Titus
Chapter 1
Greeting
Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Christ Jesus, for the sake of God’s chosen ones, and the knowledge of truth and godliness,
in the hope of eternal life promised from the very beginning by God, who never lies.
When the time was right, he revealed his word through the message with which I was entrusted by the command of God, our Savior,
to Titus, my true son in the faith we share: grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.
Mission in Crete
I left you in Crete because I wanted you to fix what remains to be done, and to appoint elders in every town following my instructions.
They must be blameless, married only once, with believing children who are not accused of immorality or rebellion.
Since a bishop is the steward of God’s house, he must be above reproach: not proud, hotheaded, addicted to wine, quarrelsome, or greedy for gain.
On the other hand, he should be hospitable, love what is good, be wise, upright, devout, and self-controlled.
He must hold firmly to the message of faith as it was taught so that he can teach sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Since there are many rebellious minds, talkers of nonsense, deceivers, especially those of the circumcision.
They need to be silenced when they go around disturbing families and teaching, for sordid gain what they should not.
A Cretan, one of their own prophets, has said, “Cretans: always liars, wicked beasts and lazy gluttons.”
This is true. Because of this, rebuke them sharply if you want them to have a sound faith
instead of listening to Jewish fables and practices of people who reject the truth.
To the pure, everything is pure; to the corrupt and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Their minds and consciences have been defiled.
They claim to know God but deny him with their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, and unqualified to do any good.
Commentaries
Greeting.
Paul, portrayed by the anonymous author of the letter, presents himself with all his credentials as an apostle to assert authority over the exhortations he is about to give to his disciple Titus. His apostolic responsibility, which he regards as extending to “my true son in the faith we share” (4), is to serve “God’s chosen ones” who make up the “great household” (2 Tim 2:20), the Church. This must be well managed and protected against false doctrines that disrupt and threaten the memory of Jesus, transmitted through the testimony of the apostles—Paul’s in this case—and where the role of the responsible bishop and his advisors, the presbyters, is of utmost importance. The drive to evangelize of the first Christian generation is followed by the effort to preserve the received tradition, both alive and pure.
Mission in Crete.
Titus’s first task in Crete will be to appoint leaders to organize the community, a significant concern for the second and third generations of Christians. Although the titles of bishop and presbyters are familiar to today’s readers, it should not be assumed that this is the same church organization that exists today. The author of the letter presents an ideal picture of a local church leader. Like a family father, he must have an impeccable private life, for it is his personal integrity that will give him the moral authority to lead the community. But above all, he must be a man “who teach sound doctrine” (9), to confront the “rebellious, talkers on nonsense, deceivers” (10), people of false doctrines who “claim to know God but deny him with their actions” (16).