2 Corinthians 7:13

2 Corinthians 7:13. Therefore we were comforted: and in our comfort we joyed the more exceedingly for the joy of Titus, because his spirit hath been refreshed by you all (as already stated, 2 Corinthians 7:7). The exuberance of feeling here can be explained only by a combination of things the extraordinary hold that this church of Corinth had taken upon his interest and affections, as in all its circumstances the most wonderful fruit which his apostolic labours had ever produced insomuch that he had held them up “boastingly” to other churches; the deep disappointment which divisions and disorders among themselves had occasioned; the heart-breaking distress and alarm for them which the breaking forth of old sensualities, and the manifestations of incipient scepticism on such vital matters as the resurrection, had caused; the feverish anxiety with which he awaited the arrival of Titus, to know whether his sharp letter to them had been well or ill taken; and now, the fact that not only had the effect of his Epistle far exceeded his expectation, but that Titus himself had come to him brimful of the comfort he had had in them and the delightful fellowship he had enjoyed amongst them.