ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 4 v1 - 5

OVERVIEW:

Paul defended himself against the unreasonable blame of others without pretending to be utterly blameless (IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, ORIGEN, CHRYSOSTOM). He knew that he was unable to judge himself rightly but that God knew his heart (CHRYSOSTOM, THEODORET OF CYR). The timing of the verdict on our moral failures is for the final judge to say, not for us to preempt (AMBROSIASTER, THEODORET OF CYR). God who sees into our secret depths (CHRYSOSTOM) does not focus upon incidentals. The servant of Christ will read the Scriptures carefully, but the steward of the mysteries of God will plumb their depths (ORIGEN). The mysteries of God are not to be offered indiscriminately, but only to those prepared for them and to whom they are due (CHRYSOSTOM). We are called to be trustworthy stewards like the apostles (ORIGEN, AMBROSIASTER), ministering faithfully what has been entrusted to us (CHRYSOSTOM, AMBROSE).

4:1 | Servants of Christ

STEWARD OF THE MYSTERIES. ORIGEN: There is a big difference between being a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God. Anyone who has read the Bible can be a servant of Christ, but to be a steward of the mysteries one must plumb their depths. Paul was acting as a steward of the mysteries when he commissioned Luke, for example, to write his Gospel, and when he sent Timothy to sort out the Ephesian church. I would even dare to say that in Corinth Paul acted like a servant of Christ, whereas in Ephesus he became a steward of the mysteries of God. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.10-16.

IN ACCORD WITH THE APOSTLES. AMBROSIASTER: Paul says this because some of the Corinthians were denigrating him. He did not preach anything different from the apostles. By calling himself a servant of Christ and a steward of the mysteries of God, Paul implicitly points out who the false apostles are. He denies that what they preach is of Christ, because it is not in accord with apostolic tradition. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

MYSTERIES NOT GIVEN INDISCRIMINATELY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul honors the Corinthians by calling them servants and makes this even more precise when he adds the term stewards. For we should not give the mysteries of God indiscriminately to everyone, but only to those to whom they are due and to whom it is right that we should minister. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.5.

4:2 | Stewards Must Be Trustworthy

TRUSTWORTHY STEWARDS. ORIGEN: If Paul can say this of people like himself, Peter and Apollos, how much more will it be true of us? We ought to be on our guard to make sure that we are found to be trustworthy stewards. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.25-27.

ENTRUSTED BY THE MASTER. CHRYSOSTOM: A steward’s duty is to administer well the things that have been entrusted to him. The things of the master’s are not the stewards but the reverse—what is his really belongs to his master. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 10.5.

WHAT YOU HAVE IS FROM GOD. AMBROSE: As you receive everything, call upon God for everything. What you have is from God. Always acknowledge that you are his debtor. ON THEODOSIUS 22.

SAFEKEEPING THE DEPOSIT. THEODORET OF CYR: No banker plays fast and loose with other people’s deposits. Rather he looks after them in order to keep them safe for the one who has entrusted them to him. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 188.

4:3 | Human Judgment a Small Thing

HIS CLEAR CONSCIENCE. AMBROSIASTER: It is obvious that Paul was not worried about himself because he had a clear conscience. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HIS RELUCTANCE TO JUDGE HIMSELF. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul says this not to exalt himself but to humble others who were getting too full of themselves. Paul says that he would not even presume to judge himself, because he is not capable of making an adequate assessment. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.2.

EXAGGERATION AND CONDEMNATION. THEODORET OF CYR: Paul accuses the Corinthians of two things. First, they exaggerate their praise, and second, they condemn others when they have no right to judge. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 186.

4:4 | The Lord Judges

NOT ACQUITTED. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH: Through the wrongdoings of others I become a better disciple, but I am not thereby acquitted. EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS 5.

UNAWARE OF ANYTHING AGAINST HIMSELF. ORIGEN: Paul knew that even if his heart was still prone to sin, his deeds were upright. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.49-51.

BLAMING UNREASONABLY. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul may have committed certain sins without knowing that they are sins. His purpose here is not to say that he is blameless but to stop the mouths of those who were blaming him unreasonably. God is our judge, because only he knows for sure what is going on in our hearts. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.3.

UNABLE TO JUDGE MYSELF. THEODORET OF CYR: If I am unable to judge myself, how shall I presume to judge others? COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 187.

4:5 | Commendation from God

WHAT REACHES GOD’S EARS. ORIGEN: Why does Paul mention only commendation from God and say nothing about condemnation? The reason seems to be that only that which is commendable will reach God’s ears; the rest will be passed over in silence. I would even go so far as to say that it is God who receives the commendable things we have done, whereas the rest goes straight to the devil. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 2.18.106-12.

