2 Corinthians 12:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Then he lays the whole blame for what he said not on the false apostles, but on the disciples. "You compelled me to this," he says. If the false apostles had boasted but had not thereby led you into error and destruction, I would not have reached the point of allowing myself such words.

But since they corrupted the whole Church, I was compelled, out of care for your benefit, to become foolish. He did not say, "I feared that, seizing primacy over you, they might sow their teaching among you." He had said this earlier: "I fear lest, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted."

Here he does not speak in that way, but with greater dignity and greater authority, having become bolder because of what he had already said. "You ought to have commended me."

Then he gives the reason for this. Again he speaks not only of revelations or miracles, but also of temptations. "For I am not at all inferior to the chief apostles." See how here again he speaks with greater authority.

Earlier he said: "I think that I am not at all inferior." Here he speaks positively, because, as I have already observed, after the proofs he had set forth he became bolder. Yet he still does not depart from moderation or from his own custom.

As one who had said something extraordinary and above his own dignity, since he had numbered himself with the apostles, he again uses a modest expression and adds: "Though I am nothing, the signs of an Apostle were performed among you" (v. 12).

"Look," he says, "not at the fact that I am insignificant and small, but at whether you received from me what you ought to have received from an apostle." He did not say "insignificant," but something still lower: "nothing."

What profit is there, indeed, in being great and bringing benefit to no one? There is likewise no profit from a skilled physician who has healed not a single sick person.

"Therefore," he says, "do not reason about the fact that I am nothing. Look instead at this: in everything that served for your good, I did not fall behind the others. On the contrary, I gave proof of my apostleship. Therefore I had no need to speak about myself."

He said this not because he was truly seeking praise. How could one need praises who counted heaven itself small in comparison with love for Christ? Rather, he said it because he desired the salvation of his disciples.

Then, lest they say, "What is it to us if you are in no way inferior to the chief apostles?" he adds: "The signs of an Apostle were performed among you in all patience, in signs, wonders, and powers."

O what an abyss of perfections he expressed in few words. See what he puts first: patience, because the sign of an apostle is to bear everything with great-heartedness.

He expressed patience briefly, in one word. But he spoke of signs, which were not accomplished by his own power, in several words. Yet imagine how many bonds, blows, dangers, snares, and how great a multitude of temptations he understood here.

How many inward and outward battles, how many sorrows, and how many attacks he expressed by the single word "patience." And by the word "signs," did he not again portray how many dead were raised by him, how many blind were healed, how many lepers were cleansed, and how many demons were cast out?

Hearing this, let us also learn, even if necessity compels us to speak of our merits, not to enlarge upon them, just as Paul himself did.

"For I ought to have been commended by you." Rather, he says, you should have enumerated my labors and glorified them. But since you did not do this, and listened to the false apostles and were corrupted, I said this for your salvation. "For in nothing was I behind the chief Apostles, though I am nothing." Above he spoke more cautiously: "I consider that I am in nothing behind the chief Apostles" (2 Cor 11:5). Now he speaks with greater force: "in nothing was I behind." That is, I must not be considered lower than the Apostles, Peter and the others. Yet even here he again did not depart from his custom, and added, "though I am nothing." Notice his prudence. He does not compare himself with the false apostles, nor does he even deem them worthy of mention, since he is incomparably above them. Rather, he affirms that he is equal to the Apostles. At the same time, he hints that the Corinthians insult the Apostles when they set one equal to them below the false apostles.

This is because the holy man, lying in painful wounds and enduring the accusations of friends who said that he had lived impiously, wronged his neighbors, and oppressed the poor, saw that his soul was greatly shaken and near the pit of despair. He could have fallen at once if he had not renewed in his memory his good works, in order to return his soul to hope. Thus he would not perish in despair from tormenting words and wounds. Therefore, by enumerating his good works, he does not wish to become known to others through vainglory, as it were. Rather, he returns his soul to hope. Thus the righteous sometimes speak of the good works they perform without pride. So too, without zeal for personal glory, they restrain the tongues of their revilers, because these speak what is harmful. But when the tongues of revilers cannot be corrected, they must be endured with complete equanimity. One must not fear reproachful words, lest, by fearing the reproach of the impious, one abandon the right path.

John Chrysostom exclaims: “Oh, what an abyss of merits he expressed in few words. And see what he puts first: patience. For the mark of an Apostle is to bear all things with magnanimity. He spoke of patience briefly, in one word. By contrast, he used more than one word for signs, because they were not wrought by his own power. Yet consider how many blows, how many dangers, how many plots, how many conflicts and sorrows he expressed by one word: patience. And by the word ‘signs,’ did he not again show how many dead were raised by him, how many blind were healed, how many lepers cleansed, how many demons cast out? And lest someone should say, ‘Though you are great and have done much, yet not as much as the Apostles in other churches,’ Paul added: ‘For in what were you inferior to the other churches?’ That is, in comparison with the other churches, you also share no lesser grace.”

He again defends himself and asks forgiveness for what he has said, because it was said by necessity, not by his own choice. Nevertheless, despite the necessity, he calls himself foolish. For once he had achieved by his speech what he wished, he boldly and unsparingly attacks this fault, teaching everyone never to boast without necessity. Even Paul, having boasted by necessity, called himself foolish for it. Then he lays all the blame for what was said no longer on the false apostles, but on the disciples. You, he says, compelled me. If the false apostles had boasted but had not thereby led you into error and destruction, I would not have gone so far as to permit myself such words. But since they corrupted the whole Church, I was compelled, in care for your benefit, to become foolish." "For in nothing was I behind the chief Apostles." In nothing, he says, am I lacking that belongs to the chief Apostles. Everything that is in them is also in me. Or, more generally, whatever every Apostle as an Apostle ought to have, all this I have. But the Apostle's thought is not to show what he is in himself. Rather, it is to remind them what he proved to be among them. He presents the reason why they themselves should have defended him before others and before themselves. You should have done this, he says, because among you I appeared as any of the chief Apostles might have appeared. But after saying this, the Apostle again thought they might begin to regard him as greater than he is. Therefore he hastened to add, "though I am nothing." "Still he does not depart from moderation and from his custom. As if he had said something extraordinary and above his dignity by numbering himself with the chief Apostles, he again used this humble expression about himself" (St. Chrysostom). He wants them to acknowledge the extraordinary things revealed in him. At the same time, he teaches them to understand these things in such a way that they do not fix their attention on him. Rather, from him they should ascend to the source of such manifestations. From this they should draw conclusions not for his praise, but for giving due faith and honor to the work he serves. I am in no way less than others, he says, but all this is not mine. I am nothing here. I serve the work of God, and I have strength for this, the power of God.