Thorns of the Flesh

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 7b-10)

Theologians have speculated and disputed for years about what this thorn of Paul’s might have been. Debating what the thorn was certainly misses the point—it doesn't matter what the thorn was. What it almost certianly wasn’t, however, was a literal thorn. It’s interesting that Paul would use this description for whatever this nuisance or pain was. A thorn is small, yet can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort. A thorn is not always easy to see, especially to others; you could be struggling with a thorn in your foot and no one would ever see it. What’s all the more interesting is the fact that the one who could truly understand the pain of thorns better than anyone else is the One who addressed Paul’s thorn.

“Then Pilate had Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip. The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’ they mocked, as they slapped him across the face.” (John 19:1-3)

Jesus understands the pain thorns can cause. Paul called his affliction a thorn in the flesh—Jesus wore an entire crown made out of them. He was flogged, beaten, and nailed to a cross. He understands pain. There are those of us who have to live with constant pain, whether it’s from chronic migraines or illness, to old joints or anything in between—let it be a comfort that your Savior and King knows the pain of literal thorns.

“This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

But Paul’s thorn was almost certainly not literal, and Jesus understands that pain too. He was tested and tempted in every way and yet He did not sin. This means that it is only Christ who fully understands the true extent of the sting of temptation’s thorn. C.S. Lewis put it this way:

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. (…) Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting against it, not by giving in. You find out the strength of a wind by trying to walk against it, not by lying down. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. (…) We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means….”

Whatever your thorn may be, know that Jesus understands. He’s been through it and in all things He reigns over it. Rest in your Savior and King who understands better than anyone the pain that thorns can cause.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.