“This boasting will do no good, but I must go on. I will reluctantly tell about visions and revelations from the Lord. I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know that I was caught up to paradise and heard things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words, things no human is allowed to tell.”
2 Corinthians 12:1-4 NLT
What an incredible vision Paul must have had. He spared us the details, but such a vision of the place we call Heaven obviously made a profound impact on his life. Paul was a very humble man, and it did not come easily to him to brag or boast about anything. In fact, regarding verse 2 of our passage today, other translations refer to “a man in Christ” other than Paul himself, so keen was he not to promote himself. The NIV reads, “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know – God knows”. Paul seemed fully committed to not receiving any personal credit for this experience. He emphasised that only God knows whether he physically travelled to the third heaven in his body or whether it was an out-of-body experience.
But what is the “third Heaven”? The general thought amongst the scholars is that the first heaven is the sky above our heads, the second is where the celestial bodies, such as the sun, moon, and stars reside, and the third Heaven is where we find God and His angels. Another school of thought holds that the first heaven is the sky above us, together with all the celestial bodies, galaxies, and so on that are visible, and the third Heaven is God’s domain, the Paradise that Jesus promised to the penitent thief. But the second heaven is the place where the devil and his demonic angels have their base, and from which the world we know is impacted by his evil ways. But whatever, Paul had a wonderful experience in the Third Heaven, and it was something that he could boast about.
Why was Paul forced to boast at all? Perhaps it was because the “super-apostles”, the leaders who seemed to have muscled into leadership roles within the Corinthian church, and who were perhaps bragging about their supernatural experiences, were criticising Paul, calling him something of a lightweight apostle not worthy of the name. But whatever was happening, Paul had to elevate himself out of his comfort zone and share his experience.
Paul said this happened fourteen years previously. Why did this happen at all? Because I think we can agree, it is not a normal experience to be able to pay a visit to heaven and return to tell the tale. Perhaps God, knowing that Paul had missed out on all the teaching the twelve apostles had received during their time spent with Jesus, gave him a crash course to bring him up to speed. Or perhaps it was just an occasion that empowered him for the rest of his life, providing him with an extraordinary ministry so fruitful in establishing churches and making converts. Paul didn’t know if this was a physical or spiritual experience, but it was real to him, whatever.
Paul said that he heard “things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words”. We can only speculate about what these things were because Paul wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about them. Perhaps it was similar to John’s revelation, as we read in Revelation 10:4, “When the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Keep secret what the seven thunders said, and do not write it down””. What the words Paul and John heard we cannot even try to understand, but one day we will hear them, I’m sure. But one thing we know for sure, Paul told us about in 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, “For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever”.
We pilgrims march ever onward, through a life strewn with boulders and other obstacles, all designed to trip us up and divert us away from the path that leads to the Place where we too will hear “things so astounding that they cannot be expressed in words”. Sometimes we think we cannot wait, but then we realise that we are here on this earth at just this time for a purpose: to be Christ’s ambassadors amongst the people in our sad and dying world. We are the only ones able to communicate Jesus’ message of hope, and we cannot shirk our responsibilities.
Father God. Please lead us to encounters that will enable us to share Your Good News. The words of eternal life You gave us are too precious to keep to ourselves. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 