The salutation of Paul with my own hand, which is a sign in every epistle: so I write.
All Commentaries on 2 Thessalonians 3:17 Go To 2 Thessalonians 3
John Chrysostom
AD 407
This he says that he writes in every Epistle, that no one may be able to counterfeit them, his subscription being subjoined as a great token. And he calls the prayer a salutation, showing that everything they then did was spiritual; even when it was proper to offer salutation, the thing was attended with advantage; and it was prayer, not merely a symbol of friendship. With this he began, and with it he ended, guarding with strong walls what he had said elsewhere, and laying safe foundations, he brought it also to a safe end. Grace be unto you and peace, he says; and again, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. This the Lord also promised, saying to His disciples, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Matthew 28:20 But this takes place when we are willing. For He will not be altogether with us, if we place ourselves at a distance. I will be with you, He says, always. Let us not therefore drive away grace. He tells us to withdraw from every brother that walks disorderly. This was then a great evil, to be separated from the whole body of the brethren. By this indeed he punishes all, as elsewhere in his Epistle to the Corinthians he said, With such a one no, not to eat. 1 Corinthians 5:11 But now the majority do not think this a great evil. But all things are confounded and corrupted. With adulterers, with fornicators, with covetous persons, we mix freely, and as a matter of course. If we ought to withdraw ourselves from one who was only supported in idleness, how much more from the others. And that you may know how fearful a thing it was to be separated from the company of the brethren, and what advantage it produces to those who receive reproof with a right mind, hear how that man, who was puffed up with sin, who had proceeded to the extreme of wickedness, who had committed such fornication as is not named even among the heathens, who was insensible of his wound— for this is the excess of perversion— he after all, though such an one, was so bent down and humbled that Paul said, Sufficient to such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the many. Wherefore confirm your love toward him. 2 Corinthians 2:6-8 For as a member separated from the rest of the body, so was he at that time.
But the cause, and that from which this was then so terrible, was, because even the being with them was thought by them a great blessing. For like men who inhabit one house, and are under one father, and partake of one table, so did they then dwell in every Church. How great an evil therefore was it to fall from so great love! But now it is not even thought to be a great evil, because neither is it considered any great thing when we are united with one another. What was then in the order of punishment, this, on account of the great coldness of love, now takes place even apart from punishment, and we withdraw from one another causelessly, and from coldness. For it is the cause of all evils that there is no love. This has dissolved all ties, and has disfigured all that was venerable and splendid in the Church, in which we ought to have gloried.
Great is the confidence of the Teacher, when from his own good actions he is entitled to reprove his disciples. Wherefore also Paul said, For yourselves know how you ought to imitate us. 2 Thessalonians 3:7 And he ought to be a Teacher more of life than of the word. And let no one think that this is said from a spirit of boasting. For it was as reduced to necessity that he spoke it, and with a view to general advantage. For we behaved not ourselves, he says, disorderly among you. From this do you not see his humility, in that he calls it, for nought, and disorderly behavior? We did not behave ourselves disorderly among you, he says, neither did we eat any man's bread for nought. Here he shows that perhaps also they were poor; and tell me not, that they were poor. For he is discoursing concerning the poor, and those who obtained their necessary subsistence from no other source than from the work of their hands. For he has not said, that they may have it from their fathers, but that by working they should eat their own bread. For if I, he says, a herald of the word of doctrine, was afraid to burden you, much more he who does you no service. For this is truly a burden. And it is a burden too, when one does not give with much alacrity; but this is not what he hints at, but as if they were not able to do it easily. For why do you not work? For God has given you hands for this purpose, not that you should receive from others, but that you should impart to others.
