The Beginning of the Epistle: God Sends Afflictions for the Good of Believers (2 Cor. 1:3–7)

The holy Apostle begins his epistle with an outpouring of grateful feelings toward God for comfort in his afflictions and those of all who labor in preaching the Gospel, and for deliverance from a recent mortal danger, cherishing the hope that He will continue to deliver, with the aid, among other things, of the prayers of the faithful Corinthians (2 Cor. 1:3–11). a) In offering thanksgiving to God for comfort in affliction, the Apostle assures them that God does this for the good of the believers (2 Cor. 1:3–7), and b) in cherishing hope for future deliverance from evil, he acknowledges the prayers of the faithful as contributors to the bestowal of this good (2 Cor. 1:8–11). In both places he expresses the close union of those who labor in preaching the Gospel with those who believe in it, under the influence of their preaching.

a) God sends afflictions for the good of believers (2 Cor. 1:3–7)

2 Cor. 1:3, 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

“Blessed be God!” How natural it was for the holy Apostle to cry out thus after God had delivered him from “such a deadly peril in Asia” (2 Cor. 1:10, 8), and as he, who had no rest in his spirit in Troas (2 Cor. 2:13) and in Macedonia was experiencing “conflicts without and fears within,” was comforted by the coming of Titus (2 Cor. 7:5, 6)! Wholly dedicated to God, the Apostle perceived every event with himself as coming directly from God, and saw God’s gracious hand not only in comforts but also in afflictions.

“The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” is used in the same sense as the Lord Himself said after the resurrection: “I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (Jn. 20:17), that is, according to the economy of our salvation. “In these words there is nothing new. The same Christ, according to His humanity, is God to, while according to His divinity the Father” (Theophylact).

“The Father of mercies and God of all comfort,”—God, whose very essence consists in pouring forth mercies and comforts: for He “is love” (1 Jn. 4:16). Thus has He ordered all that exists and thus He orders all that comes to pass, so that, provided only the creation does not depart from His will and His counsel, it will always drink only comforts from the cup of God’s mercies. In the present order of things, even that which outwardly brings affliction is undoubtedly a work of God’s mercies and leads to comfort. The Apostle speaks as it were with these words: Father and God, “who pours forth mercies, is a fountain of compassion, and deals with us with paternal mercies” (Theodoret). It is customary for the Spirit-inspired writers to name God not by one name, but variously, deriving these names from His infinite perfections, attributes, and actions. “Thus the holy David does not call God the same everywhere, nor does he derive the names of God from the same attributes; but when he reasons about war and victory, he says: ‘O Lord, my strength, I love you’” (Ps. 17:2); “and when he recalls his deliverance from affliction and darkness that oppressed his soul, he said: ‘The Lord is my light and my salvation’” (Ps. 26:1). “Sometimes he borrows His name from philanthropy, sometimes from His justice, sometimes from His impartial judgment, in accordance with the circumstances in which he found himself. In like manner here the holy Apostle at the beginning of his epistle calls God from the aspect of His philanthropy: ‘Father of mercies, God of all comfort.’ That is: to display mercies abundantly and to show compassion before all else is proper and native to God” (the holy Chrysostom).

“He who comforts us” “in every” “affliction of ours.” “The Apostle shows that God provides comfort equal to every trial. So also the blessed David said: ‘The multitude of sorrows in my heart; Your comforts have delighted my soul’ (Ps. 93:19).” (Theodoret). “He did not say: the one preventing us from falling into sorrow, but: the one comforting us in sorrow. For this shows both God’s power and strengthens the patience of the afflicted. David the prophet said the same: ‘In my affliction You have expanded me’ (Ps. 4:2). He did not say: You did not permit me to fall into affliction, or: You immediately scattered my affliction; but he said: in the course of affliction You expanded me, that is, You gave me great coolness and relief, which is what God did also with the three youths. For He did not prevent them from being cast into the furnace, and when they were cast in, He did not extinguish the flames; but when the furnace was burning, He gave them coolness. And this God ordinarily does in all cases. Alluding to this, Paul also says: ‘the one comforting us’ ‘in every’ ‘affliction.’ But by this he shows something yet more. What is it? That God does not act this way once or twice, but always. For God does not act so as to comfort now but at another time to abandon; but always and at every time of affliction He provides comfort. Therefore the Apostle said: ‘the one comforting,’ not: the one who comforted; and: ‘in every’ ‘affliction,’ not in this or that affliction, but in every affliction.” (Saint Chrysostom).

