Homilies on Second Corinthians 13

'Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged.'

'You are not straitened in us, but you are straitened in your own affections.'

Having recounted concerning his own temptations and afflictions;

'For in patient endurance,' he says, 'in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings;'

And having shown that the matter is a great good;

For he says, 'As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing';

'as poor, yet making many rich';

'as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.'

For he says, 'As chastened, and not killed';

and by these things having made manifest both God's great providential care and His power;

'For that the exceeding greatness of the power may be of God,' he says, 'and not from us';

and having recounted his own contests;

For he says, 'Always bearing about the dying of Jesus';

and that this is a clear proof of the resurrection;

'For that the life also of Jesus,' he says, 'may be made manifest in our mortal flesh.'

and of what things he had become a partaker, and with what he had been entrusted;

'For we are ambassadors on behalf of Christ,' he says, 'as though God were entreating by us';

and of what things he is a minister, that it is not of the letter, but of the spirit;

and that he is worthy of reverence not for this alone, but also for his trials;

'For thanks be to God,' he says, 'who always leadeth us in triumph';

he is now about also to rebuke them, as being not very well disposed toward him;

But being about to do so, he does not come to it at once, but having first spoken of the love which he showed toward them, he then also enters upon the discourse concerning these matters.

For even if he who rebukes should be worthy of reverence from his own right achievements, yet nevertheless, when he displays also the friendship which he has toward those he blames, he makes his word less burdensome.

For this reason he too, having come forth from his trials and his own sweats and struggles, passes over to the discourse concerning love, and thus lays hold of them.

What then are the tokens of love? 'Our mouth is open unto you, O Corinthians.'

And what sort of sign of love is this? And what indeed does the saying mean at all? He says, 'We cannot endure to keep silence toward you, but we always wish and desire to speak and to converse with you';

For what the embraces of the hands are upon the body, that is the fellowship of speech upon the soul. And along with this he hints at yet another thing.

What is this? That we speak all things unto you with boldness, as unto beloved ones, in nothing drawing back or holding aught in reserve.

For since he is now about to rebuke, he asks pardon, making the very act of rebuking with boldness a proof of his loving them exceedingly.

And the addition of the name too is a mark of much friendship, and affection, and warmth;

for we are wont continually to turn over on our lips the bare names of those we love.

'Our heart is enlarged.'

For just as that which warms is wont to widen;

so also it is the work of love to enlarge.

For virtue is warm and fervent.

This it was that opened wide the mouth of Paul, and enlarged his heart.

'For I love not with the mouth only,' he says, 'but I have also my heart accordant.'

'For this reason I speak with boldness, with the whole mouth, with the whole mind.'

For nothing is wider than the heart of Paul, who so vehemently loved all the faithful as one might love a beloved, his love not being divided nor becoming weaker, but remaining whole and entire in each one.

And what wonder is it in the case of the faithful, when even in the case of unbelievers the heart of Paul embraced the whole inhabited world? For this reason he said not, 'I love you,' but more emphatically, 'Our mouth is open, our heart is enlarged';

and not even this simply, but with much room to spare.

For he who is loved walks about within the heart of him who loves with much freedom;

wherefore he says, 'Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections.'

And observe the rebuke, how it is made with forbearance;

which is a mark of those who love exceedingly.

He said not, 'Ye love us not,' but, 'Ye love us not with the same measure';

for he wishes not to lay hold of them severely.

And everywhere one may see how he is enkindled with love for the faithful, picking out the words of each of his epistles.

For to the Romans he says, 'I long to see you';

and, 'Oftentimes I purposed to come unto you';

and, 'If by any means now at length I may be prospered to come unto you.'

And to the Galatians he says, 'My little children, of whom I travail in birth again';

and again to the Ephesians, 'For this cause I bow my knees on your behalf.'

And to the Philippians, 'For what is my hope, or joy, or crown of glorying? Are not even ye?' And he said that he bore them about both in his heart and in his bonds;

And to the Colossians, 'For I would have you know how great a conflict I have on your behalf, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, that their hearts may be comforted';

And to the Thessalonians, 'As a nurse cherisheth her own children, so, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you not the Gospel only, but also our own souls';

And to Timothy, 'Remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy';

And to Titus, 'To my beloved child';

And to the Hebrews also he writes many other such things, and ceases not to exhort, and to say, 'Yet a very little while, He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry';

just as a mother does to children who are fretful.

