1 Corinthians 12:23Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Dishonorable things are not treated in this way. Rather, they ought to be despised more than all else. A dishonored slave in a household not only receives no greater care, but is not even deemed worthy of equal treatment.

Therefore, if these members were dishonorable, they ought not to receive greater care, nor even equal care with the others. Yet now more care is given them, and this happens through the wisdom of God.

God has so ordered things that some members naturally lack nothing. To others we must supply what nature has not given them. Yet for this reason they are not dishonorable.

So animals, by their nature, usually need neither clothing, nor shoes, nor shelter. Yet our body is not more dishonorable than theirs because it needs all these things.

Indeed, if one considers carefully, these members are honorable and necessary by their very nature. The apostle himself hints at this when he judges them not by our attention and great care for them, but by the nature of the matter itself.

When he calls them weak and less honorable, he says, "which seem to be." But when he calls them necessary, he does not add, "which seem to be." He gives his own judgment and says that they are "much more necessary," and rightly so.

They truly are necessary for the begetting of children and the continuation of our race. For this reason Roman legislators punish those who mutilate these members and make themselves eunuchs. They regard them as men who injure the whole human race and mutilate nature itself.

Let corrupt men understand this, those who reproach the works of God. Many curse wine because of drunkards, and womankind because of harlots. So also these members are considered shameful because of those who use them improperly.

But one must not judge in this way. Sin does not depend on the nature of the thing, but arises from the will of those who commit the offense.

Yet some think that Paul here calls the eyes and feet the weaker, less honorable, more delicate members that receive greater care. By the weaker and more necessary members, they understand the eyes. Though weaker in strength, they are superior in use.

By the less honorable members they understand the feet, for much care is also given to them.

Then, lest there be exaggeration on the other side, he says, "But our presentable parts have no need" (1 Cor 12:24). Someone might say, "What then? Must the honorable members be neglected, while the less honorable are cared for?"

He answers that we do this not out of neglect for them, but because they have no need of it. Notice how briefly he praises them and then passes on. In this he acts both fittingly and profitably.

He does not stop there, but adds the reason: "But God," he says, "has composed the body, giving greater care to the part that lacked it, that there should be no division in the body" (1 Cor 12:24-25).

If God has blended the body, He has left no room to distinguish within it what is less honorable. What is blended becomes one. It is no longer seen as what it was before. Otherwise it could not be said to be blended.

And see how everywhere he only lightly touches on defects, saying, "the part that lacked." He did not say, "the dishonorable" or "the shameful," but "the part that lacked." Why did it lack? By nature.

"Giving greater care." For what purpose? "That there should be no division in the body."

Since the Corinthians, after receiving many consolations, still grieved that they had received less, the apostle shows that they received greater honor instead. "To the part that lacked," he says, "He gave greater honor."

Then he gives the reason, showing that God both gave less profitably and honored more. What is the reason? "That there should be no division," he says, "in the body." He did not say, "in the members," but "in the body."

There would truly be great inequality if some members received greater care both from nature and from us, while others had it from neither side. Then they would fall apart, unable to preserve their bond with one another.

If some fell away, the rest also would suffer harm. Do you see how he proved that it was necessary to give more honor to the members that lacked? If it were not so, he says, all alike would perish.

Indeed, if you did not take great care of them, then, since nature does not protect them, they would be injured. Once injured, they would be ruined. Once ruined, they would divide the body into parts.

After the body had been divided, the other and much more important members would also perish. Do you see how care for those members is joined with care for these?

The members have the ground of their being not so much in their own nature as in the fact that they make up one body. Therefore, if the body is destroyed, the separate wholeness of each member will be of no use.

Whether the eye remains whole or the nose is preserved, once the bond is torn apart there will be no benefit. But if the bond remains, then even if they are injured, they hold together and quickly recover.

But perhaps someone will say, "In the body one may indeed say that the members which lacked received greater honor. But how can this be seen among men?" Among men this may be seen all the more.

Those who came at the eleventh hour received the reward first. For the lost sheep, the shepherd left the other ninety-nine, went after it, and when he found it, he carried it and did not drive it.

