Paul’s Third Visit to Corinth

Approaching the end of his second canonical letter to the church at Corinth, Paul seeks to prepare them for his coming visit. He has hinted at this upcoming visit earlier in the epistle (2 Cor. 2:3; 9:4), but in today’s passage he makes explicit that he will see the Corinthians again sometime after they receive the letter he is presently writing.

This will be Paul’s third visit to Corinth, occurring after his first visit when he planted the church and the second impromptu visit that had fractured his relationship with the Corinthians (12:14; see Acts 8:1–17; 2 Cor. 2:1). Moreover, as with his previous visits, Paul says that he will not be a burden to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:14). This is a reference to his commitment not to ask the Corinthian church for financial support but to earn his own living by tentmaking (Acts 18:1–3) and to receive monetary assistance from other churches (2 Cor. 11:8). Recall that Paul’s turning down support from the Corinthians and proclaiming the gospel to them for free was a point of tension between Paul and the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9; 2 Cor. 11:7). Lest they think that the Apostle has changed his mind on the subject, he makes sure to tell them that he will continue to reject their assistance. Paul’s special relationship to the Corinthians motivates this decision, for he saw himself as their spiritual father (1 Cor. 4:15). Just as it is right for parents to set aside money for their children’s inheritance and not for children to save to give their parents an inheritance, so does Paul not accept financial assistance from the Corinthians (2 Cor. 12:14). Let us note once more that this is not a rule for all those who labor in full-time ministry, for Paul teaches elsewhere that the church should pay its pastors. Yet, he had freely chosen not to lay this obligation on the Corinthians (1 Cor. 9).

Instead of the Corinthians’ having to spend money to support him, Paul says that he will gladly spend and be spent for the sake of the Corinthians’ souls as a tangible expression of his love for them (2 Cor. 12:15). He refers here to his hard labor in ministry for the good of the church in Corinth. John Calvin comments that in this, Paul sets an example for all pastors after him. “Paul, however, does not here speak of himself, merely that we may admire him, but that we may, also, imitate him. Let all pastors, therefore, learn from this, what they owe to their churches.”