A fourth hardship and the apostle's twofold encouragement
Chrysostom is listing the hardships the apostles faced in training new converts, and now explains how Paul encouraged them by his own sufferings and by the resurrection.
And there was a fourth hardship as well: the inexperience of those who were about to contend in this great contest. The apostles did not receive people who had inherited piety from their ancestors, but people raised in laziness, luxury, drunkenness, shamefulness, and licentiousness. And this was no small obstacle to the contests—that they had not been trained in this philosophy from the beginning or from their ancestors, but were now for the first time stripping for these contests.
Since the difficulty for those contending then was so great, Paul comforted their labor by constantly stirring up the word about the resurrection. And he urges on and anoints the athletes not only by this, but also by recounting his own sufferings. So before he enters into the words about the resurrection, he recounts his own sufferings, saying: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Through these words he reveals his daily deaths—that they went about like living corpses, handed over to death every day.
So when the things brought against them were at their height, then he stirs up the word about the resurrection: “For we believe,” he says, “that He who raised our Lord Jesus Christ will also raise us through Jesus and present us with you. Therefore we do not lose heart” (2 Corinthians 4:14). Having the greatest comfort in their contests: the hope of what is to come. And he did not say to them, “Therefore do not lose heart.” What then? “Therefore we do not lose heart,” showing that he himself was also constantly in the contests. For in the Olympic contests, the athlete contends inside while the trainer sits far off and brings help through words, contributing only as much to the wrestler as shouting and calling out can do. No law permits the trainer to stand near and bring the aid of his hands. But in the contests of piety it is not so: the same person is at once trainer and athlete. Therefore he does not sit outside the wrestling ground, but has thrown himself into the contests themselves and anoints those boxing alongside him, saying, “Therefore we do not lose heart.” And he did not say, “Therefore I do not lose heart,” but “Therefore we do not lose heart,” wanting to raise them up with praises of them.
“But even if our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16). See the apostle’s wisdom. He urged them on from what they suffered: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed.” He urged them on from the resurrection of Jesus, saying, “He who raised Jesus will also raise us.” Then he stirs up yet another kind of comfort. Since many people are small-souled, weak, and miserable, even if they are persuaded about the resurrection they grow discouraged at the length of time, grow dizzy, and collapse. So Paul gives them another reward and recompense before the resurrection. What is it? “Even if our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” He calls the body the outer self, and the soul the inner self. What he says is this: even before the resurrection, even before you enjoy the glory to come, you have already received no small reward for your labors from this present time—in the very affliction your soul is renewed, becoming wiser and more reverent, gaining greater endurance, becoming more vigorous and more powerful.
Greek
