Titus 3:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Tell me this. Christ fed five thousand with five loaves and four thousand with seven. Could He not have supported Himself and those with Him? Why, then, did He receive food from women? "Women followed Him," Scripture says, "and ministered to Him" (Mk 15:41). By this He shows us that He cares for those who do benefactions.

And Paul, who helped others with his own hands, could he not have refused support from anyone? Yet see how he both received and asked, and why. "Not that I seek the gift," he said, "but I seek the fruit that increases to your account" (Phil 4:17).

At the beginning, when the believers sold their possessions and laid the money at the apostles' feet, do you not see that the apostles cared more for them than for those receiving the alms? If they had cared only for the poor, they would have paid no attention to the deed of Ananias and Sapphira, when they kept back the money (Acts 5:2). Nor would Paul have given this command: "not grudgingly or under compulsion" (2 Cor 9:7).

What are you saying, Paul? Do you hinder beneficence toward the poor? No, he says. I have in view not only their good, but also the good of those who give.

Consider also the prophet. When he gave Nebuchadnezzar his excellent counsel, he did not care only for the poor. He did not simply say, Give to the poor. What did he say? "Redeem your sins by righteousness, and your iniquities by mercy to the poor" (Dan 4:24).

Spend your estate, he says, not only so that others may have sustenance, but so that you yourself may be delivered from punishment. Christ also said, "Sell your possessions and give to the poor; and come, follow Me" (Mt 19:21). Do you see that here also this was commanded for the sake of following Christ?

Because wealth is an obstacle to this, He commanded him to distribute it to the poor. He was teaching the soul to be merciful and compassionate. He was teaching it to despise wealth and to withdraw from covetousness.

He who has learned to give to the needy will in time also learn not to receive from those who have. This makes us like God. Although it is harder to keep virginity, to fast, and to cast oneself on the ground, nothing can extinguish the flame of our sins so powerfully as almsgiving.

It is above all virtues. It sets those who love it before the very face of the King, and with great justice. Virginity, fasting, and lying on the ground are limited only to those who practice them, and they save no one else. Almsgiving, however, extends to all and unites all the members of Christ.

Good works that extend to many are far greater than those limited to one person alone. Almsgiving is the mother of love. This love distinguishes Christianity, surpasses all signs, and serves as the mark of Christ's disciples. It is a medicine against our sins, the cleansing of the uncleanness of our soul, a ladder leading to heaven, and the bond of Christ's body.

Do you wish to know what a good it is? In the time of the apostles, all sold their possessions and brought them the proceeds, which were then distributed. "Distribution was made to each," it says, "as any had need" (Acts 4:35).

Tell me, leaving aside the life to come, for we will not now speak of the future kingdom, but will look at the present life. Who gained more, those receiving or those giving? Others murmured and quarreled among themselves, but they had one soul. It says that they "had one heart and one soul; great grace was upon them all," and they lived to their own great profit (Acts 4:32, 33).

Do you see how much they gained through this? Tell me, where would you wish to be? Among those who abandoned their possessions and had nothing, or among those who received what belonged to others?

Such is the fruit of almsgiving. Through it partitions and obstacles were abolished, and their souls were immediately united. They all "had one heart and one soul." Yet even apart from almsgiving, the rejection of wealth brings great profit.

I have said all this so that those who have received no inheritance from their fathers may not grieve or grow faint, as though they had less than the rich. They will have more than they, if they wish. Indeed, they will approach almsgiving more easily, like the widow mentioned in the Gospel. They will have no occasion for enmity with their neighbors, and they will be freer than all.

No one can threaten such a man with the loss of property. He is above all evils. Naked men, when they run, cannot easily be caught. But those heavily clothed and dragging many burdens behind them can easily be seized by anyone. So it is with the rich and the poor.

The latter, even if he is pursued, can easily escape. The former, even if he is not overtaken, is held back by his own bonds, by thousands of cares, sorrows, disturbances, and irritations. All this falls upon the soul, and not only this, but much else that wealth brings upon us.

It is also much harder for the rich man to keep moderation than for the poor man. Likewise, to live simply and be free from anger is much harder for the former than for the latter. Then, you will say, they will receive a greater reward? Not at all.

Why not, if they accomplish what is harder? Because a man creates these difficulties for himself. He was not commanded to gather wealth. On the contrary, he prepares for himself a multitude of temptations and difficulties.

Some not only renounce wealth, but even wear out their bodies, as men walking the narrow way. You not only fail to do this, but you also kindle the furnace of the passions and burden yourself with many other things.

Go then upon the broad way. It receives men like you. The narrow way receives those who grieve, lament, and carry with them nothing except the burden that can be carried on it: almsgiving, love for mankind, honesty, and meekness.

If you carry this burden, you too can enter it. But since you carry with you folly, inflammation of soul, and the thorny burden of wealth, you need a broad way.

You cannot mingle with the crowd without striking others with the load you took up beforehand. You need wide space. But he who carries gold and silver, that is, the struggles of virtue, does not cause his neighbors to flee. They draw near and are united with him.

Furthermore, if wealth itself is a thorn, what then is covetousness? Why do you carry it there? Is it so that, by placing the load under the fire, you may kindle a stronger flame? Is the fire of Gehenna not enough for you?

Remember how the three youths conquered the flame of the furnace. Imagine that this is Gehenna. Bound and fettered, they were cast there in affliction. Yet within they found perfect freedom, unlike those who stood outside.

The same will happen now if we wish to stand firmly and courageously against the temptations that overtake us. If we place our hope in God, we will be safe and free. Those who attack us will perish, because "he who digs a pit," says the Wise Man, "will fall into it" (Sir 27:29).

Though they bind our hands or feet, affliction will be able to loose us. Look at this wonder. Those whom men bound, fire released. It is as though someone handed one of his friends over to servants. The servants, respecting his friendship with their master, would not insult him, but would show him great honor.

So also the fire, recognizing that these youths were friends of the Lord Himself, broke their bonds, loosed and delivered them, became a floor beneath them, and was trampled by them. And rightly so, for they had been cast in for the glory of God.

Let all of us who are in afflictions remember such examples. But you will say, They were delivered from affliction, while we are not. This is as it should be. They went into the furnace not in order to be delivered, but with the firm resolve to die.

Listen to what they say: "Our God, whom we serve, is able to save us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods, nor worship the golden image which you have set up" (Dan 3:17, 18).

But we, as though subjecting God's punishments to our calculations, appoint a time for them and say, If God does not have mercy on us by such and such a time. For this reason we are not delivered.

Abraham also went not in order to receive his son back alive, but to slay him. Beyond expectation, he received him alive. So you also, when you fall into affliction, do not be impatient and do not hurry to be freed from it. Dispose your soul for every endurance, and then you will quickly be freed from affliction. For this is why God sends it, to instruct us.

Thus, if from the beginning we know how to bear afflictions and do not murmur, He soon frees us from them, because everything has already been fulfilled on our part.

I wish to tell you a very useful and edifying example. What is it? When persecution was raised and a fierce war was kindled against the Church, two men were arrested. One was ready to endure anything whatever. The other also was courageously ready to endure beheading, but he feared and trembled before other tortures.

Now see the ordering of God. When the judge began to try them, he commanded that the one ready for everything be beheaded, while the other was to be hung up and torn, not once or twice, but as he was led through all the cities.

Why was this permitted? So that his weak soul might be strengthened through sufferings. So that he might cast off every fear, and might neither be afraid, nor waver, nor tremble before tortures.

Joseph, too, remained in prison precisely when he was most eager to leave it. Listen to what he says: "For I was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews," and, "Remember me to Pharaoh" (Gen 40:15, 14). For this reason he remained there, so that he might learn not to rely on men or hope in them, but to place everything in God.

Knowing this, then, let us give thanks to God and do everything that leads to our good. Thus may we attain the good things to come in Christ Jesus our Lord, with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

You have, the Apostle says as it were, authority over the disciples. Teach them not to be fruitless, but let them serve the evangelists and apostolic men occupied with the saving labors of preaching.

Let them serve not in everything, but in necessary needs, which are defined thus: "Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content" (1 Tim 6:8).

For those who serve the altar must also be fed from the altar. Those who have become partakers of our spiritual goods must make us partakers of their material goods.

In case the Cretans should pay no attention to these words of the epistle or to Titus's exhortations, the Apostle calls fruitless those who do not wish to serve the evangelists from their possessions.

Concerning the fruitless it is written: "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire" (Mt 7:19).

And again: "He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly" (2 Cor 9:6).

"You have, the Apostle says as it were, authority over the disciples. Therefore teach them not to be fruitless, but let them serve the evangelists and apostolic men who are engaged in the saving labors of preaching.

"Let them serve not in everything, but in necessary needs, which are defined thus: 'Having food and clothing, with these we shall be content' (cf. 1 Tim 6:8).

"For those who serve the altar must also be fed from the altar. Those who have become partakers of our spiritual goods must make us partakers of their material goods.

"In case the Cretans should pay no attention to these words of the epistle or to Titus's exhortations, the Apostle calls fruitless those who do not wish to serve the evangelists from their possessions.

"Concerning the fruitless it is written: 'Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire' (cf. Mt 7:19).

"And again: 'He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly' (2 Cor 9:6).

"Not to wish to supply what is necessary to apostolic men and the evangelists of Christ means to expose oneself as fruitless."

The Apostle impresses upon Titus, writes blessed Theodoret: "Teach the believers to have care for bodily services to those entrusted with teaching divine things. For they must bring such fruits also."

"Do you see," continues Saint Chrysostom in the same discourse, "how the Apostle cares more for the believing givers than for the preachers who receive?

"They could have been supplied through many others, but I am caring for our own, he says.

"For tell me, what profit would there be if others who gather treasures fed the teachers? Then our own would have no benefit. They would remain fruitless.

"Tell me, Christ fed five thousand with five loaves and four thousand with seven. Could He not have fed Himself and those who were with Him?

"Why then did He receive food from women? The Scripture says, 'Women followed Him and ministered to Him' (cf. Mk 15:41).

"He did this to teach us that He cares for those who do good. Likewise Paul, who helped others with his own hands, could he not have refrained from receiving food from anyone?

"But see how he received and asked, and for what reason: 'Not that I seek the gift,' he says, 'but I seek the fruit that increases to your account' (Phil 4:17)."