ACC ~ 1 Corinthians 9 v19 - 23

OVERVIEW:

Paul’s empathy for all was not a cheap pretense (AMBROSIASTER, CHRYSOSTOM, AUGUSTINE) but a sincere expression of his hope to save some (CHRYSOSTOM, CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA). Paul found in Christ the pattern of empathy (AMBROSE, CYRIL OF JERUSALEM). Each one becomes like those he helps when he mercifully grants them what he would desire in that situation (AUGUSTINE). The apostle who was free from all became voluntarily a slave to all (ORIGEN) for their salvation (AMBROSIASTER). Paul was content in time to share with the others the crowns laid up for them in eternity (CHRYSOSTOM). To be under the law of Christ (THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA) is to be under the law of God, because everything that is of Christ is of God (AMBROSIASTER).

9:19 | That I Might Win the More

FREE FROM ALL, SLAVE TO ALL. ORIGEN: The fact that he is completely free makes Paul the exemplary apostle. For it is possible to be free of immorality but a slave to anger, to be free of greed but a slave to boasting, to be free of one sin but a slave to another. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 3.43.1-5.

WANTING ONLY THEIR SALVATION. AMBROSIASTER: Paul is free from all human claims because he preached the gospel without getting any praise for it and never wanted anything from anyone, except their salvation. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

LOSING A PART TO GAIN ALL. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: So also the blessed Paul “became all things to all men,” not in order that he might gain some sort of advantage but that, with the loss of a part, he might gain all. LETTER 76.

9:20 | As One Under the Law

NOT A PRETENSE. AMBROSIASTER: Did Paul merely pretend to be all things to all men, in the way that flatterers do? No. He was a man of God and a doctor of the spirit who could diagnose every pain, and with great diligence he tended them and sympathized with them all. We all have something or other in common with everyone. This empathy is what Paul embodied in dealing with each particular person. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

NOT BEING UNDER THE LAW. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul did not become a Jew in reality but only in appearance. How could it have been otherwise, since he was so determined to convert them and deliver them from their predicament? HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 22.5.

NOT A DECEPTION. AUGUSTINE: Paul was not pretending to be what he is not but showing compassion. LETTER 82, TO JEROME.

THINKING SYMPATHETICALLY. AUGUSTINE: A person who nurses a sick man becomes, in a sense, sick himself, not by pretending to have a fever but by thinking sympathetically how he would like to be treated if he were sick himself. LETTER 75, TO JEROME.

9:21 | As One Outside the Law

UNDER THE LAW OF CHRIST. AMBROSIASTER: To be under the law of Christ is to be under the law of God, because everything which is of Christ is of God. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: Paul states, somewhat surprisingly, that he is under the law of Christ, lest anyone think that he is under the law of Moses. PAULINE COMMENTARY FROM THE GREEK CHURCH.

PUTTING ONESELF IN THE OTHER’S PLACE. AUGUSTINE: He did this by compassion, not by lying. For each one becomes like him whom he wants to help when such great mercy prevails as that each one would wish for himself if he were in the same misery. And so he becomes like the other—not by deceiving him but by putting himself in the other’s place. AGAINST LYING 12.

9:22a | Winning the Weak

NOT A LIE. AUGUSTINE: This is correctly interpreted to mean that he, not by lying but by sympathy, brought it about that he enabled their conversion by his own great love which made it seem as though he himself were afflicted with that evil of which he wished to heal them. ON LYING 21.

9:22b | Becoming All to All

CHRIST AS PATTERN OF EMPATHY. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM: Everywhere the Savior becomes “all things to all men.” To the hungry, bread; to the thirsty, water; to the dead, resurrection; to the sick, a physician; to sinners, redemption. SERMON ON THE PARALYTIC 10.

PAUL THE IMITATOR OF CHRIST. AMBROSE: He who did not think it robbery to be equal with God took the nature of a slave. He became all things to all men to bring salvation to all. Paul, an imitator of him, lived as if outside the law while remaining accountable to the law. He spent his life for the advantage of those he wished to win. He willingly became weak for the weak in order to strengthen them. He ran the race to overtake them. LETTER 54.

ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE. AMBROSIASTER: Paul became weak by abstaining from things which would scandalize the weak. COMMENTARY ON PAUL’S EPISTLES.

9:22c | Saving Some

TO SAVE SOME. CHRYSOSTOM: Paul became all things to all men, not in the expectation that he would win everybody but that he might save at least some. It was not possible for all the seed to be saved, but neither could it be that all of it should perish. Someone as ardently zealous as Paul was sure to have some success at least. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 22.5.

FOR THE SAKE OF THE GOSPEL. ORIGEN: Only someone as mature in faith as the apostle Paul could say this. A sinner could never talk in this way. COMMENTARY ON 1 CORINTHIANS 3.43.49-50.

CONTENT TO SHARE. CHRYSOSTOM: Do you perceive Paul’s humility, how in the recompense of rewards he places himself as one of the many, even though he had exceeded all the others in his labors? It is obvious that his reward would be greater also, but he does not attempt to claim the first prize. On the contrary, he is content simply to share with the others the crowns which are laid up for them. HOMILIES ON THE EPISTLES OF PAUL TO THE CORINTHIANS 22.5.