Προσῆν δέ τι καὶ τέταρτον, ἡ ἀπειρία τῶν μελλόντων ἀγωνίζεσθαι τὸν μέγαν τοῦτον ἀγῶνα. Οὐ γὰρ ἐκ προγόνων τὴν εὐσέβειαν διαδεξαμένους τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ἔλαβον οἱ ἀπόστολοι, ἀλλ' ἐν βλακείᾳ καὶ τρυφῇ καὶ μέθῃ καὶ αἰσχρότητι καὶ ἀκολασίᾳ τραφέντας. Οὐ μικρὸν δὲ τοῦτο εἰς δυσκολίαν τῶν ἀγώνων ἦν, τὸ μὴ ἄνωθεν, μηδὲ ἐκ προγόνων ταύτην πεπαιδεῦσθαι τὴν φιλοσοφίαν, ἀλλὰ νῦν πρῶτον πρὸς τοὺς ἀγῶνας ἀποδύεσθαι τούτους. γʹ. Ἐπεὶ οὖν τοσαύτη ἦν ἡ δυσκολία τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις τότε, παραμυθούμενος αὐτῶν τὸν πόνον συνεχῶς τὸν περὶ ἀναστάσεως ἐκίνει λόγον. Καὶ οὐ ταύτῃ προτρέπει μόνον καὶ ἀλείφει τοὺς ἀθλητὰς, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῇ διηγήσει τῶν οἰκείων παθῶν. Διόπερ πρὶν ἐμπεσεῖν εἰς τοὺς περὶ ἀναστάσεως λόγους, τὰ αὑτοῦ πάθη διηγεῖται, λέγων οὕτως· Ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι· ἀπορούμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξαπορούμενοι· διωκόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐγκαταλιμπανόμενοι· καταβαλλόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἀπολλύμενοι· διὰ τούτων τοὺς καθημερινοὺς θανάτους δηλῶν, ὅτι καθάπερ ἔμψυχοι νεκροὶ περιῄεσαν εἰς θάνατον παραδιδόμενοι καθ' ἡμέραν. Ὅτε τοίνυν ἃ πρὸς αὐτοὺς ἐπήγοντο, τότε τὸν περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως κινεῖ λόγον· Πιστεύομεν γὰρ, φησὶν, ὅτι ὁ ἐγείρας τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν, καὶ ἡμᾶς διὰ Ἰησοῦ ἐγερεῖ καὶ παραστήσει σὺν ὑμῖν. Διὸ οὐκ ἐκκακοῦμεν, μεγίστην παράκλησιν ἔχοντες ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσι, τὴν τῶν μελλόντων ἐλπίδα. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτούς· Διὸ μὴ ἐκκακεῖτε· ἀλλὰ τί; Διὸ οὐκ ἐκκακοῦμεν, δεικνὺς καὶ αὑτὸν ἐν τοῖς ἀγῶσιν ὄντα διηνεκῶς. Ἐπὶ μὲν γὰρ τῶν Ὀλυμπιακῶν ἀγώνων, ὁ μὲν ἀθλητὴς ἔνδον ἀγωνίζεται, ὁ δὲ παιδοτρίβης πόῤῥω καθήμενος, τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων εἰσάγει βοήθειαν, τοσοῦτον συντελῶν τῷ παλαίοντι μόνον, ὅσον βοῆσαι καὶ φθέγξασθαι· παραστῆναι δὲ ἐγγὺς, καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν χειρῶν συμμαχίαν εἰσενεγκεῖν οὐδεὶς ἐπιτρέπει νόμος αὐτῷ. Ἐπὶ δὲ τῶν τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγώνων οὐχ οὕτως, ἀλλ' ὁμοῦ καὶ παιδοτρίβης ἐστὶ καὶ ἀθλητὴς ὁ αὐτός. Διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ σκάμματος καθήμενος, ἀλλ' εἰς αὐτοὺς ἐμβεβληκὼς τοὺς ἀγῶνας, ἀλείφει τοὺς μετ' αὐτοῦ πυκτεύοντας, λέγων· Διὸ οὐκ ἐκκακοῦμεν. Καὶ οὐκ εἶπε, Διὸ οὐκ ἐκκακῶ, ἀλλὰ, Διὸ οὐκ ἐκκακοῦμεν, τοῖς ἐγκωμίοις αὐτοὺς ἀναστῆσαι βουλόμενος. Ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ ὁ ἔξω ἄνθρωπος ἡμῶν διαφθείρεται, ἀλλ' ὁ ἔσω ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ. Ὅρα σύνεσιν ἀποστολικήν. Προέτρεψεν αὐτοὺς ἀφ' ὧν ἔπασχον, ὅτι Ἐν παντὶ θλιβόμενοι, ἀλλ' οὐ στενοχωρούμενοι· προέτρεψεν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, εἰπὼν, Ὅτι ὁ ἐγείρας τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ ἡμᾶς ἐγερεῖ. Εἶτα καὶ ἕτερόν τινα κινεῖ παρακλήσεως τρόπον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ οἱ πολλοὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μικρόψυχοί τινες ὄντες καὶ ἀσθενεῖς καὶ ταλαίπωροι, κἂν πεπεισμένοι περὶ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ὦσιν, ὀλιγωροῦσι πρὸς τὸ μῆκος τοῦ χρόνου καὶ ἰλιγγιῶσι καὶ ἀναπίπτουσι, καὶ ἕτερον αὐτοῖς πρὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως δίδωσι μισθὸν καὶ ἀμοιβήν. Ποίαν δὴ ταύτην; Εἰ καὶ ὁ ἔξω ἡμῶν ἄνθρωπος διαφθείρεται, ἀλλ' ὁ ἔσω ἀνακαινοῦται ἡμέρᾳ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ· ἔξω ἄνθρωπον τὸ σῶμα καλῶν, ἔσω ἄνθρωπον τὴν ψυχὴν λέγων. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστι· Καὶ πρὶν ἀναστῆναι, καὶ πρὶν ἀπολαῦσαι τῆς δόξης τῆς μελλούσης, ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη τῶν πόνων οὐ μικρὰν ἀπείληφας τὴν ἀμοιβὴν, ἐν αὐτῷ τῷ θλίβεσθαι τῆς ψυχῆς ἡμῖν ἀνανεουμένης, σοφωτέρας γινομένης καὶ εὐλαβεστέρας, πλείονα κτωμένης ὑπομονὴν, εὐτονωτέρας καθισταμένης καὶ δυνατωτέρας.