“So that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” – “So that we may be able” Εις το δυνασθαι, that we might be able. For this reason, he says, God comforts us in all affliction, so that we also might comfort others. We – this is either the holy Paul with the holy Timothy, or all the Apostles in general. God chose them to be both organs of His word and instruments of consolation for those grieving over this word. But how could consolation from the Apostles be transmitted to other grieving ones? – Some say: by the example of consolation granted by the Apostles, other sorrowful ones were encouraged toward magnanimous endurance, and hope of similar consolation comforted them in sorrows; others say: from love for the Apostles, others, looking at their sorrows, grieved too; but when they received consolation, they were comforted together with them as well. And the sorrow of the Apostles was their sorrow, and the consolation of the Apostles – their consolation (Oecumenius, Theophylact). Both, though capable of being accepted, do not fully express the Apostle’s thought. Here consolation from the Apostles passes to others without the knowledge of the Apostles themselves; but in the word of the holy Paul they are represented as actively pouring consolation into the hearts of other sorrowful ones. Being comforted by God, they become an overflowing source of consolation for the sorrowful; with the consolation with which God comforts them, they share with others. And how is this done? – Through the word. A heart full of consolation also imparts consoling power to the word, so that it breathes only consolation. The one who has grieved knows from which side come the oppressive and deadly floods of sorrow, and also knows what thoughts the comforting God raises in the soul against these floods; therefore he can so attune every soul that, even while grieving, it will always rejoice. The Apostles abounded in this gift; and as, being alive, they comforted all the grieving, so in their writings they left us instructions by which every sorrowful person will find consolation for himself.

2 Cor. 1:5. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our comfort also abounds through Christ.

He presents the reason why one should not doubt that they are indeed able to comfort those who are in all afflictions. Do not doubt this, he says; for we have sufferings in abundance, and comforts in abundance; we suffer more than all, and God gives us comfort more than all. We have much in reserve; the afflictions are for us, and the comforts are for you. Having said that our sufferings abound, the Apostle did not stop at this alone; “but lest he discourage his disciples by too strong a description of his afflictions, he shows the great wealth of comfort, and in this way encourages their spirit; and not only does he encourage them by this, but also by mentioning Christ when speaking of his sufferings, that they are the sufferings of Christ, and thus draws comfort from the afflictions themselves before any other comfort. For what can be more pleasant than this, to be a partner with Christ and for His sake to endure sufferings? What can equal this comfort?” (the holy Chrysostom).

The Apostle called sufferings the sufferings of Christ because they were for Christ, for His word and for the work of preaching salvation to all in the Lord Jesus Christ. Even more one may say: sufferings for Christ are Christ’s sufferings, because He appropriates them to Himself, counts them as His own. He once suffered with all-embracing suffering; those who suffer for Him enter into compassion with Him, in which, as the Apostle often assures us, consists the mystery of our salvation. Participation in the sufferings of Christ introduces into participation in His life as well, and in this is everything.

By placing the sufferings for Christ so closely alongside the sufferings of Christ, the Apostle in this communion with Christ through suffering points also to the source of comfort. Suffering for Christ, we enter into communion of the sufferings of Christ; but since Christ is now in blessed glory, naturally through Christ comforts abound, notwithstanding sorrowfulness, or in the very sorrowfulness itself, so that sorrowfulness remains only outward, while inward peace alone reigns, and it cannot be otherwise. This is not produced by consoling thoughts in the heart, but comfort, apart from any efforts of the mind and self-consoling reasoning, flows into the soul from the face of Christ the Lord and, dwelling in it, fills it. “Through Christ,” he says, “our comfort also abounds,”—abounds both over our sufferings and absorbs them. Thus understands it the holy Chrysostom: “The Apostle glorifies the philanthropy of the Lord also by saying that we are much more comforted than we are troubled. Since he did not say that comfort equals sufferings, but comfort, he says, abounds, so that the time of labors is also a time of superabundance of comfort. Therefore those who suffer for Christ fear no one and tremble at nothing, and amid afflictions themselves are calmer and more joyful than all: for they are at once deemed worthy of countless comforts from Christ Himself.”

