What was Paul’s thorn in the flesh? Dr. Zach Cole discusses the Apostle Paul’s thorn in the flesh and explains how believers can be encouraged that God’s power is perfected in weakness.
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul refers to a thorn in his flesh, and he further describes it as a messenger from Satan, to torment him, to keep him from getting conceited. And what is this thorn in the flesh? And many Christians have wondered what he’s referring to. And the short answer and the honest answer is “We do not know.” He does not tell us, and he apparently did not want us to know specifically what it is. But that has not stopped people from taking some educated guesses. And one educated guess takes us over to the book of Galatians.
An Educated Guess
In Galatians 4, Paul refers to a physical weakness, a physical suffering affliction that he had when he went to preach to them. And he says, “When I preached the gospel to you, I was suffering from a physical affliction.” And he uses the same word “flesh” there, so there’s a connection. And they didn’t reject him. They accepted him, and he even says in that context, “You were willing to pluck out your own eyes and give them to me.”
So if he’s talking about the same thing there, then he very well might have been suffering from a problem with his eyes, with his eyesight. He might have had a physical problem or an illness that affected his eyes. We don’t know that for sure, but there seems to be good indication of it. And if that’s the case, then it’s also possible that that’s what he means by the thorn in the flesh—he refers to a physical ailment. But that’s just a guess. We don’t really know. He didn’t want to tell us specifically what it is in 2 Corinthians 12.
Applications for Today
We will deal with persistent, painful reminders of our weaknesses. And that doesn’t necessarily reflect God’s displeasure or God’s anger at us.But he does tell us what it means to him to have a thorn in the flesh. He does tell us that. And that’s what’s really significant about 2 Corinthians, because the Corinthians, when they get this letter, are judging Paul and judging life based on worldly standards of power and success. And the thing about Paul and the thing about Christ himself is that by worldly standards, they’re not impressive. Christ died on a cross. Paul was not an impressive speaker. He wasn’t a very impressive looking individual. And so the thorn in the flesh is a persistent, painful reminder of Paul’s weakness. But that’s not to degrade him or to depress him. It’s to remind him that God’s power is made perfect in weakness. That is the very means by which God shows his power in this world. And so he says, “My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.”
And so I think there’s probably a reason why Paul calls it a thorn, because it reminds us of the crown of thorns Christ wore, which is a symbol of God’s power made perfect in weakness. And that’s such a great comfort to Christians today, because we will deal with persistent, painful reminders of our weaknesses. And that doesn’t necessarily reflect God’s displeasure or God’s anger at us. It might very well be the means by which God’s power is manifested in our lives.
