“For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we will live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you” (II Corinthians 13:4).
Christ was crucified in weakness, humiliation, and shame. But Jesus despised the shame for the joy, power, and life that was coming after. To the world, Jesus died a broken and weak man. But he rose from the dead, not as a weak and broken man, but as the powerful Divine Creator Savior of the world! He died in weakness, but lives, rose again, because of the power of God.
This verse is a picture of our joining Jesus in that journey. “For we also are weak in Him.” How can we be weak when we are “in Christ”? How can we be “weak in Him”? Our weakness is in how we joined Christ in His death. We were lost sinners with nothing to offer when we accepted His offer. When we believed, we joined Christ in the weakness of His death. But that is just the start of our story.
Because we also joined Him in the power of His resurrection. The same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in us. We live with Him in the same power that made Christ alive. We live with Him by the power of God.
In the broader context of this chapter, Paul is reminding his Corinthian brothers that his strength is in the Lord. He is expecting a need to confront an issue in the church on his next visit. And he makes clear that his efforts in this area will be directed by the Lord and carried out in the power of the Lord. Any weakness was buried with Jesus when we joined Him in His death, burial, and resurrection. We now operate in the body of Christ from a stance of power. Power that is informed and exercised by a deep deep love toward our brothers and sisters in the body.
We were weak just as Christ appeared weak in His death. But we are now united with Him in the power of His resurrection. Not just WITH Christ, but actually indwelt BY Christ. He and His resurrection power live in you!