DO NOT PRONOUNCE JUDGMENT BEFORE THE TIME. AMBROSIASTER: God will judge in his own good time. A judge is insulted if a servant presumes to pronounce a verdict before the judge makes the decision known. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

GOD KNOWS OUR HEARTS. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is not talking here about those sins that we all recognize and confess as such. Rather he is speaking about preferring one person before another and making invidious comparisons of moral behaviors. Only God, who knows all our secret doings, can judge that sort of thing with accuracy. Only he knows what is more and what is less worthy of punishment. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.3.

THE IDENTITY OF THE CORINTHIANS 1 CORINTHIANS 4:6-13

OVERVIEW: Paul was gentle when the situation called for gentleness but firm when firmness was required (CHRYSOSTOM). The pettiness of the Corinthian quarrelers is contrasted with Paul, who in wrestling with spiritual wickedness became a spectacle to the world (AMBROSE), to angels (THEODORET OF CYR) and to humans. The faithful everywhere are ready to suffer without despair or anger, returning good for evil, bearing insults meekly that they might grow in patience (CHRYSOSTOM). All that the Corinthians had, they had received as a gift (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM), and so they should not boast (AUGUSTINE).

4:6 | Applied for Their Benefit

APPLYING TACT. CHRYSOSTOM: As long as there was a need for expressions as harsh as these, Paul refrained from drawing up the curtain and went on arguing as if he himself were the person to whom they were addressed. But when the time came to be gentler, he tore the curtain away and revealed who the people were whom he had concealed under the names of Paul and Apollos. This was not hypocrisy but gentleness and tact. For if he had said openly that the men whom the Corinthians were attacking were saints, they might have taken it badly. But by first humbling himself he gained their attention and respect. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.1.

4:7 | Receiving a Gift

EVERYTHING IS A GIFT. AMBROSIASTER: Paul wrote this to people who thought that it was better to be baptized by some people rather than by others, who had been led astray by their eloquence and who by some trick believed that perverse teachings were right. In fact, everything these people had they had received from the apostle. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

YOU HAVE RECEIVED. CHRYSOSTOM: By showing that they have received all that they have from someone else, Paul points out the deficiencies of the Corinthians, which were not few in number. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 9.3-4.

BOASTING AS IF IT WERE NOT A GIFT. AUGUSTINE: The people who boast imagine that they are justified by their own efforts, and therefore they glory in themselves, not in the Lord. LETTER TO VALENTINE.

4:8 | Would That You Did Reign!

THE REPRIMAND. CHRYSOSTOM: Arguments like these, which appeal to our sense of shame, have two advantages. On the one hand, they cut deeper than open invective would ever do. On the other hand, they cause the person reprimanded to bear that deeper wound with greater patience. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 12.4.

4:9 | The Apostles Have Become a Spectacle

A SPECTACLE. AMBROSE: Paul was worthy to be watched by angels as he strove to win the prize of Christ, as he struggled to establish the life of angels on earth and confound the wickedness of angels in heaven. For he wrestled with spiritual wickedness. Rightly did the world watch him, to follow his example. EPISCOPAL ELECTION AT VERCELLAE 63.71.

THE CONTRAST WITH PETTINESS. CHRYSOSTOM: From the things by which he vilifies himself, Paul shows us how great he is. From the things that make the Corinthians proud he displays their littleness. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 12.6.

WHY THE ANGELS MARVEL. THEODORET OF CYR: The angels marvel at the apostles’ fortitude. As for human beings, some rejoice in the apostles’ afflictions, while others are moved to pity but have no help to offer. COMMENTARY ON THE FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS 189.

4:10 | Fools for Christ’s Sake

FOOLS FOR CHRIST. AMBROSIASTER: Those who love Christ are fools as far as the world is concerned. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

HELD IN DISREPUTE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul said these things in order to provoke the Corinthians to consider that they should zealously seek to emulate the apostles in their dangers and their indignities, not in their honors and glories. For it is the former, not the latter, that the gospel requires. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 13.1.

4:11 | Physical Deprivations

THE CONSTANT RISK OF THE ATHLETE. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is talking about the present as much as about the past, because the Christian must always be living in this way, and not just occasionally. The wrestler may be crowned after a single victory, but if he then goes on to lose, he will not be crowned a second time. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 13.2.

4:12 | Suffering and Endurance

SUFFERING WITHOUT ANGER. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul is saying that the main point is not that he and his fellow apostles are suffering, for that is common to all. What is unique about them is that they are suffering without despair or anger. On the contrary, they are full of rejoicing, and they prove it by returning good for the evil they receive. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 13.2.

4:13 | Returning Good for Evil

SILENCE, NOT REPROACH. CHRYSOSTOM: Christ commanded us to bear insults meekly, both so that we might grow in virtue ourselves and that we might put our adversaries to shame. That effect is best produced not by reproach but by silence. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 13.2.