2 Corinthians 12:15Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

But someone may say, "Why does he shift the discourse to the apostles, leaving the struggle against the false apostles?" He does this to awaken their attention more strongly and to show that he is not only better than the false apostles, but not inferior to the great apostles.

For this reason, when speaking of the false apostles, he says, "I am more." But when comparing himself with the apostles, he counts it enough for himself not to be below them, though he labored more than they.

At the same time, he shows that the Corinthians wrong the apostles themselves when they place one equal to them below the false apostles.

"Except that I myself was not burdensome to you?" The Apostle again gives the Corinthians a severe rebuke. The words that follow are even stronger: "Forgive me this wrong."

Yet even with all their severity, these words express love and praise for the Corinthians, if they themselves count it an offense that the Apostle would not accept anything from them and did not dare receive his sustenance from them.

"If," he says, "you accuse me of this," he does not say, "you accuse me unjustly," but speaks far more gently, "I ask pardon. Forgive me this sin."

And note his prudence. Since this rebuke, often repeated, dishonored them, he softens it each time.

Thus, after saying above, "As the truth of Christ is in me, this boasting shall not be stopped in me" (2 Cor 11:10), he immediately says, "Because I do not love you? God knows! ... that I may cut off occasion from those who desire occasion, that wherein they boast they may be found even as we" (vv. 11-12).

And in the first epistle he says, "What then is my reward? That, when I preach the Gospel, I may preach Christ without charge" (1 Cor 9:18). Here again he says, "Forgive me this wrong."

Everywhere he strives not to show that he refuses to receive because of their weakness. Therefore here also he says, "If you lay this to my charge, I ask forgiveness."

By speaking in this way, he both wounds them and heals the wound. Do not say, "If you wish to strike, why do you ask pardon? If you wish to heal, why do you strike?" Prudence consists precisely in both cutting and binding up the wound.

Then, lest they think, as I have said before, that the Apostle often returns to the same point in order to receive something from them, he removes this suspicion.

He does this just as in the first epistle, when he said, "I have not written these things that it should be so done to me. For it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void" (1 Cor 9:15).

He expresses the same thing here, only more pleasantly and gently. How so? "Behold," he says, "for the third time I am ready to come to you, and I will not burden you, for I seek not yours, but you. Children ought not to lay up for parents, but parents for children" (v. 14).

The meaning of his words is this: "I do not fail to come to you because I refuse to receive. On the contrary, I have already come a second time, and I am ready to come a third time. Again I will not be burdensome to you."

And the reason for this is honorable. He did not say, "I do not wish to burden you because you are stingy, because you would be weighed down by this, or because you are weak."

What does he say? "For I seek not yours, but you." And I seek what is greater: souls instead of money, salvation instead of gold.

Then, since there still remained room for the suspicion that he was grieved with them, he adds a reason. They could naturally say, "Can one not seek both us and what is ours?"

Therefore he justifies them with great gentleness, saying, "Children ought not to lay up for parents, but parents for children."

Instead of the names "teachers and disciples," he uses the words "parents and children." He shows that he counts as his duty even what he was not obliged to do, since Christ gave no such command. The Apostle says this out of condescension to the Corinthians.

For this reason he adds something more. He said not only that children ought not to acquire possessions for parents, but also that parents are obliged to do this.

Therefore, if parents are obliged to give, "I," he says, "will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls" (v. 15).

"The law of nature commanded parents to lay up for children," he says, "and I not only fulfill this, but even give myself."

The height of generosity is not only to receive nothing, but to give one’s own. And not simply to give, but to give with great zeal, even when one lacks. This is what the Apostle indicates by the expression "be spent."

"Even if it were necessary to wear out the very flesh, I would not spare it for the sake of your salvation."

The words that follow express both love and rebuke: "though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved."

"And this," he says, "I do for those whom I love, and who do not love me in the same measure."

Now see how many degrees there are here. He ought to have received, but did not receive. This is the first merit. He did not receive while in poverty. This is the second.

