John Calvin Commentary 2 Corinthians 8:2

"how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality." — 2 Corinthians 8:2 (ASV)

In much trial — In other words, while they were tried with adversity, they nevertheless did not cease to rejoice in the Lord. Indeed, this disposition rose so high as to swallow up sorrow, for the minds of the Macedonians, which must otherwise have been constrained, needed to be set free from their restraints so that they might liberally provide aid to their fellow believers.

By the term joy, he means that spiritual consolation by which believers are sustained during their afflictions. For the wicked either delude themselves with empty consolations, by avoiding a perception of the evil and distracting their minds with wandering thoughts, or else they completely surrender to grief and allow themselves to be overwhelmed by it. Believers, on the other hand, seek occasions of joy in the affliction itself, as we see in Romans 8.

And their deep poverty. Here we have a metaphor taken from exhausted vessels, as if he had said that the Macedonians had been emptied, so that they had now reached the bottom. He says that even in such difficult circumstances, they had abounded in liberality and had been rich, so as to have enough—not merely for their own use, but also for giving assistance to others. Note the way we can always be liberal even in the most extreme poverty: if, by liberality of spirit, we compensate for what is lacking in our resources.

Liberality is opposed to stinginess, as in Romans 12:8, where Paul requires this from deacons. For what makes us more tight-fisted than we ought to be is this: we look too carefully and too far ahead when contemplating potential dangers; we are excessively cautious and careful; we calculate too narrowly what we will require for our entire life; or, in short, we fixate on how much we lose when the smallest portion is taken away.

The person who depends on the Lord’s blessing has their mind set free from these hindrances and, at the same time, has their hands opened for good deeds. Let us now draw an argument from the lesser to the greater. “Limited means, indeed poverty, did not prevent the Macedonians from doing good to their fellow believers. What excuse, then, will the Corinthians have if they hold back, while wealthy and prosperous in comparison with them?”