So also to them he says, 'Ye are not straitened in us.'

And he says not only that he loves, but also that he is loved by them, in order that by this too he may the more draw them to himself.

And indeed, bearing this witness to them, he says that 'Titus came reporting to us your longing, your mourning, your zeal';

and to the Galatians, 'If it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me';

and to the Thessalonians, 'What manner of entering in we had unto you';

and to Timothy, 'Remembering thy tears, that I may be filled with joy.'

And everywhere throughout the Epistles one may find him bearing this witness to his disciples, both that he loved and that he was loved;

And here also he says, 'If loving you more abundantly, I am loved the less.'

But this is toward the end; for the present, more vehemently he says, 'Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own affections.'

'Ye,' he says, 'receive one man, but I a whole city, and so great a people.'

And he said not, 'Ye receive us not,' but that 'Ye are straitened';

hinting at the same thing, but with forbearance, and so as not to lay hold of them severely.

'Now for a recompense in like kind (I speak as unto children), be ye also enlarged.'

And yet it is not an equal thing, first to be loved, and then to love in return.

For even if a man contributes an equal measure, he still falls short by reason of coming second.

But nevertheless, he says, I make no exact reckoning; even if, having received the beginnings from me, you should but show forth the same measure, I am content and well pleased.

Then, to show that the matter was actually a debt owed, and that what he had said was free from flattery, he says, 'I speak as to my children.'

What does 'as to my children' mean? I ask nothing great, if, being a father, I desire to be loved by you.

And observe his discretion and modesty.

He does not here set forth the perils he endured for their sake, nor his labors, nor his deaths, though he had much he could say;

and on this account he claims to be loved: 'Because I became your father,' he says, 'because I am exceedingly inflamed with love for you';

which most of all is apt to trouble the one loved, when a person keeps bringing forward his benefactions to him;

Wherefore Paul does not do this, but says, 'As children, love your father';

which is rather a matter of nature, and owed to every father.

Then, lest he should seem to say these things for his own sake, he shows that it is for their gain that he draws to himself their love;

wherefore also he added, 'Be not unequally yoked with unbelievers.'

And he did not say, 'Do not mingle with unbelievers,' but rather, laying hold of them as those who were wronging what is right, he says, 'Do not turn yourselves aside.'

For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? Here, then, he makes a comparison, not of his own love with that of those who were corrupting them, but of their own nobility with the dishonor of those men;

for thus the discourse became both more dignified and more fitting to him, and drew them the more.

As if one should say to a child who despises his parents and gives himself over to defiled men, 'What are you doing, my child? You despise your father, and prefer defiled men, laden with countless wickedness? Do you not know how much better and more honorable you are than they?' For thus one would more effectually withdraw him from their company than by admiring the father.

For if he should say, 'Do you not know how much better your father is than they?' he would accomplish nothing so great;

but if, leaving the father aside, he should prefer the child himself above them, saying, 'Do you not know who you are, and who they are? Do you not consider your nobility and your freedom, and their dishonor? For what communion have you with those thieves, those adulterers, those cheats?' — then, quickly giving him wings by his own praises, he will bring it about that he is torn away from them.

For the former argument he will not very readily accept, because the preferring of the father is a reproach against himself, since he appears to be grieving not merely a father, but such a father;

but here he will no longer suffer any such thing.

For no one would choose not to be praised;

and by this very means, along with the praises of the hearer, the reproof becomes well-received.

For the hearer is relaxed, and filled with great high-mindedness, and spits upon their company.

And this is not the only admirable thing in him, that he thus advanced the comparison, but that he also devised something else greater and more striking;

first, advancing the argument by way of question, which belongs to things clear and confessed;

then, expanding it by the density and multitude of the terms.

For not one, two, and three, but many terms beyond these he sets down — the names of the things instead of the persons — and there he sketches the highest virtue, and here the utmost wickedness;

and he shows the interval between them to be great and boundless, so as not even to need any elaboration.