The prodigal son was deemed worthy of greater care than the one who behaved honorably. The thief was crowned and glorified before the apostles.

The same may be seen in the parable of the talents. The one who received five talents and the one who received two were deemed worthy of the same reward.

The very fact that the latter received two talents is a sign of greater care for him. If five had been given him, he would not have been able to increase them and would have lost everything.

But after receiving two and fulfilling his task, he was deemed worthy of the same reward as the one who gained five. He gained more than that man, because for lesser labors he was granted the same crowns.

Although he was a man like the one who received five talents, the Master does not torment him. He does not compel him to labor as much as the servant like him.

Nor does He say, "Why could you not gain five talents?" He could have said this justly. Yet He crowned him also.

Knowing this, then, let the higher not oppress the lower, lest you suffer harm before they do. For if they are separated, the whole body will be destroyed.

What is a body, if not the union of many members? As the apostle says, "The body is not one member, but many." Therefore, if such is the body, let us strive that the many remain many.

When this is not preserved, a mortal wound will appear. The apostle requires not only that we not be separated from one another, but that we be united in the closest way.

After saying, "that there should be no division in the body," he was not satisfied with this. He added, "but that all the members should have the same care for one another."

Here he presents another reason why more care is given to the lower members. God arranged it not only so that the members would not be separated from one another, but also so that great love and harmony would exist among them.

If each must care for the salvation of his neighbor, then do not speak to me of lower and higher. Here there is no higher and lower.

The difference between members can be seen only while the body remains whole. When it is destroyed, it cannot be seen. And it is destroyed if the lower members are absent.

Therefore, if the important members are injured when the lesser members are injured, the former must care for the lesser as much as for themselves. The preservation of the important members depends on the preservation of the lesser.

Thus, even if you repeat a thousand times that some member is lesser and insignificant, harm will fall upon you. This will happen if you do not care for it as much as for yourself, and neglect it as lesser.

For this reason the apostle did not merely say that the members should care for one another. He added that "all the members should have the same care for one another," meaning that the lesser member should receive exactly the same care as the important one.

Do not say, then, that some member is unimportant. Remember that it is a member of the same body that contains all. The eye and every other member alike make the body a body.

In the structure of the body, no member has precedence over another. The body is not constituted by one member being important and another lesser, but by having many members, and these different.

Just as you, being greater, constitute the body, so another, being lesser, does the same. Therefore, with regard to the body's structure, his smallness has equal honor with you. He contributes to this beautiful whole just as you do.

This is clear from the following. Let there be no important and unimportant member, no honorable and dishonorable member. Let all be an eye, or all be a head. Will not the body perish? This is clear to everyone.

Again, if all were unimportant, the same thing would happen. In this respect the lesser members are equal to the greater. One may say even more.

The lesser member is lesser precisely so that there may be a body. Thus, for your sake it remains lesser, so that you may remain important.

We attend to the feet and care for them, though they occupy a low place and seem dishonorable. One may also understand three ranks in these words. Some members are weak and necessary, such as the eyes. Others are dishonorable, such as the feet. Others are uncomely, such as the generative members.

The Creator of nature cared so greatly for our modesty, preserving the beauty and dignity of our body, that He placed the openings and outlets of our channels behind, on the back. He hid them from sight, so that the discharge of the stomach would not offend our eyes. The Apostle spoke excellently about this: “The members of the body that seem to be weaker are much more necessary, and those members of the body which we think less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our uncomely parts have greater comeliness” (1 Cor. 12:22-24). By imitating nature, our efforts aided piety. Elsewhere, see Noe 13-30, we have spoken of this more fully. We not only hide certain parts of the body from sight. We also consider unworthy of naming, or of speaking about their use, those things we acknowledge must be hidden.

Yet they are not without grace, such as we find in the members of our body. Although some members seem worthy of contempt, they deserve greater honor, for they often lead a purer life. What seems contemptible to men is often counted beautiful before God.

Thus, by mutual duty and mutual service, superiors and subjects are bound to one another, like the members in the structure of the human body.