He did not receive when preaching to them. This is the third. He himself gives to them. This is the fourth. He does not simply give, but gives abundantly. This is the fifth.

He gives not only possessions, but himself. This is the sixth. He gives himself for those who do not love him greatly. This is the seventh. And he gives himself for those whom he loves exceedingly. This is the eighth.

Among them was the fact that, in the Apostle’s own words, though he loved the Corinthians exceedingly, he was less, or insufficiently, loved by them. Therefore his honor could easily have suffered from their accusations (2 Cor 12:15). Not without grief does the Apostle say that parents ought to lay up possessions for children, and not children for parents. He says nothing about the fact that children too must honor, give rest to, and feed their parents. Where then does the Apostle set forth the general rule concerning Apostles and pastors of the Church receiving payment for their ministry? Certainly in the first epistle to the Corinthians, chapter 9, verses 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, and 14.

“The height of generosity,” says Chrysostom, “is not only to take nothing, but also to give what is one’s own. And not simply to give, but with great zeal, even when in want. This is shown by the words, ‘I will be spent.’ Even if it were necessary to exhaust the very flesh, I would not spare it for your salvation.” By the words, “loving you more, I am loved less,” he expresses both love and reproach. “Nothing so stirs love as saying to the beloved, ‘I love you deeply, but you love me less.’ And nothing so rouses one to avoid a decrease of love as such a reminder. He knew that this reproach would not be felt as a wound, but would be a wind kindling the flame. Therefore he spoke thus” (Theophan). Concerning the disinterestedness of Paul’s co-workers, St. John Chrysostom especially dwells on the fact that “the Apostle does not say on his own authority that they took nothing. Rather, what is far more important, he presents the Corinthians themselves as witnesses, so that the testimony may rest on their own judgment. We usually act this way when the matter concerns something evident and subject to no doubt.”

The Apostle expresses this thought by the words: “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls.” He is not speaking about the past, though he confirms it. He speaks about the future, that he has resolved to act thus forever, as he had already mentioned more than once. Moreover, he intensifies the matter. “I will spend” can be limited to expense alone. But “I will be spent” gives the thought that the spending concerns not only money, but the Apostle’s very person. He declares his readiness to sacrifice even himself for their good, to spend himself, “to give himself for them” (Theodoret). “Natural law commanded parents to lay up possessions for children. But I, he says, not only fulfill this, but even give myself. The height of generosity is not only to take nothing, but to give what is one’s own. And not simply to give, but with great zeal, even when in want. This is shown by the words, ‘I will be spent.’ Even if it were necessary to exhaust the very flesh, I would not spare it for your salvation” (St. Chrysostom). The second half of the text, “though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved,” “expresses both love and reproach. I do this, says the Apostle, for those whom I love and who do not love me in the same measure” (St. Chrysostom). “By this he both grieved them, accusing them of poverty of love, and gladdened them, showing his own strongest love for them” (Theodoret). The Apostle hints at what took place before the first epistle, when some began to turn away from him in affection and prefer others to him. The first epistle again turned the hearts of all toward him, as St. Paul himself testified. He spoke of the zeal with which they hastened to correct everything he had indicated to them. Why then does he speak this way now? In order to stir their love for him more strongly, and to prevent in advance similar deviations on their part. For nothing so stirs love as saying to the beloved: I love you deeply, but you love me less. And nothing so rouses one to avoid every occasion for showing diminished love as such a reminder. He knew that this reproach would not be felt as a wound, but would be a wind kindling the flame. Therefore he spoke thus. St. Chrysostom concludes St. Paul’s words about spending himself with this inference: “Consider finally how many degrees there are here. He ought to have taken, yet he did not take: this is the first merit. He did not take while in poverty: this is the second. He did not take when he preached to them: this is the third. He himself gives to them: this is the fourth. He gives not simply, but abundantly: this is the fifth. He gives not only possessions, but himself: this is the sixth. He gives himself for those who do not love him greatly: this is the seventh. And he gives himself for those whom he loves exceedingly: this is the eighth. Let us also emulate him.”