The Signs of Paul’s Apostleship at Corinth (2 Cor. 12:11–18)

2 Cor. 12:11. I have been a fool! You forced me to it. For I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.

The Apostle speaks as if: but why am I boasting?! After all, I was with you and worked; and among you I showed the signs of my apostleship no less than in other Churches, no less than the first Apostles show them. You all know this. It was your responsibility to defend my dignity when false teachers began to cast doubt on it, but you did not. If you had done so, I would have had no need to speak about myself with praise. You yourselves are to blame for this. When you did not defend me, there was nothing for me to do but defend myself. And though I see that this is foolish, I do it because it is necessary for you.

Holy Chrysostom says: “Ending his speech of self-praise, the Apostle does not stop on himself, but again defends himself and asks forgiveness in what was said, because it was said by necessity, not by his own choice. Nevertheless, despite necessity, he calls himself foolish. For having achieved his purpose by his speech, he boldly and harshly attacks this defect, teaching all never to boast without need, when even Paul, having boasted by need, called himself foolish for that. Then he lays all blame not on false apostles, but on the disciples: ‘you compelled me.’ If the false apostles boasted, but did not lead you into deception and destruction, I would not have allowed myself such words. But since they corrupted the whole Church, caring for your benefit, I was forced to become foolish.”

“For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles.” I am not lacking in anything, he says, that the foremost Apostles have. Everything that they have I have too; or in general, everything that every Apostle must have as an Apostle, I have. But the Apostle’s thought is not to show what he is in himself, but to remind them how he appeared among them. He presents the reason why they themselves should have defended him before others and before themselves. It was your responsibility, he says, to do this because I appeared among you as anyone of the foremost Apostles could have appeared. But, having said this, the Apostle again thought lest they consider him greater than he is, and therefore hastened to add: “even though I am nothing.” “Yet he does not deviate from moderation and his usual manner; but, as if having said something unusual and beyond his dignity in that he ranked himself with the foremost Apostles, he again employed this modest expression about himself” (Saint Chrysostom). He wants them to acknowledge the extraordinary things manifested in him, but at the same time teaches them to understand them in such a way that they do not dwell on him with their attention, but from him ascend to the source of such manifestations and from this draw conclusions not to his glorification, but to giving due faith and honor to the work he serves. I am nothing, he says, less than others, but all this is not mine. I am nothing here. I serve the work of God and have the power for it—the power of God.

2 Cor. 12:12. The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with “all perseverance, by signs and wonders and mighty deeds.”

And this is the proof that he is not inferior to the first Apostles. Everything by which an Apostle should be distinguished was accomplished through me among you, in your midst, before your eyes. Do you want patience? How much of it was there? Do you seek signs of power over nature? They were there too. Do you desire miraculous healings? There was no lack of them. Do you require power over demons? This power was displayed among you too. Everything, everything that you can only expect from an Apostle, as a messenger of God, and by which he should appear when the work of preaching requires it, you saw in me yourselves; and I had nothing to say to you about my apostleship. Though I am nothing, I am an Apostle, and, as an Apostle, I am armed with great powers.

Saint Chrysostom says on this passage: “Look, he says, not at the fact that I am insignificant and small, but at whether you received from me what you should receive from an Apostle. And he did not say: insignificant, but something even lower, ‘nothing.’ For what benefit is it to be great and help no one? There is no benefit from a skilled doctor who has not cured a single patient. Therefore, he says, do not judge the fact that I am nothing, but look at the fact that in everything serving to your benefit I did not lag behind others, but showed evidence of my apostleship. Therefore I have no need to speak about myself. I spoke thus not because I actually sought praise, but because I desired the salvation of the disciples. — ‘The signs of a true apostle.’ Oh, what a depth of merits he expressed in a few words! And note what he puts first! — Patience. For the mark of an Apostle is to bear all magnanimously. And about patience he expressed himself briefly, in one word; on the contrary, he used not just one word about signs, because they were not produced by his power. But imagine how many bonds, how many blows, how many dangers, how many plots, what multitude of trials he meant here; how many battles, internal and external, how many sorrows, how many attacks he expressed in one word: ‘patience’! And by the word ‘signs’ did he not again depict how many dead were raised by him, how many blind were healed, how many lepers were cleansed, how many demons were cast out? Hearing this, let us learn, if we are even placed in the necessity of speaking about our merits, not to expand on them, following Saint Paul’s example.”

2 Cor. 12:13. For in what were you less favored than the other churches, except that I myself did not burden you? Forgive me this wrong!

They might have thought: we do not deny that all this was manifested among us; but in other Churches, where other Apostles worked, it was manifested in greater quantity and degree. The Apostle says: examine all Churches, and you will find nothing in any of them that you lacked. What others have, you have too. As if the Apostle hears a complaint: you came to us, getting ahead of others, we received you with faith, but you did not give us what others give; it would have been better for us to wait for them. The Apostle says: do not worry, go around all the Churches, and you will see that you are not diminished before any. — “Lest someone say: though you are great and did much, yet not as much as the Apostles in other Churches, Paul added: ‘For in what were you less favored than the other churches?…’ That is, you too in comparison with the other Churches partake of no less grace” (Saint Chrysostom).

There is one thing in which you are deprived, that is, that “I myself did not burden you,” I did not trouble you with supporting me. All other Churches, both those founded by me and those by other Apostles, are not free from this. In relation to you alone do I act this way. But if you consider this an injustice on my part toward you, “forgive me this wrong,” χαρισασθε, grant me a favor, show mercy and forbearance in this to me, or do me a favor, forgive. “If, he says, you accuse me of this, I ask your pardon, forgive me this fault. Note what prudence! Since reminding of this could seem like a reproach and as if inflict dishonor, every time he repeats it, he softens it with explanatory words. Thus he said above: ‘The truth of Christ is in me, that this boasting of mine will not be stopped in the churches of Achaia’” (2 Cor. 11:10). And immediately added: “But do I not love you? God knows… but I will cut off any occasion from those who desire an occasion” (2 Cor. 11:11, 12). And in the first epistle he says: “What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may make the gospel free of charge” (1 Cor. 9:18). And here again he says: “Forgive me this wrong.” For everywhere he tries to show that he does not take because of their weakness. Therefore here too he says: if you count this against me, I ask your pardon. (Saint Chrysostom).

“2 Cor. 12:14. ‘Behold, I am ready to come to you the third time, and I will not burden you: for I do not seek what belongs to you, but you. For it is not the responsibility of children to lay up treasures for their parents, but’ ‘of parents’ ‘for their children.’”

“So that they would not think that the Apostle often turns to the same ones with the intention of receiving something from them, he forestalls this suspicion, having said even in the first epistle: ‘I did not write this to show you how you ought to do, for it would be better for me to die than to have anyone deprive me of this boast!’ (1 Cor. 9:15); but here he expresses himself more pleasantly and graciously. How exactly? ‘See, I am ready to come to you’ a third time. I have come already a second time, and am ready to go a third time, and again I will not be a burden to you. And the reason for this is weighty. For he did not say: I do not wish to be a burden to you because you are stingy, because you are troubled by this, because you are weak. But what does he say? – ‘I do not seek what is yours, but you.’ I seek not your possessions, but you. I seek what is greater: instead of money – souls, instead of gold – salvation. Then, since there remained room for suspicion that he was grieved with them, he introduces his reasoning. For they could have said: is it impossible to seek both us and ours? Therefore he justifies them with great graciousness thus: ‘For children ought not to lay up treasure for their parents, but parents for their children.’ Instead of calling them teachers and disciples, he uses the words: parents and children, and shows that he turns into an obligation even what he was not obliged to, for Christ did not command this; but the Apostle out of condescension to the Corinthians speaks thus. Therefore he adds something even greater. For he said not only that children should not gather treasure for parents, but also that parents are obliged to do this for children.” (Saint Chrysostom).

The obligations of parents to children, in the material respect, are not applicable to the Apostles in their relation to believers. But in the spiritual respect they are more than applicable. The Apostle wishes to impress upon the Corinthians that he does this from parental love for them, meaning his concern for their salvation. But as he began this discourse the first time, he said: “That we might not place an obstacle to the gospel of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:12), so he always gives this as the reason to be understood, as the chief one, though he also presents something else as the basis for such a manner of action. Why precisely in Corinth the success of the gospel required this, for us now it is not so clear. The Apostle saw it and submitted to necessity. But he could not say it directly in the epistle, because by this he would have destroyed the beneficial effect that proceeded from it.

2 Cor. 12:15. I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls; if I love you more abundantly, am I to be loved less?

Here is why he acted thus! He did not spare their possessions, but their souls—he spent his own, not because he spared theirs, but because this was required for the salvation of their souls. In other places, accepting such services from those being converted and converted did not hinder their salvation, but in Corinth it hindered. The Apostle saw this, guided by the Spirit of God, so he would not agree on any account to take anything from the Corinthians, he spent his own; and in spending it, not only did he not grieve, but even found sweetness in it. This sweetness was produced in him by the vision of good that came to those being saved from such a manner of action. Such a thought the Apostle expresses in the words: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” He does not speak of the past—he only confirms it—but of the future, that it is thus decided for him to act, forever, as he had often mentioned before. Moreover, he intensifies the matter: for while “spend” can be limited to expenditure of resources, “be spent” suggests that the spending does not touch only expenditure, but the very person of the Apostle: he expresses readiness to sacrifice himself too for their sake, “to give himself for them” (Theodoret). “To parents the natural law commanded to gather possessions for children; but I, he says, not only do this, but even give myself. The height of generosity is not only to take nothing, but to give one’s own and give it not simply, but with great eagerness, even with hardship, for these words show: ‘be spent.’ Even if it were necessary to exhaust the very flesh, I will not spare it for your salvation.” (Saint Chrysostom).

