12:14-15 Paul was about to return to Corinth another time, his "anticipated visit."283When he came, he planned to continue his same financial policy with them; he would remain financially independent of them (cf. 1 Cor. 9:15; 2 Cor. 11:9, 12). He wanted their welfare and their affection more than their money. His concerns were also their spiritual maturity (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-4) and their complete devotion to Christ (cf. 11:2-3).
As a general principle, parents (Paul) sacrifice for their children (the Corinthians), not the other way around. However in another sense children do have a responsibility to help their parents (cf. 1 Cor. 9:3-14; 1 Tim. 5:8). Parental responsibility is more basic, however, and this is what Paul stressed here. In family life parents sometimes refuse the support of their children, as Paul did of the Corinthians, if they feel that doing so is in their children's best interests. Paul planned to use all his resources to contribute to the Corinthians' welfare. Nevertheless he expected at least their love in return for doing so.
12:16-18 Whether the Corinthians showed Paul proper filial love or not he would continue to sacrifice for them.
Some in Corinth had evidently accused Paul of craftily obtaining money from the Corinthians indirectly through his agents such as Titus. They may have regarded the collection for the poor Jerusalem saints as one way that Paul was stealthily getting money from them for himself. If that was their charge, he may have used his critics' terms in irony to show that he had been crafty. However, he was crafty not in getting money from them but in giving money to them. He had done this by working to support himself while in Corinth. Even if critics were not leveling this charge, the intent of Paul's irony in verse 16 remains the same.
Titus' visit with another brother may have been the one when he began to assemble the special collection (8:6a) from which Titus had just returned to Paul in Macedonia (2:12-13; 7:6-7). Or it could have been the one that had taken him back to Corinth to complete the collection (8:16-24). Since Paul appealed to Titus' conduct as proof that Paul had not taken advantage of the Corinthians, I tend to prefer the former view.
Paul's illustration of a parent's loving sacrifice for his or her children in this section should have helped his readers understand his own motives and actions more clearly. It helps us understand the proper attitude of a servant of Jesus Christ toward those he or she serves and how this attitude should manifest itself in the practice of ministry.
