2 Timothy 2:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Even now the question troubles many: why do evil people remain and not perish? There are many other reasons for this. For example, they may repent, or they may become for others an example of punishment. Here, however, Paul presents a reason close to the subject of his discourse.

In one manuscript codex, instead of the words "here Paul presents a reason close to the subject of his discourse," we read: "Indeed, through God's mercy, through His long-suffering toward the careless, and through the time given them for repentance and sobering, many benefited and were converted, if they wished. Likewise, by their example they brought others to salvation."

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay." Since many are troubled by why evil people exist in the world, Paul leaves aside other reasons and now points to this one: in a great house there are various vessels.

By the great house he means the world, not the Church. He desires that no wooden vessel be in the Church, but that all vessels there be gold and silver, where the Body of Christ is, where the Virgin is without blemish.

"And some for honorable use, but others for dishonorable." Golden vessels, that is, virtuous people, are for honorable use. Wooden and earthen vessels, that is, evil people, are for dishonorable use.

He did not say, "for usefulness and for uselessness." Even evil people, though unfit for virtue, are still useful in the general condition of the world, for a certain divine economy, as Pharaoh was.

Thus Cyprian, condemning those who tear themselves away from unity as though to avoid communion with the evil, indicates how the great house mentioned by the Apostle must be understood. In it there are vessels not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. This house is none other than the Church, in which there are good and evil until, at last, she is cleansed like a winnowed threshing floor.

In the Christian community, insofar as communion in the mysteries and participation in them are concerned, the faithful and the holy exceed number (Ps 39:6). Therefore number is one thing, and those exceeding number are another.

Each of us, the disciples of the Word, is the servant of one work from among those prescribed to us by the Gospel. In the great house, this Church, there are vessels not only of gold and silver, and of wood and clay, but also every kind of craft.

He also gave an example in his speech. The Church, he says, which is in the whole world, is like a great house. In it there are not only vessels of gold and silver, appointed for honor and glory, but also wooden and earthen vessels for dishonorable use. This, however, must not be understood as though the error of those false teachers were necessary in the Church, like the usefulness that dishonorable vessels have in a great house.

By this saying Paul indicated that different kinds of people are found in the Church. Yet the senseless Novatian, in order to promote his error, says that this passage must be understood otherwise. He thinks that the great house signifies the whole world, since various people live in it.

The Apostle compared the world to a great house. By golden vessels he meant those who shine with piety and virtue. By silver vessels he meant those who, with faith and righteousness, have loved civic life. By wooden and earthen vessels he meant those living in impiety and wickedness. Yet nature itself condemned the vessels, while the will made men honorable or dishonorable. This is shown by what is added.

"But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay." Many are troubled that evil people exist in the world, and that they do not quickly perish. There are various reasons for this.

For example, they may be corrected and, having been corrected, be saved. Or, if they remain incorrigible, they may have no excuse, so that when punished here at the proper time, they may serve as an instructive example for others.

Paul, however, does not touch on the various reasons. He simply says that as in a great house there are things of gold and silver, wood and clay, so it is in the universe.

If tares are found in the Church, this should not be an obstacle to our faith or love. We ourselves must not depart from the Church because we see tares in Her. We need only strive to be wheat, so that when the grain begins to be gathered into the Lord's barns, we may receive according to our deed and labor. Cf. Mt 13:24-30.

In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver. Now the comparative dignity of one or another member of the Church is indicated. Let no one be troubled because in Her some are firm in faith while others fall. The Church of God is a great house, in which there are vessels of various composition. But their corruption or wholeness does not harm the firmness of the Church Herself. The vessels themselves receive a greater or lesser degree of preservation and treatment according to their fitness and need. So too the faithful and the teachers who accord with the teaching of Jesus Christ and His Apostles are good vessels. Those who do not follow this teaching prove to be useless vessels.

By this comparison Saint Paul answers a possible perplexity: how can members who do not depart from unrighteousness be found in the divinely established and most holy building of the Church? Such people are tolerated in the Church for a certain time while their repentance is awaited. They are like household vessels which, it would seem, deserve only to be broken. Yet even from them there can be a negative usefulness. For example, they become instruments of trial and purification for the pious members of the Church. They also serve them as instructive examples in many respects.

The good estate of the Church of God is unshakable. It is in the Lord's hands, and He knows those faithful to Him. Therefore their lot is secure. By contrast, the fate of those who apostatize from Christ is ruinous, and they must hasten to leave their errors.

As for why there are in the Church those who turn aside from the fullness of truth, the Apostle judges this mercifully. He compares the spiritual diversity of the Church's members with the variety of vessels in the house of a wealthy master.

Such a master has vessels differing in price and dignity, for different uses, high and low, holy and defiled. Therefore they receive different honor. So too the Master, the Lord, will give different honor to those who serve differently the great work of the divine economy of human salvation.

The second difficulty is resolved: why are there people weak in faith and in life according to faith? The answer in the present verse is this. Such a thing is necessary in the course of affairs during the present period of the world's and man's existence.

This is explained by comparing the state of affairs in the Church with the order of household management. In a great house there are vessels of gold and silver, and there are also wooden and earthen vessels. Some are used for honorable purposes, others for dishonorable ones.

So it is in the Church, this house of God, great and glorious. There are persons whose worth corresponds to gold and silver, and there are persons corresponding to wood and clay. Some of them are worthy of honor, while others have no value.