The second half of the text: ‘If I love you more abundantly, am I to be loved less?’ “expresses both love and reproof. I do this, says the Apostle, for those whom I love and who do not love me in equal measure” (Saint Chrysostom). “By this he both saddened them, reproaching them for lack of love, and gladdened them, showing his strongest love for them” (Theodoret). The Apostle hints at what happened before the first epistle, when some began to turn away from him and prefer others to him. The first epistle turned everyone’s hearts back to him, as Saint Paul himself witnessed, saying with what zeal they hastened to correct everything he indicated. Why does he speak thus now? — So as to more strongly stir their love for him and beforehand prevent such turning away on their part. For nothing so stirs love as to say to the beloved: I love you strongly, but you love me less; and nothing so urges to avoid any occasions of showing diminished love as such a reminder. He knew that this reproof would not sting like a wound, but would be like wind fanning the flame, so he spoke thus.

Saint Chrysostom concludes the words of Saint Paul on self-spending with such an elucidation: “Consider finally how many degrees there are: he should have taken, but he did not take—this is the first merit; he did not take while in poverty—this is the second; he did not take while preaching to them—this is the third; he himself gives to them—this is the fourth; and not simply gives, but abundantly—this is the fifth; he gives not possessions only, but himself—this is the sixth; he gives himself for those who do not love him very much—this is the seventh; and whom he loves greatly—this is the eighth. Let us then rival him too.”

2 Cor. 12:16. But be that as it may, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, crafty fellow that I am, I took you in by deceit.

The Apostle builds probable suppositions from his ill-wishers. Someone will say about me that I personally indeed did not burden you with anything, but this was one cunning trick. Behind this appearance of disinterestedness, I, as a schemer, so cleverly managed that you did not even notice I was taking from you. “You took me in,” υμας ελαβον, robbed you, or took from you, or got you in your hands, that is, gained control of your possessions, while you did not notice and continued to regard me as acting without pay. But when I did not personally take, but took somehow by another means—this could not happen invisibly but visibly. Visibly how? — Not otherwise than through my helpers and fellow servants. The Apostle points to this afterwards.

2 Cor. 12:17. Did I take advantage of you through any of the men I sent to you?

If I myself did not take, but took from the side through my messengers, then tell me: by which of those sent to you did I exploit you, or benefit from your possessions? The Corinthians knew that this had not happened, so this reminder was sufficient, but the Apostle describes his very sending to them.

2 Cor. 12:18. I urged Titus to go, and sent the brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not act in the same spirit? Did we not take the same steps?

And how many messengers were there?! Beside me, only Titus with a certain brother was with you from me. Did Titus exploit anything from you? — No. This you know. So there is no point in entertaining or listening to such thoughts. We all act in the same spirit of disinterestedness, we go one way, we walk in the same steps.

We present the words of Saint Chrysostom on all these concluding in this section texts (2 Cor. 12:16–18). “These words are spoken by Paul very unclearly, but not without purpose, and not in vain. Since the discourse concerns money and the Apostle is defending himself that he takes nothing, it was fitting for him to veil his words. What then does he mean? Before he said that he took nothing, even ready to give and spend his own, and reasoned much about this both in this letter and in the first. But now he says something different, as it were introducing words from an objection made to him, and beforehand resolves it. Here is the meaning of what was said: I did not seek profit from you, but perhaps someone will say that although I myself took nothing, yet as a cunning man, I arranged for those sent by me to ask something from you on my behalf and I received from them, and thus, receiving through others, I avoided suspicion of taking myself. But not even this can anyone say. You yourselves are witnesses. And he conducts his discourse with questions, saying: ‘I urged Titus, and sent the brother with him: Did Titus take advantage of you?’ Did he not come to you in the same way as I? That is, did he not take nothing just as I did? Do you see with what care he strove not only to keep himself pure from greed, but also to keep those sent by him from it, so as not to give even the slightest pretext to those seeking a pretext. This is far surpassing what patriarch Abraham did (Gen. 14) on returning from victory. When the king offered him part of the war spoils, he refused to take more than what his household had eaten; but Paul, as he himself did not benefit, so he did not allow even his fellow workers to use even necessary food, so as in this way to completely shut the mouths of the shameless. Therefore he does not speak of himself that they took nothing, but, what is far more important, presents as witnesses the Corinthians themselves, so that the testimony comes not from his own person, but is established on their judgment. So we usually act when it concerns something obvious and subject to no doubt. Tell me, says the Apostle, which of those sent by us made use of anything from you? He does not say: who took something from you? but calls such a deed ‘taking advantage,’ reproaching them thereby, bringing them to shame and showing that to take from someone against his will means taking advantage. And he did not say: only Titus, but anyone; that is, you cannot even say that although one did not take, another did. On the contrary, not one of those sent to you took anything. – ‘I urged Titus,’ and this is not said simply, for he does not say: I sent Titus, but ‘I urged,’ thereby showing that even if he had taken something from them, he would have taken it by right, yet with all that remained pure. Therefore again he asks them: ‘Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit?’ What does ‘in the same spirit’ mean? – That he ascribes all to grace and shows that all worthy of praise is produced not by our labors, but is the work of a spiritual gift and grace. Truly great was the grace when those having want in all things and suffering hunger took nothing for the edification of those being taught. – ‘Did we not walk in the same footsteps?’ – That is, they did not at all depart from the caution I adopted, but kept the same rule.”