But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. NLT

Did Paul eventually meet up with Titus (verse 13), and if so, what happened when he did? For reasons that are not clear, Paul leaves us in suspense. He now engages in a long digression about the apostolic ministry of the new covenant. He does not resume his narrative and tell us what happened in Macedonia until 7:5.

Someone said that when we read the New Testament letters it’s like listening to one half of a telephone conversation. We have to try to piece together what is being said at the other end of the line. Reading between the lines here, we get a sense that Paul had opponents – other preachers who influenced the Corinthians – and who suggested that he was incompetent, always running away from problems, and clearly lacking the power of God. Whereas they were the superstars: charismatic, strong, successful.

A key message of 2 Corinthians, however, is that God’s strength, God’s power is ”made perfect in weakness” (12:9). We follow, and proclaim, a crucified, but risen Saviour and Lord. To be sure, He was crucified in weakness, but He was raised in power and glory. Christian ministry is ‘cruciform’ in shape. It is by way of ‘Good Friday’ that we arrive at ‘Easter Sunday’.

2 Corinthians 2:14a reads like this in the NIV: ”But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession…” The point is that, however it appears, God always leads His people in a victory procession. Paul could say this regardless of recent reversals and problems: rejection in Corinth, expulsion from Ephesus, turmoil in Troas and anxiety in Macedonia. Someone described this as the ‘inner reality’ of Paul’s ministry. If we are led by God, we always move in triumph. But this may not necessarily look like success by worldly standards.