2 Corinthians2:14

1

A different form of the name Theos (God) is used here but I choose to always use the same form to not cause confusion. The different forms used are only for grammatical purposes; they don’t change the meaning, or I would let you know of that change.

2

The victory parades of ancient times differed from ours in one primary way; the victorious king or general was followed by many if not all of the captives he had taken in war. This proved how successful he had been and thus how powerful he was. Obviously, if they had take the king of that other country captive, he would be the first prisoner in the procession, followed by his government officials, then the wealthy citizens, etc.

That is the imagery that was brought to mind by the verb that was used here. But what does it mean? Does it show that we are Christ’s slaves and He is showing off His strength at our expense? No, I don’t think Jesus or God the Father would shame and disgrace us in that way, even though we are His slaves by choice.

Are we His warriors in this procession? Are we participating in the parade as victorious soldiers who are guarding His prisoners? No, that’s not it either. This verb was not used of the guards, but only of the prisoners.

So what did it mean? First I am convinced that the emphasis of this passage is on God the Father and on Jesus Christ, not on us. Paul was thanking God for what He had done through Christ. He was saying that Jesus has been victorious! Jesus is powerful! Jesus deserves a victory parade!

Secondly, Paul was saying that God was using the believers to demonstrate the power and victory of Christ. How He does that is not the point. Every analogy begins to break down if you push it hard enough, and that is the point at which this one breaks down. We are his slaves, but by our own choice. God would not humiliate us, but in other ways He is using us to show how victorious He is. He is even putting us on display before the world, but not as humiliated captives.

Because this word picture was incomplete and had some difficulties associated with it, Paul went on to use another word picture in conjunction with this one.

3

Here the idea of fragrance pertains to the way incense offerings were used prominently during a victory parade in ancient times. Paul is saying that believers are like the incense bearers at those parades. This is further proof that the emphasis is not on us as his captives. It shows that the verb used earlier does not have all of its normal meaning even though the victory parade metaphor is the setting of both word pictures. This part of the verse indicates that we should be showing the world that following Jesus is the best decision we ever made; it brings true joy and peace.

4

This probably refers to knowing Jesus Christ, but it could also refer to both God the Father and God the Son. If you know one you know the other.