For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
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Ambrosiaster
AD 400
The servant sent by the Lord does what he has to do even if he is not willing, because if he does not do it he will suffer for it. Moses preached to Pharaoh even though he did not want to, and Jonah was forced to preach to the Ninevites. Commentary on Paul’s Epistles.
Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. It appears from this that strict injunctions were given to the Apostles (S. Matthew 28:19) to preach the Gospel and teach all nations, insomuch that, if they had neglected to do Song of Solomon , they would have sinned mortally. For on those that neglect this their duty he pronounces the woe of the wrath of God and of hell. By the same injunctions all pasters, Bishops, and Archbishops are now bound. Cf. chap. i17.
It is no glory. That is, I have nothing to glory of. (Challoner)
If I preach the gospel through compulsion, fear, or mere necessity, having no other means of maintenance, I must not look for a reward in heaven; but now doing it through charity and freely, I shall have my reward from God; and the more abundant the charity, the greater the reward. (St. Augustine, de Op. Mor. i. 5.)
What do you say? Tell me. If you preach the Gospel, it is nothing for you to glory of, but it is, if you make the Gospel of Christ without charge? Is this therefore greater than that? By no means; but in another point of view it has some advantage, inasmuch as the one is a command, but the other is a good deed of my own free-will: for what things are done beyond the commandment, have a great reward in this respect: but such as are in pursuance of a commandment, not so great: and so in this respect he says, the one is more than the other; not in the very nature of the thing. For what is equal to preaching; since it makes men vie even with the angels themselves. Nevertheless since the one is a commandment and a debt, the other a forwardness of free-will, in this respect this is more than that. Wherefore he says, explaining the same, what I just now mentioned:
For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward, but if not of my own will, a stewardship is entrusted to me; taking the words...