2 Cor. 1:6, 7. If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.

Thus, he says, it turns out that whether we suffer, we suffer for your sake; or whether we are comforted, we are comforted for your sake. This is the direct meaning of both texts, and it is self-evident. But the holy Apostle sets it forth at length, with certain correlations. This—for your sake, the Apostle expresses—“for your comfort and salvation.” He had spoken of comfort throughout, and it appears as though it is the main thing; yet here is introduced “salvation.” How comfort that is Christ’s is the fruit of the Apostles’ sufferings follows directly from what precedes. Since we suffer, it was said earlier, so we are comforted; we are comforted so that we might have the ability to comfort others who grieve. From this it is evident that the Apostles suffer so that they themselves might be filled with comfort and then pour it into the souls of others who are in all afflictions, that is, they both suffer and are comforted for the comfort of others. But how does “salvation” fit here? It is the principal thing indeed. For the Apostles suffered for the preaching of the Gospel, and the Gospel is the glad tidings about the sole means of salvation for us, and those who receive it in faith, who heed the preaching, are saved. Zeal for this salvation inspired the Apostles in their labors of preaching and in enduring all afflictions. It went before; it drew comfort. Likewise, believers, receiving the Gospel from the Apostles, entered the path of salvation; but with this entrance they also underwent afflictions, and suffering for this cause, they were deemed worthy of comfort from the Apostles, who suffered for the Gospel and their salvation,—so that such an inseparable connection of sufferings and comforts in Apostles and believers exists for the sake of salvation being worked in one through the other. Only in the order of salvation does it happen that sufferings themselves spring forth comfort. This, as was said above, is because the sufferings of the believers and the saved introduce them into participation in the sufferings of Christ, into union with Christ Himself, from whom, as He stands in blessed glory, comfort immediately flows forth. The principal thing, therefore, both in Apostles and believers, is the bringing about of salvation. Comfort effects this, and by removing the destructive effect from sorrows, does not allow them to hinder the accomplishment of salvation.

The blessed Theodoret writes: “For your sake we Apostles undergo all sorts of temptations (afflictions). For if we had not wished to impart to you salvation-bearing preaching, no one would have caused us sufferings. But since we are concerned for your salvation, from opponents we receive an onslaught of griefs toward us, and from the Master God we enjoy comfort. And thus, for your sake we have both. Share with us both, as making your own all that is ours.”

This appropriation of all the Apostles had in their hearts already come to pass. They received faith; according to faith they began to bring about their salvation; and for both they began also to suffer. Therefore the Apostle says: “We are afflicted for your comfort and salvation, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we also suffer.” They believed, turned from pagan gods, abstained from pagan customs, separated themselves from the ways of pagan fleshly life, became strangers amid their own people; and for this they underwent unpleasantness, privations, oppression. They worked their salvation; but since it was impossible not to stir up others thereby, this working of salvation was accompanied by endurance of sufferings. The Apostle says: “the same sufferings,” in the sense of: such sufferings, that is, for the same cause for which we also suffer, for the accomplishment of salvation. He is not writing some exhortation, but setting forth the matter as it is. We suffer, bearing to you salvation through the Gospel; you suffer, having received the Gospel. And this is testimony that salvation is being worked in you. If indeed salvation, then also comfort, for they are inseparable. The holy Chrysostom says: “Not we alone (Apostles) are the authors of your salvation, but you yourselves as well. For as we, by preaching, endure sorrows, so you, receiving our word, endure the same: we, so as to transmit to you what we ourselves have received; and you, so as to receive what is given and not to lose it. Your salvation is not established only by the fact that you believe, but also by the fact that you also suffer and endure as we do. From this it is evident that the actual power of salvation does not consist merely in not doing evil, but also in courageously enduring evil ourselves.”

