2 Corinthians 2:12–13

2 CORINTHIANS CHAPTER 2

Paul’s Triumph in Christ, 2 Cor. 2, 12–17.

V.12. Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s Gospel, and a door was opened unto me of the Lord, v.13. I had no rest in my spirit because I found not Titus, my brother; but taking my leave of them, I went from thence into Macedonia.

Paul here returns to the description of his own spiritual condition at the time when he wrote the first epistle, and when he started upon his journey to Macedonia. He had reached the city of Troas in Mysia, on the Aegean Sea, where he, on his second missionary journey, had had the vision calling him over to Europe, Acts 16, 8-11.

But although he had come there for the purposes of the Gospel of Christ, with the intention of preaching the Gospel, and although the door of opportunity was opened to him in the Lord, he would have found sufficient occasion to be active in the sphere which was so dear to him, yet he had no rest in his spirit, he could not shake off the uneasiness which prevented his working.

He was laboring under such a strain of anxiety that he could not perform his duties as in other places, the chief reason for this condition being that he did not find Titus in Troas as he had expected. Titus was to bring him the information concerning the situation in Corinth, and he had hoped to meet him in the port.

So his increasing restlessness, his worry about the congregation at Corinth, caused him to take his leave of the brethren in Troas, who, in spite of their eagerness to have the beloved apostle in their midst, respected his impatience. Thus he had come to Macedonia, where he was writing this present letter.

Note: The fact that Paul, although an inspired apostle of the Lord and teacher of the Christian Church of all times, was yet subject to temptations, to periods of oppression of spirit and despondency, is a comfort to us, urging us to be strong in the midst of similar attacks of weakness.