The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Corinthians — Section 45

he had suffered most keenly, " Out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears." The great soul was not af1aid of words nor of the critics of words. He had a rare kind of courage. It was the bolJness to say how much he thought and how much he felt, and to send forth his words laden with the meanings they bad for him, that they might convey exactly those meanings to others. The love ,vas not overstated, for it was a father's love towards the children of his heart: " More abundantly unto you." Evidently his paramount aim is to assure the Corinthians of his warm affection for them. Other feelings are held in abeyance; no mention now ot suspicions, jealousies, backbitings, and other wrongs, by which he had been tortured• only the love, the impassioned love, he cherished for those whose sorrow and joy wer~ his sorrow and_joy. H~w naturall_y the way is prepared for what follows! "If any have caused grief [referrmg to the mcestuous person], he bath not grieved me, but in part, that I may not overcharge you all." The Revised Verson, " If any hath caused sorrow, he hath caused sorrow, not to me, but in part (that I press not too heavily) to you all." Conybeare and Howson, "A.s concerns him who has caused the pain it is not me that he has pained, but some of you (some, I say), that I may not pre;s too harshly upon alL" Many commentators read it thus: "If any have caused grief, he J,ath grieved not me, but more or less (that I be not too heavy on him) all of you." What is the point of interest is the light in which St. Paul now regarded the offender and the punishment inflicted upon him. Punishment had been punishment; it had expressed righteous indignat.ion, npheld official order, vindicated the holy authority of law. It had been effectual in bringing the flagrant sinner to repentance and had proved a warning to others. But were the effects to stop here ? A great work had beeu done and yet other results were possible-were most desirable. Precisely here the far- sighted wisdom of St. Paul attracts our admiration. Discipline of a mechanical or of a military kind is cheap enough. True reformatory and saving discipline is a costly t'iing, requiring forethought and afterthought, the looking" before and after," which has won its place among the aphorisms of statesmanship. Much fruit falls and rots just ae the ripening season approaches. Special care was needed, so the apostle argued, lest Satan should spoil the wholesome act in the sequel. "Sufficient to such a man is this puniBhment, which was inflicted of many." " Sufficient " leads the sentence. And the "many" has its weight, since in nothing is the power of the many so much felt as in condemnation. " There iB no oreature loves me, .And if I die, no soul shall pity me." This is Gloster perfected in King Richard. St. P11ul urges the forgiveness of this gross offender. On the contrary," Ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow." Make evident your love to him; so he beseeches them. If he is restored to their affection, this would prove that the Church was "obedient in all things." All through ho keeps the diITTlity and authority of the Church in commanding view, and, as ho had laid a most solemn duty on its conscience, so now he recognizes its high relationship in the matter of reconciliation. Would the brethren forgive him? So would he, and that too in the most impressive manner-" in the sight of Christ." The reaso11ing of tbe apostle at this point ought to make a most profound and lasting impression on Christian think_ers. Sincere motives and upright intentions do not always preserve good men from temble blunders in administering Church discipline. All unawares, the imagination e~ag- gerates, right foeling becomes jealous of itself, motives are looked at askance, a spunous consistency sets t1p its tyrannical claims, and, in no long time, law parts company with authority, and equity i6 crushed by justice. No attitude in which St. Paul appears before us is so finely characteristic of high manhood as when he pleads for extreme tLou"htfuluess and tender consideration in the use of legitimate power. Who ever ~ull"e~ed from the numberless forms of injllStice as he did? Who died daily as he did? 'l'he " beasts " at Ephesu8 were not merely Buch as do physical violence, but in their utter want of all moral sensibility to truth and right. Yet this was not the worst. A.sk a man who bas ha<l a large experience in public life what has occasioned him the greatest amount of vexation, and he will tell you that it was the misrepresentation and carping criticism and wilful littleneBS of spirit pursurng him continuolly which had most cu. II. 1-17.) THE SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS.