Homilies on 2 Corinthians 9.1–9.4

[“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed …”] He still continues showing that the whole is the work of God’s power, checking the pride of those who boasted of themselves. “For this alone is not the wonder,” he says, “that we keep this treasure in earthen vessels, but that, suffering countless dreadful things and being battered everywhere, we keep it and do not lose it. And yet even if the vessel were of adamant, it would not have been able to carry so great a treasure, nor have held out against so many plots; but as it is, it both carries it and suffers no harm, because of God’s grace.” “For we are afflicted,” he says, “in every way, but not crushed.” What is “in every way”? From enemies, from friends, in necessities, in other needs, by foes, by our own people. “But we are not crushed.” And see how he states opposite things, so as to show God’s strength from this too. “Afflicted, we are not crushed,” he says; “perplexed, we are not driven to despair”; that is, we do not fall away completely. “For we are pained in many places, and we fail; but not so as to fall away from our purpose; for these things have been permitted by God for our exercise, not for our defeat.” “Persecuted, but not perishing.” For temptations happen, but what [follows] from temptations no longer. And this too is through God’s power and grace. Elsewhere he says that these things were permitted both for their humility and for the safety of others: “So that I might not be too elated, a thorn was given me,” he says; and again, “so that no one may think of me more than he sees, or hears from me”; and elsewhere again, “so that we might not trust in ourselves.” Here [he says], “so that the power of God may appear.” Do you see how great the gain of temptations is? For they both showed God’s power and [displayed his] grace; they anointed him for humility, prepared the others to be checked, and made them more steadfast: “For endurance,” he says, “produces character, and character hope.” For those who fell into countless dangers and came up out of them by hope in God were taught by this … “My grace is sufficient for you” … to hold on more in all things.

“Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, so that the life of Jesus too may be manifested in our body.” And what is the dying of the Lord Jesus, which they carried about? The daily deaths, through which the resurrection too was shown. “For if anyone disbelieves,” he says, “that Jesus died and rose, let him see us, dying and rising every day, and believe in the resurrection from now on.” Do you see how he has found yet another reason for temptations? What is it? “So that his life too may be manifested in our body,” he says, “by his snatching us from the dangers.” So the thing that seems to belong to weakness and abandonment proclaims his resurrection. For his power would not have appeared so, if we had suffered nothing unpleasant, as it is shown now, when we suffer but are not overcome. “For we who live are always being given up to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus too may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” For everywhere, when he says something unclear, he explains himself again; which he did here too, explaining clearly what he had said. “For this is why we are given up,” he says, that is, carry about the dying, “so that the power of his life may appear, as he does not allow mortal flesh, suffering so much, to be overcome by the snowstorm of evils.” And it may be taken another way too. How? As he says elsewhere, “If we died with him, we shall also live with him.” “For as we endure his death now, and choose while living to die for him, so he too will choose to give us life then when we have died. For if we are pursued from life to death, he too will lead us by the hand from death to life.” “So death is at work in us, but life in you.” He is no longer speaking of death but of temptations and relief. “For we are in dangers and in temptations,” he says, “but you are at ease, reaping the life that comes from these dangers; and we endure the dangerous things, while you enjoy the good things; for you do not endure so many temptations.”

“But having the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed, therefore I spoke,’ we too believe, therefore we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also through Jesus.” He reminded us of a psalm full of great wisdom and especially able to anoint us in dangers. That righteous man uttered this saying while in great dangers, from which there was no coming up except through God’s help.

Since, then, kindred examples especially console, he says, “having the same spirit”; that is, “by the same alliance by which he was saved we too are saved; by the Spirit by whom he spoke we too speak.” From this he shows that the New is in great harmony with the Old, and that the same Spirit worked in both; and that not we alone are in dangers, but all the men of old too; and that we must set things right by faith and hope, and not seek at once a release from what presses on us. For since he had shown by reasoning the resurrection and the life, and that the danger is not a sign of weakness or abandonment, he now brings in faith too and entrusts everything to it. Yet he offers a proof of it as well, the resurrection of Christ, saying, “We too believe, therefore we also speak.” What do we believe, tell me? “That he who raised Jesus will raise us also, and will present us with you. For everything is for your sake, so that grace, extended through more and more people, may increase thanksgiving to the glory of God.” Again he fills them with spirit, so that they may not feel gratitude toward men—I mean the false apostles. “For the whole is God’s, who wishes to bestow it on many, so that the grace may appear greater. For your sake, then, is the resurrection and everything else. For he did these things not for the sake of one alone, but of all.”

“So we do not lose heart; but though our outer man is wasting away, our inner man is being renewed day by day.” How does it waste away? By being scourged, persecuted, suffering countless dreadful things. “But the inner is being renewed day by day.” How is it renewed? By faith, by hope, by eagerness. “From now on we must dare dreadful things. For the more the body suffers countless things, the better the hopes the soul has, and the brighter it becomes, like gold being fired more.” And see how he pulls down the painful things of the present life: “For this momentary lightness of our affliction,” he says, “is working for us [an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure], as we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen.” Having shut the matter up in hope, and establishing here too what he said in the letter to the Romans, “For in hope we were saved, but hope that is seen is not hope,” he sets present things beside future ones: the momentary against the eternal, the light against the heavy, affliction against glory. And he is not content even with these, but puts another expression, doubling it and saying, “beyond measure, to excess.” Then he shows how the burden of so many afflictions is light. How then is it light? “As we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things that are not seen.” So the present will be light and the future great, if we draw ourselves away from the things that are seen. “For the things that are seen are temporary”: so afflictions too are such. “But the things that are not seen are eternal”: so the crowns too are such. And he did not say, “Afflictions are such,” but, “All things that are seen,” whether punishment or rest; so that we may neither be softened by the one nor forced by the other. That is why, speaking of things to come too, he did not say, “The kingdom is eternal,” but, “The things that are not seen are eternal,” whether kingdom or punishment again; so as both to frighten from that side and to urge on from this.

Since, then, the things that are seen are temporary and those not seen eternal, let us look to those. For what defense could we have, choosing the temporary instead of the eternal? For even if the present is sweet, it is not lasting; but its pain is lasting and without excuse. What defense will they have who have been counted worthy of the Spirit and enjoyed so great a gift, and yet grovel and fall to the ground? For I hear many saying these ridiculous words: “Give me today, and take tomorrow. For if the things there are such as you say, one has been had instead of one; but if there is nothing at all, two instead of none.” What [could be more lawless] than these words, [or more idle? We are speaking of heaven and of] those [unspeakable] good things; and you bring the language of the hippodromes into our midst, and are not ashamed or do not cover your face uttering such things, which belong to madmen? Do you not blush, so nailed to present things? Will you not stop raving and being out of your mind and talking nonsense in youth? That Greeks should say these things is no wonder; but that believers should talk such nonsense, what pardon has it? Do you then wholly suspect those immortal hopes? Do you wholly think them doubtful? And where is this deserving of pardon? “And who came,” someone says, “and announced the things there?” No man; but God, more trustworthy than all, declared them. “But you do not see the things there.” Neither do you see God; will you then not think there is a God, because you do not see him? “I certainly think so,” he says. [Then if an unbeliever said that no one has come down] from heaven and announced this, what will you say? How do you know that there is a God? “From the things that are seen,” he says, “from the good order in all creation, from its being plain to all.” Then receive the doctrine of judgment in the same way too. “How?” he says. I will ask you; and you answer me. Is this God just, and does he render to each according to his deserts, or the opposite—does he wish the unjust to prosper and live in luxury, and the good to be in the opposite state? “Not at all,” he says; “not even a man would do this.” Where then will those who did well here enjoy good things, and where will the wicked receive the opposite, unless there is to be some life after this and a recompense? Do you see that it is one for one so far, and not two for one? But I will show you as I go on that it will be not one for one, but two for one for the righteous, and the opposite in every way for sinners, even those living in luxury here. For those who lived in luxury here did not receive even one for one; but those who live in virtue receive two for one. For who are at ease: those who abuse the present life, or those who live wisely? You perhaps will say the former, but I show you the latter, calling as witnesses those very ones who have enjoyed present things; and they will not shamelessly deny what I am going to say. For they have often cursed matchmakers, and the day on which the bridal chambers were set up, and have called the unmarried blessed. And many young men, though they could marry, have refused for no other reason than the burdensomeness of the thing. I say this not to disparage marriage (for it is honorable), but those who use it badly. But if those … what would we say of those who have flung themselves into the pits of fornication and are in a more wretched state? What of those rotting in luxury and loading their bodies with countless diseases? “But being in glory is sweet.” Nothing is more bitter than this slavery. For the vainglorious man, who wishes to please anyone at all, is more slavish than all slaves; but the one who has trampled on it, who does not care for glory from others, is above all. “But having money is delightful.” But we have often shown that those freed from it and having nothing are in greater wealth and ease. “But getting drunk is sweet.” And who would say this? So if not being rich is sweeter than being rich, and not marrying than marrying, and not being vainglorious than being vainglorious, and not living in luxury than living in luxury, then even here those not nailed to present things have the advantage. And so I say that the one, even if he is stretched on countless tortures, has good hope bearing him up; but the other, even if he enjoys countless luxuries, has the fear of what is to come troubling and confounding his pleasure. For this too is no small kind of punishment, just as its opposite is a kind of luxury and ease. And with these there is a third way too. What is it? That the things of worldly luxury do not even appear while they exist, being refuted both by their nature and by time; but those things not only exist, but remain unmoved. Do you see that we shall be able to set down not two for nothing only, but three and five and ten and twenty and countless for nothing?

And so that you may learn this by an example: the rich man and Lazarus—the one enjoyed present things, the other future ones. Does it seem to you to be one and one, to be punished for all time and to go hungry for a short hour? To be sick in a corruptible body, and to be fried terribly in an immortal one? To be crowned and live in deathless luxury after that short illness, and to be tortured without end after a brief enjoyment of goods? Who would say this? For what do you want us to set down: the quantity, the quality, God’s ordering, the verdict on each? How long will you utter the words of dung beetles that roll in the mud? These are not the words of rational men: to give up a soul so precious for nothing, when one could take the heavens with a little labor. Do you want me to teach you from another side too that there is a fearful tribunal there? Open the doors of your conscience, and see the judge sitting in your mind. If you condemn yourself, though you love yourself and would not bear to give an unjust judgment, will not God much more take great care for justice and give an impartial verdict on all, rather than let everything drift idly and at random? Who would say this? No one; but Greeks and barbarians, poets and philosophers, and the whole race of men agree with us in this, even if not in the same way, and say there are tribunals in Hades; so plain and agreed is the thing. “And why does he not punish here?” someone says. So as to show his long-suffering and grant us the salvation that comes from repentance, and not make our race snatched away at once, nor snatch away beforehand from salvation those who could be saved by an excellent change. For if he had punished and destroyed at once for sins, how would Paul have been saved, or Peter, the chief teachers of the world? How would David have reaped the salvation of repentance? How the Galatians? How many others? That is why he neither exacts the penalty from all here, but from some among all, nor from all there, but from one here and another there, so as both to rouse the very insensible by those he punishes and to make them expect what is to come by those he does not punish. Or do you not see many punished here, like those buried under the tower, like those whose blood Pilate mingled with their sacrifices, like those who died an untimely death among the Corinthians for partaking of the mysteries unworthily, like Pharaoh, like those of the Jews slaughtered by the barbarians, like many others, both then and now and continually? And others who sinned much have departed without paying the penalty here, like the rich man in the story of Lazarus, like many others.

He does these things both to rouse those who disbelieve the things to come and to make more earnest those who believe but are careless. “For God is a righteous judge, strong and long-suffering, not bringing on wrath every day.” But if we abuse his long-suffering, there will be a time when he will no longer be long-suffering even a little, but will at once bring on the penalty. Let us not, then, in order to live in luxury for one moment (for such is the present life), draw on ourselves the punishment of boundless ages; but let us toil for a moment, so that we may be crowned forever. Do you not see that in worldly matters too most people act so, and choose a little toil for the sake of long rest, even if the opposite turns out for them? For here there is an equal share of toil and gain, and often the reverse: the toil boundless, the fruit small, often not even small; but in the case of the kingdom it is the opposite: the toil small, the pleasure great and boundless. Consider: the farmer toils the whole year, and often at its very end he falls from the hope of the fruit of his many labors. The pilot again and the soldier spend their lives to extreme old age in wars and labors, and often each of them departs having lost, the one the wealth of his cargo, the other the victory and his very life. What defense, then, shall we have, tell me, if in worldly things we prefer labors so as to rest a little, or not even a little (for the hope is uncertain), but in spiritual things do the opposite and draw on ourselves unspeakable punishment for a little carelessness? So I urge you all, late as it is, to recover from this derangement. For no one will deliver us at that time, not brother, not father, not son, not friend, not neighbor, nor anyone else; but if we are betrayed by our works, everything will be gone, and we shall surely perish. How much that rich man lamented, and besought the patriarch, and asked that Lazarus be sent! But hear what Abraham said to him: “There is a chasm between you and us, so that not even [those who wish can cross].” … [Did not those virgins beseech] their companions for a little oil? But hear what those say too: “Perhaps there will not be enough for us and for you”; and no one could bring them into the bridal chamber. Reckoning these things, then, let us too take care of our life. For however many labors you name, however many punishments you bring forward, all these will be nothing compared with the good things to come. Set down, if you like, fire and iron and wild beasts, and anything harder than these; yet these are not even a shadow compared with those torments. For these, when applied more violently, then above all become light, bringing a quick release, as the body does not hold out either for the violence or for the length of the punishment; but there it is not so, but both come together, both duration and excess, both in good things and in painful ones. … so that we may see him gentle and serene then, so that we may escape those threatening powers. Do you not see the soldiers here who serve the magistrates, how they drag, how they bind, how they bring torches to the tortured, how they behead? But all these are toys and a laughingstock compared with those punishments. For these punishments are temporary; but there the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched; for the body is incorruptible. But God forbid that we should learn these things by experience; may the fearful things stop at words for us; may we not be handed over to those torturers, but be brought to our senses here. How much shall we say then, accusing ourselves, … with no profit any longer; since neither can sailors help at all once the ship has broken up and sunk, nor physicians once the patient has died. They will often say, “This and that should have been done,” but all idly and in vain. For while hopes from correction remain, one must say and do everything; but when we are no longer masters of anything, everything having been ruined, everything is said and done in vain. For the Jews too will say then, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”; but they will be able to gain nothing from this cry toward escaping punishment; for when they ought to have said it, they did not. So that we too may not suffer this in regard to our way of life, let us change from here and now, so that we may stand before the judgment seat of Christ with all boldness; which may we all obtain, by the grace and love for humankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, with whom be glory to the Father together with the Holy Spirit, and so on.