ACC ~ 2 Timothy 4 v8

REJOICE! CHRYSOSTOM: You should not grieve that I shall depart, to be invested with that crown which will by Christ be placed upon my head. But if I continued here, truly you might rather grieve and fear lest I should fail and perish. HOMILIES ON 1 TIMOTHY 9.

THE MARTYR’S STRUGGLE. CHRYSOSTOM: The martyr’s own struggles surpass our mortal nature. The prizes they won go beyond our powers and understanding. They laughed at the life lived on earth. They trampled underfoot the punishment of the rack. They scorned death and took wing to heaven. They escaped from the storms of temporal things and sailed into a calm harbor. They brought with them no gold or silver or expensive garments. They carried along no treasure which could be plundered but the riches of patience, courage and love. Now they belong to Paul’s choral band while they still await their crowns, because they have escaped henceforth the uncertainty of the future. DISCOURSES AGAINST JUDAIZING CHRISTIANS 6.1.

THE JUST JUDGE. THEODORET OF CYR: He calls the “crown of righteousness” that which has been prepared for the righteous, which is given by a just sentence. When? On that day. By whom? By the just judge. I have known him as just; I have known him as the judge. I trust in his judgment. I look for a sentence. In this way Paul offers consolation to all children of faith. INTERPRETATION OF THE SECOND LETTER TO TIMOTHY.

THE FINAL DISPENSATION. AMBROSE: While we await the fullness of time, the souls await their due reward. Some await punishment and others glory. And yet in the meantime the one group is not without harm nor the other without gain. For the former will be dismayed upon seeing that the reward of glory has been stored up for those who keep the law of God, that the chambers of those souls are being preserved by the angels, that shame and ruin will be the punishments of their negligence and rebellion, so that they may gaze on the glory of the Most High and blush to come into his sight, for they have profaned his commandments. DEATH AS A GOOD 10.47.

LOOKING FOR THE CROWN. AUGUSTINE: I have received the letter of your Reverence in which you urge on us the great good of loving and longing for the coming of our Savior. In this you act like the good servant of the master of the household who is eager for his lord’s gain and who wishes to have many sharers in the love which burns so brightly and constantly in you. Examining, therefore, the passage you quoted from the apostle where he said that the Lord would render a crown of justice not only to him but to all who love his coming, we live as uprightly as he and we pass through this world as pilgrims while our heart constantly expands with this love, and whether he comes sooner or later than he is expected, his coming is loved with faithful charity and longed for with pious affection. LETTERS 199.1.1.

GOD’S GENEROSITY THE KEY. CASSIODORUS: The holy man demands judgment because he is certain of the Lord’s mercy. As Paul has it: “As to the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge, will render to me in that day.” He walks in his innocence because … he puts his trust in the Lord. The presumption he shows is not in his own powers but in God’s generosity. EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 25.1.