Wherein I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and teacher of the Gentiles.
εις ο ετεθην εγω κηρυξ και αποστολος και διδασκαλος εθνων
10 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Why does Paul so often call himself a teacher of the Gentiles? To impress, as I have already said, that this must also be brought near to the Gentiles. Therefore do not be grieved at the thought of my sufferings. The powers of death have been crushed. I suffer not as an evildoer, but for the instruction of the Gentiles. At the same time, his teaching becomes trustworthy.
Why did the Apostle now call himself a teacher of the Gentiles? To impress upon Timothy that he must proclaim the word of the Gospel to the Gentiles and not lose heart, but imitate him, bound for the teaching of the Gospel.
For this I was sent, that is, for this same Gospel, as a preacher, Apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles.
He says, He ordained me as a preacher of this, so that I might bring the Gospel of these good things to all nations.
That is, I have been appointed to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, so that I might proclaim it to them. At the same time I am an Apostle, since I was sent for this work. The word "preacher" is explained by the word "Apostle." To the word "Apostle" is added "teacher of the Gentiles," for he was appointed, in the proper sense, to be preacher, Apostle, and teacher of the Gentiles, as is also said elsewhere.
"For which I was appointed." For this very preaching Saint Paul was sent, and therefore he calls himself a preacher according to the chief object of his activity (1 Cor 1:17). An Apostle according to the extraordinary powers and authority given to him (2 Cor 12:11), and a teacher of the Gentiles according to the persons to whom he preached (Gal 2:8).
At the beginning of the instructive part, the holy Apostle Paul points directly to the fruit by which Timothy may first show that he is stirring up the gift of God received through apostolic ordination. Timothy must not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord Jesus. That is, he must not be ashamed of the preaching of His Cross, which is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks. If circumstances require it, he must also suffer together with the gospel of Christ. He must be inspired by the lofty meaning of the divine economy accomplished by the Savior. He must be guided both by the example of the Apostle Paul himself, his teacher, and by the example of Onesiphorus, who was not ashamed of Paul’s chains, while all the Asian disciples abandoned him.
The exemplary preaching of the Apostle Paul is presented in order to stir up the spirit of courage in St. Timothy. In it are shown fearless courage and firm hope, but first of all the Apostle’s calling by the Lord to preach to the nations. “By saying, ‘for which I was appointed,’ he revived in Timothy’s mind the striking story of St. Paul’s conversion. He also drew into it the memory of the Lord’s repeated appearances to him with the direct command, ‘Go to the nations.’ All this could not fail to revive the certainty that, laboring in the gospel under St. Paul’s guidance, he was continuing the work entrusted to Paul by the Lord. Consequently, he himself was serving the Lord.
The fruit of this revived certainty had to be renewed inspiration to proclaim the gospel boldly and without shame, and readiness to suffer for it. This is what the Apostle wished to produce by the present words,” says Bishop Theophan. Courage in sufferings is nourished by certainty in the power of Him in Whom one believes. Hope is also partly founded upon devotion to God, with Paul entrusting to Him all that lay within his power. “This deposit, this entrusting, which the Lord is able to keep until the last day, is the deposit of faith, the deposit of His grace in us, the deposit of our sufferings and our merits. The consolation of the saints is the thought that this deposit is entrusted not to our weakness, but to God’s love, faithfulness, and omnipotence.” In these words of the Apostle, on the one hand, there sounds something like Job’s speech about the power of God, Who can raise him up (19:25). On the other hand, they also recall that one must lay up treasures in heaven, “where neither worm nor moth destroys.” “And where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt 6:20-21). These spiritual treasures may be the deposit that proves so useful on the dread day of judgment. According to Oecumenius, “by entrusting, or deposit, the Apostle here means the faith which Jesus Christ entrusted to him for preaching. Or by this word he means the believers whom God entrusted to him for instruction, or whom he himself entrusted to God. Thus he said, ‘And now I commend you to God’ (Acts 20:32). Timothy too was one of those entrusted to God. Therefore I know that the One in Whom I have believed, and in Whom I am confident, is able to keep this entrusting unshaken until that day.”
The Apostle’s further exhortation was also useful to Timothy: not to be ashamed of the ridicule and disgrace then falling upon the preacher of the gospel who testified to Christ. This is the meaning of, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Timothy must suffer for the faith just as Paul does, because the power of God dwells in him. The Apostle recalls the greatness of this power to Timothy and points to his own sufferings for the gospel. In this way he further strengthens Timothy’s courage by his own confidence in his eternal salvation, his “deposit.” In teaching, Timothy must be guided by the pattern of faith, or symbol, ὑποτύπωσις, which he heard from the Apostle’s lips and surely remembered.
Timothy must regard this pattern of sound teaching with faith and love. He must preserve and use the special gift imparted to him, the good deposit, cf. verse 6, not according to his own human reasoning, but by heeding the voice of the Holy Spirit Who dwells in him.
The Apostle persuades St. Timothy not to be ashamed, but to bear suffering for the gospel with readiness. The chief source of inspiration for such an ascetic labor is the certainty that both the work of the gospel and its content come directly from God. The one who labors in it directly serves God and does not carry out human arrangements. For St. Paul this certainty was impressed directly by the Lord Himself. St. Timothy believed it through St. Paul. He knew how St. Paul became an Apostle and how he received from the Lord Himself the command to preach. Yet it was not needless to renew this in his soul by remembrance. It is never needless to renew the memory of all the mysteries of faith.
These are naturally obscured by new knowledge and impressions, and are pushed into the background of attention. This is what St. Paul now does. By saying, “for which I was appointed,” he revived in St. Timothy’s mind the striking story of St. Paul’s conversion. He also drew into this remembrance the Lord’s repeated appearances to him with the direct command, “Go to the nations.” All this could not fail to revive Timothy’s certainty that, by laboring in the gospel under St. Paul’s guidance, he was continuing the work entrusted to Paul by the Lord. Consequently, Timothy himself was serving the Lord. The fruit of this revived certainty had to be a revived inspiration to proclaim the gospel boldly and without shame. It would also inspire readiness to suffer for it. This is what the Apostle wished to produce by the present words. Blessed Theophylact writes, “Why did St. Paul call himself here a teacher of the nations? So that he might impress upon St. Timothy that he too must proclaim the word of the gospel to the Gentiles and not lose heart when he meets opposition.” The words preacher, Apostle, and teacher have one meaning. Yet one may also see some distinction in them. A preacher appears among a people unknown to him and not knowing him, and he proclaims the gospel. To awaken faith, as an Apostle, he assures his hearers that he does not speak from himself. He has been sent by the Lord and proclaims His will to them. Then he takes those who have believed into his care and teaches them both knowledge and life. Like a tutor, he enters their circle by direct guidance.
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 9 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS