Titus 1:13Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Therefore, he says, rebuke them, because they have a bold, treacherous, and unbridled character. They are given over to countless vices. If they are inclined to lying, treacherous, gluttonous, and careless, then they need a strong and rebuking word. Such a man cannot be moved by meekness. Therefore "rebuke them." Here he speaks not of outsiders, but of his own. "Sharply." Strike them deeply, he says. For one must not treat everyone in the same way, but differently and variously, according to circumstances. In the present case he nowhere resorts to exhortations. By reproaching an obedient and noble man, one can kill and destroy him. So also by flattering a man who needs strong rebuke, one can spoil him and fail to bring him to correction.

Since they are liars, he says, which is explained by their craftiness, and gluttonous, they need a strong and reproving word. Gentleness is useless for them. Just as one who rebukes a meek man destroys him, so one who flatters a shameless man corrupts him by not allowing him to know himself. Here, says the Apostle, it is not outsiders who must be rebuked, but one’s own.

"One of them, their own prophet, said somewhere: 'Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies.' This testimony is true." The one who said these words is called a prophet from among them either because he said about them something that came to pass upon them as though by prophecy. Yet this was not because he foretold it before they existed. Rather, he wrote what he saw in them and rebuked them, fearing them in no way. Or one of the prophets of the New Testament said this, rebuking them, and the Apostle wrote it to them as a reproach. For this reason, he says, you also, after the likeness of the one who prophesied about them, should rebuke them severely, that they may be sound in the faith in which they stand.

The divine Apostle called this testimony true, not because he confirmed poetic mythology, but because he exposed the Cretans as untenable in their opinions. It is as though he were saying, “He rightly called you liars, for you have indeed remained such.” The one called Zeus probably died elsewhere, and the Cretans built him a tomb in vain.

The saying, “rebuke them sharply,” does not contradict the command, “in meekness correcting those who oppose” (2 Tim 2:25). Those who have not yet believed must be preached the divine teaching modestly and meekly. But those who have promised to believe and then try to act contrary to the faith must be healed with severe remedies.

"This testimony is true." True is that part of this testimony which says that the Cretans are for the most part liars, lovers of eating, and doers of nothing. It is not true where it says that Zeus did not die, but lives forever, for this is not true. The Apostle borrowed the rebuke of the Cretans from their own people, so that he might shame them more strongly. The testimony about their unbridledness comes from their own people, and they are condemned by the very person whom they respect and honor as a prophet. For rebuke from one's own people is far more effective.

“Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith.” “Thus soundness consists in introducing nothing false and nothing foreign,” says Chrysostom. Sharp rebuke here is equal to a strong medicine, necessary for healing the sickness.

He then explains to Titus the need for special caution in choosing pastors, in view of the local circumstances of the Cretan church. There had appeared many insubordinate men, empty talkers, and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision. The national shortcomings and vicious inclinations of the Cretans could favor the harmful activity of false teachers among them.

The counsels concerning one's relation to the erring come down to two chief points: to stop the mouths of false teachers, and to rebuke their followers and bring them to the true faith. At the same time the Apostle characterizes the Cretans in general, using the saying of the ancient poet Epimenides, and in particular the false teachers of that time. Both are first of all liars and evil. Further, the Cretans are lazy, while the Jews are contentious and fearful. The chief trait of the false teachers is love of gain, for the sake of which they make noise and deceive. Lying people themselves easily fall into falsehood. Therefore among the Cretans, who had long been inclined to lying, new liars could have great success. From this it becomes clear how difficult Bishop Titus's struggle was.

As an incentive to pay special attention to choosing persons for the ministry of presbyters, the Apostle points to the appearance in Crete of many false teachers, chiefly from the Jews. Crete was the most suitable soil for such false teachers. To confirm this last thought, the Apostle refers to the testimony of Epimenides, the Cretan poet, or prophet, as the Cretans called him. Long before, he had testified to the Cretans' love for every lie and deception, and to their moral savagery and laziness. Therefore Titus must act sharply in rebuking such coarse people. The word is spotomos, as physicians act when they cut off rotten members of the body that infect the whole organism. He must not allow them to be carried away by Jewish fables and commandments about clean and unclean things.

When he says that this testimony is true, the Apostle has in mind the first word of the testimony, "liars." By this he means that they readily open their ears to every empty speech and every fable. This is clear from the following words: rebuke them, so that they may not give heed to fables.

"If they are inclined to lying, then they need a strong and rebuking word. Such a man cannot be moved by meekness. Therefore rebuke them sharply. For one must not treat everyone in the same way, but differently and variously, according to the persons. Just as by reproaching an obedient and noble man one can kill and destroy him, so by flattering a man who needs strong rebuke one can spoil him and fail to bring him to correction" (Saint Chrysostom).