For our momentary [and] light affliction works for us in surpassing measure an eternal weight of glory;
Paul has just described a life of constant pressure. Now he weighs that whole experience against what is coming. How can a man who was beaten, jailed and often near death call his trouble light and brief?
Who Is Speaking
The words land differently once you remember whose mouth they come from. This is not a comfortable man philosophising about pain.
The storm of trial was harsh and pitiless. It kept repeating itself in fresh blows and constant grief. Yet the apostle does not hesitate to call it "the momentary lightness of our affliction." Who ever saw, or even imagined, such suffering, except in the One with whom none can compare? And it is His grace that works this way, and strengthens a man to reckon like this. Lightness of affliction! — in beatings beyond measure, in prison more often, facing death often.
A Moment That Lasted Thirty Years
"For a moment" is measured from the other end of the comparison, not by the clock. The writers below quote an older English translation, which reads "a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."
The affliction is not only light but also only "for a moment." In Paul's case it started shortly after his conversion, when the Jews of Damascus plotted to kill him. It ran on to the day he died as a martyr. That is a period of thirty years or more. This period is only a moment to him because his mind is set on an eternity of glory. What tremendous contrasts we have here! The coming glory is weighty and not light; it is for eternity and not just for a moment; and it is all this in a "far more exceeding" way. It might have seemed enough to say it was exceeding. To say it is "more exceeding" seems almost unnecessary. But, "far more exceeding!" Paul piles on the words.
Why the Next Verse Matters
This reckoning does not stand on its own. The next verse gives the reason.
Verse 18 is the argument for verse 17. Only while faith looks at things unseen can we count such burdens light, though in themselves they have overwhelming weight. Every creature is nothing next to its Creator. In the same way, what faith looks forward to always shrinks the believer's passing experiences, whether happy or painful. The passage plainly states a positive link between two things: the trouble that is the common calling of God's people while they live in this body, and the glory they are to have.
The Working Is Not Wasted
"Working for us" says the trouble produces something. The suffering is not merely endured until glory arrives; it has a hand in the outcome.
Afflictions work out glory for the true follower of Christ, and that in an inverse ratio. The afflictions (when measured by the heart of faith) are light; the glory is above all weight. The connection of ideas in this memorable contrast is very plain. What Paul suffers, he suffers in the body, with the limited endurance of a man. But he suffers in the name of Jesus and for His sake. So the joyful reward will match that name, and the worthiness of the One who bears it.
Not Gritted Teeth
Where does such calm come from?
The ups and downs of life are "our present light affliction which is but for a moment." They are not without purpose or empty of blessing. They work "for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." This is not cold, lifeless theology. It is the sure word of God, and we are to take it up in triumphant faith. This calm of soul does not come from human toughness, and even less from an inability to feel suffering. No, it is the divine life in the Christian, strengthened and made glad by the glory of the grace that shines in the face of Jesus.
Using the Scale
The verse is meant to be used. Put the two things in the balance.
Affliction — how many endure it! How painful it is, especially when there is wearying pain night and day! The time seems endless. But let the mind think on "the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory," and the true proportion is discovered, the divine perspective is ours. What seems so heavy becomes "light affliction." Put the affliction, which lasts a moment, in the scale. Weigh it against the glory, which is eternal. How light the affliction; how weighty the glory.
Summary
- Weigh — the verse is a scale. Set momentary affliction against eternal glory. Then the true proportion appears: how light the one, how weighty the other.
- Look — the weighing only works while the eye is on what is unseen. There is no other way to call crushing burdens light.
- Work — trouble is not dead time. The suffering of God's people is linked to their coming glory, and it helps produce it.
- Name — Paul suffers as a man, with a man's limited endurance. But he suffers for the sake of Jesus, and the reward matches the worth of that name.
- Life — this calm is not human toughness or numbness. It is the divine life in the Christian, gladdened by the glory shining in the face of Jesus.