For, he says, what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what concord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? (III)

Did you see how bare he sets down the terms, and how they suffice him to produce dissuasion? For he did not say 'transgression,' which would have been more, nor did he say 'those of the light and those of the darkness';

but he sets down the very opposites themselves, the mutually irreconcilable of contraries — light and darkness.

Nor did he say 'those of Christ and those of the devil,' but what stood far more apart — Christ and Belial;

having called the apostate thus by a Hebrew word.

Or what portion has a believer with an unbeliever? Here now, lest he should seem simply to be running through an accusation of vice and a praise of virtue, he mentions also the persons, indefinitely.

And he did not say 'communion,' but set down the prizes, saying 'portion.'

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

Neither has your King anything in common with him

(for what concord has Christ with Belial?), nor do the affairs;

For what communion has light with darkness? Therefore neither ought you to have any.

And first he sets down the King, and second themselves, by this most of all severing them.

Then, having said 'the temple of God with idols,' and having declared that 'You are the temple of the living God,'

he necessarily adds the testimony as well, showing that the matter is not flattery.

For he that praises, if he does not also furnish proof, seems to flatter.

What then is the testimony? 'For I will dwell in them,' he says, 'and walk among them.'

'I will dwell in the temples, and walk among them';

signifying his greater relationship toward them.

'And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.'

What is this? he says. You bear God within yourself, and run to those men? God, who has nothing in common with them? And how are these things worthy of pardon? Consider who it is that walks among you, who it is that dwells within.

Wherefore, come out from among them, and be separate, and touch not the unclean thing;

and I will receive you, says the Lord.

And he did not say, 'Do not practice unclean things';

but, seeking greater strictness, he says, 'Do not even touch them, nor come near.'

And what is defilement of the flesh? Adultery, fornication, all licentiousness.

And what of the soul? Unclean thoughts, such as gazing with unchaste eyes, grudges, deceits, and all such things.

He wishes, then, that they be pure on both sides.

Did you see how great the prize is? To be delivered from wicked men, to be united to God.

'And I will be to you a Father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters, says the Lord.'

Did you see the prophet from of old proclaiming beforehand this present nobility, the regeneration through grace? Having therefore these promises, beloved.

What promises? To be temples of God, to be sons and daughters, to have Him dwelling within and walking among us, to become His people, to possess God Himself as Father.

Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit.

for this is defilement of the flesh;

nor from the things that defile the soul;

And he is not content with this alone, but adds, 'Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.'

For it is not the mere not-touching of the unclean thing that makes one pure; but we need something else besides in order to become holy — diligence, attentiveness, reverence.

And well did he say, 'In the fear of God.'

For it is possible to perfect chastity, not in the fear of God, but through vainglory.

And along with this he also hints at something else in saying 'in the fear of God' — namely, the manner by which holiness may be accomplished.

For even though desire is tyrannical, yet, if you fortify against it the fear of God, you have dissolved its madness.

And by 'holiness' here he means not chastity alone, but deliverance from all sin;

for he is holy who is pure.

A man would become clean not only if he were rid of fornication, but also of greed, and envy, and pride, and vainglory;

and most of all of vainglory, which everywhere we must flee, but far more so in the matter of almsgiving;

for it would not even be almsgiving, if it has this disease, but rather display and cruelty.

For when you act, not out of mercy, but making a parade of it, such a thing is not only not almsgiving, but is even an outrage;

for you have made a public example of your brother.

It is not, then, the giving of money, but the giving with mercy, that is almsgiving.

Since those in the theatres also give, even to boys who have prostituted themselves, and to others upon the stage, yet such a thing is not almsgiving;

and those very men who outrage the bodies of prostituted women also give to them, yet this is not benevolence, but drunken folly.

To this the vainglorious man is like.

For just as that man, outraging the body of the harlot, gives her a wage for the outrage;

so also do you demand a wage from him who receives the

outrage, both to clothe yourself and him in an evil reputation.

And along with these things the loss is unspeakable.

For just as a wild beast, or a raging dog springing upon us, so does this wicked disease, and this inhumanity, snatch away our good things;

for such a thing is indeed inhumanity and cruelty;

or rather, it is even more grievous than this.

For the cruel man would not give to him that is in need;

but you do more than he;

you hinder those who wish to give.

