Thomas Aquinas Commentary 2 Corinthians 2:12-17

"Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of Christ, and when a door was opened unto me in the Lord, I had no relief for my spirit, because I found not Titus my brother: but taking my leave of them, I went forth into Macedonia. But thanks be unto God, who always leadeth us in triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest through us the savor of his knowledge in every place. For we are a sweet savor of Christ unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish; to the one a savor from death unto death; to the other a savor from life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as the many, corrupting the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God, speak we in Christ." — 2 Corinthians 2:12-17 (ASV)

Having given the first reason for his delay—that he might avoid coming to them in sadness—the Apostle now gives the second reason: the fruit he was producing elsewhere. In this regard, he does two things: first, he mentions his travels; second, their result (2 Corinthians 2:14). Regarding his travels, he first mentions the obstacle he met at Troas, and second, his journey into Macedonia (2 Corinthians 2:13b).

He says, therefore: When I came to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ, that is, to preach Christ (compare to John 15:16: “But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit”), a door was opened for me. This means people’s minds were prepared and disposed to receive the words of preaching and Christ, as in 1 Corinthians 16:9, “for a wide door for effective work has opened to me,” and Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock.”

This opening was not in just anyone, but in the Lord, because the preparation of the human mind is accomplished by God’s power. For although the ease with which minds are prepared is a cause of conversion, God is the cause of that ease and preparation: “Convert us to yourself, O Lord, that we may be converted” (Lamentations 5:21, Vulgate).

When this door was opened for me in the Lord, Paul says, my spirit could not rest. This means he was unable to do what his spirit prompted him to do. For the spirit is said to have rest when it achieves what it desires, just as the flesh is said to rest when it has what it wants: “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease” (Luke 12:19). The Apostle does not say he had no rest in his flesh or body, but in his spirit—that is, in his spiritual will, which is to establish Christ in human hearts. He was hindered because he saw hearts that were prepared and disposed, yet he was unable to preach to them.

He then explains why his spirit had no rest, adding, because I did not find my brother Titus there. The reason was Titus’s absence, and this for two reasons. First, although the Apostle knew all their languages, so that he could say, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all” (1 Corinthians 14:18), he was more skilled in Hebrew than in Greek, while Titus was more skilled in Greek. Therefore, Paul wanted him to be present to preach in Troas. Because Titus was absent—for the Corinthians had detained him—Paul says his spirit could not rest.

However, the second reason is better. Since God’s gifts are not incomplete, and the gift of tongues was given to the apostles specifically for preaching throughout the world (as in Psalm 19:4, “Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world”), there must be more to it. The better reason is that many tasks remained for the Apostle in Troas. On the one hand, he had to preach to those prepared to receive Christ by faith; on the other, he had to resist the adversaries who opposed him. Because he could not do these things alone, he was grieved by Titus’s absence. Titus could have focused on preaching and converting the receptive, while the Apostle withstood their opponents.

Paul takes pains to write this to the Corinthians to suggest that they were responsible for both reasons for his delay. Because of their hardness and quarreling, they had detained Titus for a long time. Hence he says, because I did not find my brother Titus there—his brother in Christ and his co-worker: “A brother helped is like a strong city” (Proverbs 18:19).

Because he did not find Titus in Troas, Paul did not stay there. He says, I took leave of them—that is, those who were converted and in whom a door had been opened—and I went on to Macedonia, where he expected to find him. The reason for going to Macedonia is also given in Acts 16:9, which says: “A man of Macedonia was standing beseeching him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’”

Then, with the words, But thanks be to God, Paul describes the progress of his journey. He does two things: first, he describes the nature of his progress; second, he contrasts the false apostles with that progress (2 Corinthians 2:16b). Regarding the first point, he first alludes to the progress he made and second, explains something he had said (2 Corinthians 2:15).

It should be noted that the Apostle did not attribute the progress and fruit he had produced to himself or his own power, but to God. (Compare 1 Corinthians 15:10: “On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God which is with me.”) This aligns with his own commands: “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thessalonians 5:18), and “Always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Ephesians 5:20).

Paul says it is God who in Christ always leads us in triumph, which means God makes them triumph in preaching Christ against their adversaries. Preachers of the truth must do two things: exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it. They do this by debating with heretics and by patiently enduring persecutors. The Apostle touches on these in order. He says God leads us in triumph, which relates to contradicting opponents (Romans 8:37: “We are more than conquerors”; 1 Maccabees 3:19: “It is not on the size of the army that victory in battle depends, but strength comes from Heaven”). He then says God spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere, which relates to exhorting in sound doctrine.

