him many visions and revelations of which he was unable to speak. Paul described the event in the third person, and commentators differ on exactly why he did that. He probably wanted to distance himself from the event in order to make a point—that he would not boast in such a glorious experience. He might also have referred to it in the third person because that was how he felt when the event occurred. He may have been as one observing the scene rather than being involved in it, but he gives no particulars about what happened. One thing we do know is that it was not the same event that happened at his conversion, which would have been more than 20 years prior to his writing the Corinthian letter. This mysterious experience occurred at some point following his conversion and it happened in a miraculous way. He was taken to the “third heavens” or “paradise,” which are terms for heaven. There he came into the very presence of Christ and was given many revelations of truth.
Could any of the “apostles” in Corinth boast of such an experience? Could they even boast of the supernatural gifts that were bestowed upon Paul as a commissioned minister of Christ? No. But even Paul himself would not boast about such things. He had cause to, he had the experiences to earn the admiration and respect of the world and the church. But he chose not to exalt himself and the privileges to which he was exposed. Paul knew that people would not respect him on account of his infirmities, so this is exactly what he boasted in. If he had flaunted his successes as an apostle and his extraordinary experiences, people would have admired him too highly. He did not want to be judged by his own abilities or by his experiences, and he did not want people to be distracted from Christ by focusing on his mysterious experience. Instead, he wanted people to focus on Christ and to judge him only by his faithfulness and sincerity in proclaiming the Gospel.
Make a brief list of special abilities that you might have, experiences you have had, spiritual gifts, anything that would give you cause to boast about yourself and to heighten your credibility in the eyes of others. Prayerfully go through your list, thanking God for each of these gifts but asking him to keep you humble regarding them.
