Charles Ellicott Commentary 2 Timothy 2:20

"Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor." — 2 Timothy 2:20 (ASV)

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver.—The Apostle continues with the same thought of the “Church of God on earth,” but he changes the imagery. He has been speaking of this Church as the “foundation-story that cannot be moved” of a still more glorious edifice. He now, as it were, answers a question that would naturally occur to Timothy and to many a devout reader or hearer of the Epistle when they came to this part of the argument.

How is it, then, one would ask, that in this visible Church on earth there are so many unworthy members? How is it that in this changeless, abiding foundation of the great Temple of the future, against which all earthly storms may beat, and yet never shake its massive stories, so many useless crumbling stones are taken for the building?

In a great house, argues St. Paul—still thinking of the Church, but changing the foundation image for that of a great house—are always found two distinct kinds of vessels: the precious and enduring, and also the comparatively valueless and lasting for but a little while. The first kind are destined for honour, the second for dishonour.

In St. Paul’s mind, when he wrote these words, the natural sequel to his far-reaching and suggestive comparison of the “foundation” (2 Timothy 2:19) were the words of his Master, who had once compared His Church to a drag-net of wide sweep, including in its take something of every kind out of the vast sea-world.

The “net”—His Church—was to gather and to hold in its meshes its great take: the good and the bad, the useful and the useless—till the end of the world.

So St. Paul writes how in a great house there must be these varieties of vessels: some for honour, others for dishonour. By these vessels, the genuine and spurious members of the Church are represented as forming two distinct classes. In these classes, different degrees of honour and dishonour also exist: the vessels of gold and silver, the vessels of wood and of earth.

To Timothy, these comparisons would immediately suggest the true and false teachers in his Church at Ephesus; but the reference is a far broader one and includes all members of the Church of Christ.

The enduring nature of the metals gold and silver is contrasted with the perishable nature of the other materials, wood and earth. The former will remain a part of the Church forever; the latter will only endure until the end of the world.