It is not superfluous to pay attention also to the word “being worked.” Outwardly—sufferings; under their cover, within, salvation is being worked. By whom and how? As if apart from and without the knowledge of those being saved. They only suffer and exert strength to endure; yet there—within—salvation is worked of itself. But although it is worked of itself, it cannot be worked without one who works it. Who is he? The grace of God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, who, as He was pleased Himself to suffer, so also accomplishes the salvation of all under the weight of sufferings. The holy Chrysostom remarks on this word: “He did not say: being worked, but ‘being worked,’ showing thereby that their zeal was greatly aided by the grace working in them.”

“Our hope for you is unshaken.” You suffer, he said, as we do, bringing about your salvation. But although you endure countless hardships, yet we hope that you will not fall away even when you are persecuted. “We not only have no suspicion that you will be troubled by our sufferings, but we also hope that you will remain steadfast even when you yourselves are in danger” (the holy Chrysostom).

We are comforted “for your comfort and salvation, knowing that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.”

There, in testimony that the Apostles suffer for the comfort and salvation of believers, he brings forward the sufferings of these latter. These sufferings assured that salvation was being worked; with salvation is inseparably united comfort. But that salvation was being worked in them came from the Apostles, who preached and suffered for the Gospel. Here, that they are comforted for their sake, for their comfort and salvation, is accomplished through their sufferings. We suffer for the Gospel; you suffer for the reception of the Gospel. It would be sorrowful for us to see that you suffer as if by our fault. But this does not grieve us. Why? By the certain coincidence in us of both sufferings and comforts. For as in us, so it must be also in you. Our sufferings bring forth to us comfort through Christ the Lord and our Saviour. Undoubtedly the same must be also in you: for Christ the Lord is the same for you as for us; because you do the work of His just as we do. Knowing this, we are not troubled by your sufferings, which accompany the reception of our Gospel, “knowing that” you are “partners in our sufferings, so you will also be in our comfort”.

But this came to pass afterward; beforehand this happened: The Lord amid the very sufferings filled the Apostles with every comfort. Having experienced this and knowing that believers too will undoubtedly undergo sufferings, the Apostles told them everything beforehand—both that they would necessarily undergo sufferings, and that in the very sufferings they would receive comfort. Knowing this, believers courageously met sufferings and, enduring them patiently, were established in salvation and were deemed worthy of comfort. Had the Apostles not forewarned them of all, they would not have entered into the struggle, and consequently not onto the path of salvation and comfort. But how would the Apostles have forewarned if they themselves were not experiencing comfort in sufferings? And it turns out that God sent them comfort for the comfort and salvation of believers. For the inevitable path was this: to believe, and upon believing to suffer. Sufferings would turn them from faith if they did not spring forth comfort. They did spring forth, but to believe this, there were needed proofs. These proofs God manifested in the persons of the Apostles, who then with boldness assured all: you will suffer, be not troubled; in the very sufferings you will receive comfort. Thus it always happens with us, so will it be with you: partners in our sufferings—partners in our comfort.

But one can understand the words “we are comforted for your comfort” and “partners in sufferings—partners in comfort” in the sense that this happens through sympathy. Believers see Apostles suffering, and suffer themselves; see them comforted, and are comforted themselves; and are still further established in the work of salvation. Thus the holy Chrysostom: “Our comfort passes over into peace for you, even then, should it happen that we do not comfort you with words. If we receive only a small consolation, even this is enough for your comfort. And although comfort might come only to us, this itself will comfort you. For as you receive our sufferings as your own, so you must count every comfort of ours as your own. For as in our sorrows you participate, why would you not participate in our joys? No; as then, when we are persecuted, you grieve, as if you yourselves were suffering persecution, so we are sure that when we receive comfort, you receive it just as if you yourselves enjoyed it.”