A gloss explains the fragrance of the knowledge of him as knowledge of his Son. However, it is better to understand this phrase as distinguishing the knowledge of God obtained by faith from that obtained through other sciences. The knowledge of God from other sciences only enlightens the intellect, showing that God is the first cause, that He is one, wise, and so on. But the knowledge of God from faith both enlightens the intellect and stirs the affections. It reveals not only that God is the first cause, but that He is our Savior and Redeemer, that He loves us, and that He became incarnate for us—all of which inflame the heart. Therefore, the phrase the fragrance of the knowledge of him should be understood as the knowledge of His sweetness, which He spreads everywhere to those who believe, for that fragrance is spread far and wide: “Like a vine I cause loveliness to bud” ; “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed” (Genesis 27:27).

Some might ask, “How can this be the fragrance of God in every place? For there are many places where our preaching is not accepted.” The Apostle essentially answers that whether people accept the preaching or not, the knowledge of God is made manifest everywhere through the apostles. This is because we are the aroma of Christ to God—that is, to the honor of God. He says this using an analogy from the Law, where a sacrifice is described as the sweetest fragrance to God. It is as if Paul is saying: “We are a burnt offering presented to God, a fragrance of sweetness both among those who are being saved (a gift which is from God, so that they might not perish) and among those who are perishing (a state which comes from themselves).” As it is written: “Destruction is your own, O Israel, your help is only in me” (Hosea 13:9, Vulgate).

But does this fragrance affect the good and the wicked in the same way? No. To the one, it is a fragrance from death to death. This refers to the envy and malice of those who resent the Apostle’s good reputation and fight against the preaching of Christ and the conversion of the faithful. This envy becomes the occasion for their eternal death, as in Luke 2:34: “This child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is spoken against.” To the other, it is a fragrance from life to life. This refers to the love and good opinion of those who rejoice and are converted by the Apostle’s preaching, which leads them to eternal life. As Paul also wrote, “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). Thus, from the Apostle’s fragrance, the good live and the wicked die, just as it is said that serpents die from the smell of flourishing vines.

When Paul asks, Who is sufficient for these things? he excludes the false apostles from this ministry. He is asking, “Which of those false apostles is sufficient for these things that we true apostles accomplish?” The implied answer is: “None.” (Compare Psalm 139:17, Vulgate: “But to me your friends, O God, are exceedingly honorable.”) On the other hand, Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

Gregory, in his commentary on Ezekiel, resolves this by explaining that the saints praise themselves for two reasons, neither of which is for their own glory or out of vanity. The first reason is to avoid despairing in tribulations. For example, when Job’s friends tried to make him despair, he recalled the good things he had done to comfort himself. Hence, he said, “I have made a covenant with my eyes; how then could I look upon a virgin?” (Job 31:1). We read of a holy father who, when tempted to despair, would recall his good deeds to find comfort; when tempted to pride, he would recall his sins to be humbled.

The second reason is for the benefit of others, so that the speaker might gain a greater reputation and his teaching be more readily believed. This is why the Apostle praises himself here. The Corinthians had preferred the false apostles to him and looked down on him, and as a result, they were not ready to obey him. Therefore, to ensure that they would obey him rather than disdain him, he presents himself as superior to them and praises himself, asking, Who is sufficient for these things? The answer is that the true apostles are, but not the false apostles, because they adulterate God’s word, which the true apostles do not.

Hence, Paul says, for we are not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word. The “so many” refers to the false apostles, who mix in contrary doctrines, just as heretics do who confess Christ but do not admit that He is true God. This is what the false apostles were doing when they said that the ceremonial laws of the Old Testament must be kept along with the Gospel. Paul calls them peddlers, or adulterers, of God’s word because they preach for personal gain or praise.

The analogy is this: women are called adulteresses when they receive seed from another man to conceive children. In preaching, the “seed” is your ultimate goal or intention. Therefore, if your goal is personal gain or your own glory, you adulterate God’s word. This is what the false apostles were doing. In contrast, Paul says, “We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God” (2 Corinthians 4:2). The true apostles preached neither for monetary gain nor for their own glory, but for the praise of God and the salvation of their neighbor. Thus, Paul adds, but as men of sincerity, meaning with a sincere intention—not for gain and without corrupting mixtures, as he says elsewhere: “We have behaved in the world, and still more toward you, with holiness and godly sincerity” (2 Corinthians 1:12).

The author points out three aspects of this sincerity. First, it relates to the dignity of the One who sent them. A messenger of the truth is expected to speak the truth, so Paul says they speak as commissioned by God—that is, with the sincerity that befits a messenger of God. (Compare 1 Peter 4:11: “Whoever speaks as one who utters oracles of God.”) Second, it relates to the authority of the One who presides, before whom they stand. Thus, they speak in the sight of God, in whose presence one must speak with sincerity, as Elijah did: “As the LORD the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand” (1 Kings 17:1). Third, it relates to the dignity of the subject matter. The apostles’ preaching is about Christ, so it must be sincere, just as Christ and God are sincere. Hence, Paul says, we speak in Christ alone, not mixing in the ceremonies of the Law as the false apostles do: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2).