The condition of subjects without superiors is poor and unfortunate. Yet what can a superior do without the service of those subject to him? The head in the human body is considered more important than the other members. Yet what can it do without eyes, ears, hands, and feet?

So also a superior in society presents himself as more important than others. Yet what will he do without the service of those subject to him? Nothing.

For the head, which is most rational, to govern the body well, it needs eyes to see, ears to hear, mouth and tongue to speak, hands to work, feet to walk, and the rest.

So also a superior, even the most rational, needs other people if he is to care successfully for society. Some are like eyes, some like ears, some like a mouth, some like hands, some like feet, and so on. Then his government will be prosperous.

What is the head without the other members of the body? Nothing. What is a superior without those subject to him? Nothing. What is a commander without officers and soldiers? Like an ordinary soldier.

What is a prince, nobleman, or master without servants and peasants? The same as an ordinary man.

An army defends the wholeness of its fatherland, but the fatherland supplies it with weapons, provisions, and other necessary needs. It also replaces the fallen with new soldiers. What can an army do when the fatherland does not provide what is necessary?

Cities exalt themselves above hamlets and villages. Yet what are cities without hamlets and villages? Nothing. Hamlets and villages serve cities with bread and other supplies. Cities will vanish if hamlets and villages do not give them their bread.

Thus those considered most contemptible are honorable and necessary. This is set forth not so that subjects should despise their superiors. May this never be! They must render them the honor due to them, according to Scripture: "Render to all their due: tax to whom tax is due, custom to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Rom 13:7).

But those who consider themselves more honorable must not despise those below them, nor be proud of their titles and names. One thing is required of Christian superiors: that they themselves live in the fear of God and serve Christian society according to their oath and the rule of Holy Scripture.

Then they will truly be great, great here and great in the Kingdom of Heaven. But if they live here according to their whims and do not obey Him who gave them authority, then great will be their eternal misfortune.

Their suffering will be multiplied in proportion to the fear they inspired here. For "the least is deserving of mercy, but the mighty will be mightily tested" (Wis 6:6).

Beloved, you who sit in a high place, look more often upon the humility of Christ. This will not allow you to exalt yourself, despise your brethren who stand lower, rage foolishly in this world, and so fall into ruinous calamity.

Who knows whether you or the one whom you despise is better and more honorable before God? He looks upon the heart and judges by what is within, not by outward appearance. He judges by faith and works fitting to it, not by names and titles.

“The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you.’ Nor again can the head say to the feet, ‘I have no need of you’” (1 Cor. 12:21). On the contrary, the members of the body that seem weaker, such as the tongue, the heart, and others, are much more necessary (1 Cor. 12:22). And the members we think less honorable in the body, such as the stomach, the feet, and others, receive greater care from us (1 Cor. 12:23). Therefore, if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26). “And you,” the Apostle concludes, “are the body of Christ, and individually members” (1 Cor. 12:27).

This is especially so for the members that seem, for some reason, insufficiently protected or to impair the dignity of the whole body. So also in the Church, those bearers of gifts of grace who possess them in lesser measure may receive the care of others who bear higher gifts. Thus, as in a normal body no member can complain against its position or condition, but all hasten to serve one another and the whole body, so there must be common contentment and mutual help among members of the Church. This applies both generally and especially among the bearers of various spiritual gifts of grace. Finally, the members of the body cannot leave their own condition, perform functions not proper to them, or occupy another place. Each member performs its functions not by accidental position, but according to the foreseen plan of our all-wise Creator. So each member of the Church must necessarily perform his own work, according to his gift. He does this by faith in the all-working and all-sustaining wisdom and goodness of God the Provider, our Savior Jesus Christ, and of the perfecting Spirit, the one Author of all gifts. As though summing up the Apostle’s thought, blessed Theodoret says: “Therefore let each one love what has been given. For if God has apportioned active powers to the parts of the body, then whoever does not remain within the appointed limits goes directly against Him who set those limits.” St. John Chrysostom says: “As the supreme Artist willed, so it came to be. For He wills as is profitable. If we must not be inquisitive about the members in our own body, still less must we be so in the Church.”