For when you make a parade of your gift, you both pull down the reputation of him who received it, and hold back the one who was about to give, if he be slack of purpose.

For henceforth he will not give, as to one who has already received and is not so much in need; and often he will even condemn him, if after having received he should come and ask again, and will count him shameless.

What sort of almsgiving, then, is this, when you put to shame both yourself, and him who received, and Him who gave the command, doubly: both because, having Him for a beholder of your almsgiving, you seek besides Him the eyes of your fellow servants, and because you transgress the law which forbids these things, laid down by Him? I wished to go over the other matters also, both fasting and prayer, and to show how much vainglory corrupts there also;

but I remembered that I did not finish a certain necessary discourse in the address before this one.

And what was the discourse? I was saying that the poor have the advantage over the rich in the affairs of this life, for I was discoursing about health and pleasure;

and this was clearly shown.

Come then, let us today show this, that not in the affairs of this life only, but also in things higher than these, they have the advantage.

For what leads into the kingdom, wealth or poverty? Let us hear the Master of the heavens Himself saying concerning the former, that 'It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven;'

but concerning the poor, the contrary.

For 'If you would be perfect, sell your possessions

and give to the poor, and come, follow Me, and you shall have treasure in heaven.'

But if you will, let us view what has been said from both sides.

'Strait and narrow,' He says, 'is the way that leads unto life.'

Who then walks the narrow way, he who lives in luxury, or he who lives in poverty? he who is unencumbered, or he who bears ten thousand burdens? he who is dissolute and slack, or he who is careful and full of anxious thought? But what need is there of reasonings, when we may come to the very persons themselves? Poor was Lazarus, and exceedingly poor;

but rich was he who passed him by as he lay at his gate;

who then entered into the kingdom, and revelled in the bosom of Abraham? and who was scorched, and was not master even of a drop? But, one says, many poor also will perish, and rich men will enjoy those ineffable good things.

On the contrary, one may see the opposite, few rich, but far more of the poor being saved.

But consider, examining carefully the hindrances of wealth, and the disadvantages of poverty;

or rather, they belong neither to wealth nor to poverty, but each to those who possess them;

but nevertheless, let us see which is the more manageable weapon.

What disadvantage, then, does poverty seem to have? Falsehood.

And what does wealth have? Pride, the mother of evils, which made even the devil to be a devil, though he was not such before.

Again, the love of money is a root of all evils;

who then stands near this root, the rich man, or the poor? is it not plain that it is the rich? For the more a man wraps about himself, the more he lusts.

Vainglory, again, corrupts ten thousand right achievements;

but near to this also, again, has the rich man pitched his tent.

But the poor man's afflictions, one says, do you not reckon them, his tribulation, his straitness? But this is common to the rich man too, and to him more than to the poor man;

so that the things which seem to be the evils of poverty are common to both, but those of wealth belong to him alone.

But what, one says, when through the lack of necessaries the poor man commits many dreadful deeds? But no poor man, none, commits so many dreadful deeds through want, as the rich do through wrapping more about themselves, and not losing what is within.

For the poor man does not so crave necessaries, as the rich man craves superfluities;

nor again has he such strength to practise wickedness, as this man has power.

and if he has the power, it is plain that he will do so all the more, and more of it.

For the poor man does not so dread famine, as the rich man trembles and is choked with anxiety over the loss of his goods, and over not yet having laid hold of the goods of all men.

When, therefore, he stands near both vainglory and pride and the love of money, the root of all evils;

what hope of salvation will he have, unless he display much true wisdom, and how will he walk the narrow way? Let us not, therefore, be carried about by the opinions of the many, but let us examine the facts. For how is it not absurd, in the matter of money not to trust to others, but to commit this to number and reckoning;

how is it not absurd, in the matter of money not to trust to others, but to commit this to number and reckoning;

but in the matter of judging concerning weighty affairs, to be swept along at random by the opinions of others, and this when we have an exact balance and standard and rule for all things, the declaration of the divine laws? Wherefore I exhort and beseech you all, that laying aside what seems good to this or that man concerning these things, you inquire concerning all these matters from the Scriptures, and having learned the true riches, let us pursue this, that we may also attain the eternal good things;

which may it be granted us all to attain, by the grace and love toward man of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, might, honour, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.