2 Corinthians 2:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Wishing to make his speech more pleasing and bind them more firmly to himself, he assures them of his love, by which he does everything, instead of reminding them of correction.

He does not simply say, "I have love for you," but, "the love which I have so abundantly for you."

By this also he wishes to draw them to himself. He shows that he loves them more than all and is disposed toward them as toward chosen disciples.

Therefore he had already said, "If I am not an Apostle to others, yet surely I am to you" (1 Cor 9:2).

Elsewhere he says, "Though you have countless instructors in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers" (1 Cor 4:15).

Again he says, "By the grace of God we conducted ourselves in the world, and more abundantly toward you" (2 Cor 1:12).

Later, near the end of this epistle, he writes, "Though I love you more abundantly, I am loved less" (2 Cor 12:15).

Finally, here also he says, "the love which I have so abundantly for you."

Thus, although the Apostle's words were full of anger, this anger came from great love and sorrow.

"Even while writing the epistle," he says, "I suffered and grieved not only because you sinned, but also because I was placed under necessity of grieving you. All this was from love."

It is like a father who is forced to cut away or cauterize the rotten members of his beloved son.

He suffers doubly, because his son is ill and because he himself must cut.

Thus what you regard as a sign of ill will toward you is a sign of the greatest love for you.

If love moved me to grieve you, then your grief much more moves me to rejoice.

Having thus defended himself, he now proceeds to defend the one who had fallen into fornication. He often defends himself in this way and is not ashamed of it.

For if God Himself does this, saying, for example, "My people, what have I done to you?" (Mic 6:3), then Paul could do it all the more.

Since the Apostle himself had earlier shown anger against that man and now asks that he be forgiven, his command might be misinterpreted as contradicting the first.

They might have become obstinate. Therefore see how he prepared them for this, both by what was said above and by what follows below.

What does he say next? "But if anyone has caused grief, he has not grieved me" (v. 5).

So, he says, I also grieve when I sadden you who have sinned. Yet on the other hand I rejoice when you grieve, for I have hope for your correction.

"Not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you." He ought to have said, not that you should be grieved, but "that you should be corrected."

Yet he does not say this. He sweetens his speech, wishing to attract them by assuring them that he loves them more than his other disciples.

If he grieves them, he grieves them out of love, not out of anger.

For it is a sign of the greatest love that I grieve over your sins and hasten to rebuke you, thereby grieving you.

If I did not love you, I would leave you without healing.

So also today, Orthodox Christians, one must value not so much a gentle, flattering, evasive word, as a direct word.

For some it may seem sharp, but it is well-intentioned and useful for all.

Truth always stings the eyes. The surgeon's knife causes pain, yet afterward comes the correction of the body and the relief of ailments.

Let us also, Orthodox Christians, not trust evil rumor about some public figure if we see or hear of his severe measures in administration or his strong and strict commands.

Good intention and love for the common good compel one to be strict toward those who harm public order.

May God grant that there be more truthful, honest, and hardworking people who speak and act in the name of the common good.

May their words and measures attain their aims as successfully as the holy Apostle attained his in Corinth.

The all-praised Apostle himself revealed this. First he said that he wrote threats concerning sins to the Corinthians out of great sorrow, anguish of heart, and many tears.

Then he confessed that these threats were the fruit of his great love for them. "I wrote this," he says, "not that you should be grieved, but that you might know the love which I have so abundantly for you" (2 Cor 2:4).

This most blessed Apostle loved God with all his heart and all his soul, and therefore loved his neighbor as himself.

For this reason, regarding the sins of his neighbor as though they were his own, he was moved by them, was contrite in heart, and poured forth fountains of tears.

We poor ones, on the contrary, love God very little, and therefore also love our neighbor very little.

For this reason we are not contrite at all, not only over others' sins, but even over our own. Or if we are contrite, it is very little and forced.

From this we learn that contrition of heart is the daughter of love, and therefore is very pleasing to God. Thus we see that it obtains for us God's mercy and the salvation of the soul.

To be completely assured that love gives birth to contrition of heart and tears, examine the movements of your heart.

Notice when it is filled with grief. Is it when your friend is in misfortune, or when your enemy is in it?

When does it feel constriction within itself? Is it when a person you love is grieving, or when one you hate is sorrowful?

When do you shed tears? Is it when you see the first man tormented, or the second?

If you examine the depth of your heart, you will see and be assured of this. The more you love a relative or friend, the more you grieve, lament, and weep in his misfortunes.

You will see and be assured that in the misfortune of your enemy you rejoice. In the misfortunes of a person whom you neither love nor hate, you are insensible or indifferent. That is, you neither rejoice nor grieve.

The Apostle, however, burned with fervent love. Therefore, without appearing in person, he expressed the whole fullness of his spirit of love in writing.

He did this in the edifications, admonitions, and rebukes with which his first epistle is filled. It was written with tears and undoubtedly called forth tears of compunction in many Corinthians.

In some it also called forth tears of repentance for sins, as, for example, in the incestuous man of whom the Apostle speaks further on.

What soul could be more tender and more loving toward its children than this soul which speaks so? The Apostle not only grieved no less than those who sinned. On the contrary, he grieved far more than the sinners themselves.

He does not simply say, 'out of affliction,' but 'out of much affliction.' He does not speak only of tears, but of many tears, and of anguish of heart.

That is, I was suffocated and crushed by sorrow. Unable any longer to endure the weight of this cloud of grief, I resolved to write to you.

Yet I did this not to grieve you, but that you might know the love which I have for you in abundance.

He ought to have said: not to grieve you, but to correct you. For this is why he wrote. Yet the Apostle does not speak so.

Instead, to make his words more pleasing and bind the Corinthians more firmly to himself, he assures them of his love rather than reminding them of correction. By this love he does everything.

He does not simply say, 'I have love for you,' but, 'which I have abundantly for you.' By this too he wishes to draw them to himself.

He shows that he loves them more than all and is disposed toward them as toward chosen disciples.

Thus, though the Apostle spoke with anger, this anger came from great love and sorrow.

For even while writing the epistle, he says, I grieved and suffered not only because you sinned, but also because I was placed under necessity of grieving you. All this was from love.

It is like a father who must cut away and cauterize the rotten members of a beloved son. He suffers doubly, both from the image of his son's illness and from the need to cut away the diseased members himself.

Therefore what you regard as a sign of ill will toward you is a sign of the greatest love for you.

If I was moved by love to grieve you, then much more was I moved by love to rejoice when I saw your grief.

Thus the Apostle defends himself. He often defends himself in this way, and he is not ashamed of it.

For if God Himself does this when He says, 'My people, what have I done to you?' (Mic 6:3), then Paul could do it all the more" (Chrysostom).