Theophylact of Ohrid — on 2Tim 4:17 (Commentary on 2 Timothy)

“This is again a consolation for the disciple; for it shows that God does not allow a man who has been abandoned by people to suffer anything calamitous. That is, He granted boldness, He did not allow him to fall. Look how great his humility is. Not because, he says, God strengthened me so that I would be worthy of such a gift, but "that through me the preaching might be fully known," or that it might pass from end to end and be fulfilled. This is like someone wearing purple robes and a diadem, and being saved because of them. That is, so that both the glory of the preaching and the care of Providence for me might become known to all. That is, from Nero. He calls him a lion, on account of the might of his kingdom and his inflexibility. You see how close he was to death, having fallen into the very jaws of the lion.”