Philippians - Lesson 12

I. Travel Plans & Examples

In our lesson today, we're going to look at the last segment of chapter 2 of Philippians, specifically verses 19 through 30. These verses talk about Timothy and Epaphroditus' travel plans. We have been enriched so far reading through Philippians with the soaring language of chapter 2, verses 6 through 11—that Christ poem. We've been there with Paul in the prison there in chapter 1, verse 12 and following. So it may seem as we enter into this passage, 19 through 30, like, you know, there's not much going on, right? When you're going on a trip, this could feel like the airport security line—you know, just boring, not much going on.

But actually, I think as we look at the who, at the where, and at the why in this narrative section, we're going to see Paul applying the teachings that we've enjoyed up to this point. So this is an important part of the letter.

I think Paul highlights three things as he talks about Timothy and Epaphroditus. He's going to highlight three important teachings for us that we should pay attention to. First, that both Timothy and Epaphroditus serve as models for believers. Because of that, we want to, and we will, spend some time looking at these men's character traits. Their character traits are traits that every believer should follow. Secondly, we're going to look at how Paul deals with ministry failure. Now, when I say failure, I mean that in the worldly sense, not in the sense of what God is about. But there's going to be, as we'll see, a change of plans in terms of Epaphroditus. And what do we do when there's a change of plans? It can feel like failure. And then the third point we want to note is Paul's own focus. He stresses in verse 22 the work of the gospel, and that that is the measuring stick against which everything is judged.

II. Timothy’s Character & Ministry

So let's look first at Timothy. Who is Timothy? Well, we meet Timothy on the second missionary journey that Luke records for us in the book of Acts. He has a godly mother. He has a godly grandmother. Lois and Eunice are named in 2 Timothy. His father is a Gentile. We learn about this in Acts chapter 16, verses 1 through five. So, while the mother and grandmother raised up Timothy to know the Word, his life was overseen by his Gentile father. And thus, when Paul first meets him, he is uncircumcised. And then Paul, as we read in Acts 16, has Timothy circumcised, most likely so that when he meets other Jews on the travels, as he travels with Paul, his own Jewishness won't be contested.

Let me just pause here and note, though. In the case of Titus, who had a Gentile mother and a Gentile father, he remains uncircumcised. So Paul doesn't see circumcision as essential for a male believer to have. But rather, because Timothy had a Jewish mother, most Jews would have expected him to be circumcised. And it allowed for Timothy to embrace his Jewish heritage, but never did he equate his own later-in-life circumcision with the need for any in Paul's community who were raised Gentile to undergo the rite of circumcision. I'm mentioning all of this because in chapter 3, we're going to talk even more specifically about circumcision. So I just wanted to clear the air about who Timothy is.

He is also a co-sender with Paul, not only in this letter, but also in 2 Corinthians, both 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Paul describes him in verse 20 as being equal in soul. That's the more literal translation of the Greek term. Some English translations write there was no one else who was like him, right? There was just this equal. He's kind of like my soul attached to me like a brother—a soul brother, equal in soul. In fact, Paul describes Timothy with characteristics that are similar to those that he's asked the Philippians to have: looking to others' interests, focusing on Christ and his gospel.

It's interesting that in the midst of describing who Timothy is, Paul makes a negative comment. He has a sharp comment. He says everyone looks out for their own interests, which kind of catches you a bit off guard—catches me a bit off guard. And I think what Paul is obliquely referencing here are those people who preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, knowing that Paul is in chains—that kind of believer who actually is seeking their own gain. We looked at this in chapter 1, verses 15 through 17.

So what Paul says is that Timothy is going to head to Philippi after they get Paul's letter. Timothy will head to Philippi, he'll visit them briefly, and then he'll return to Paul and report on how Paul's letter was received. This is very typical of Paul. He tries to keep in contact with all of his churches. He'll send his coworkers ahead of him—it may be to smooth out possible misunderstandings (this is what Titus does in Corinth) or just to prepare everyone so that when Paul arrives, he's able to jump right into their ministry concerns.

III. Epaphroditus’ Ministry & Reconstructed Story

How about Epaphroditus? Who is Epaphroditus? It's a name you're probably not as familiar with. We only find it here in Philippians, but he is the Philippians' emissary, if you will. He delivers their financial gift, but I think he probably also brings with him certain talents and skills that will also help Paul as he is imprisoned. Paul defines Epaphroditus as my brother, a coworker, a fellow soldier. He also uses the word that we often translate as "apostle." He describes Epaphroditus as your apostle, and he describes Epaphroditus as "a minister of my needs."

That language of "my brother" and "my coworker," Paul uses that frequently to describe the members of his team. "Fellow soldier" is used in Philemon, verse 2, to praise Archippus. And sometimes in Paul, he will use military language to describe his ministry as a campaign. We can see this, for example, in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and also actually in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

He talks about Epaphroditus as taking care of needs, and he describes Epaphroditus—"he risked his life," he says, "to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me." And it's that word—the help, taking care of needs—that I want to focus on just for a minute. That term is used in Greek civil service. It means a civic official, but it carries more, I think, in Paul's context: the sense of religious ministering, especially those civic officials within the towns who would oversee the pagan festivals, the offerings that the town would give to the local deities as part of their city duties. So this language that Paul is using here has the sense of religious connotations.

And he says that Epaphroditus is taking care of his needs. It's part of that overall picture that Paul has been developing that we saw in the last lesson—that the Philippians, they're good, working out their salvation, their service, their sacrifice. That language is saturated with the language of worship, and that's what we also have here. So it's not simply that Epaphroditus bought oil for Paul so that he could be more comfortable in his cell, or got more writing material so that Paul could more comfortably send letters to his people. It's not that kind of grocery shopping per se, or in the grocery shopping, in the supplying of his needs, Paul sees this as in the category of religious or spiritual work, dignifying the work that Epaphroditus is doing.

Before we leave Epaphroditus, let's talk about the description of Epaphroditus as apostolos, as apostle—your apostle. The term in Greek often carries the nuance of being a messenger. So in our case, your apostolos, your messenger. Let's take a look at how Paul uses the term apostolos in the rest of his letters. He refers to himself as an apostle sent by Christ. He will use that label to refer to Silas or Silvanus—depending on both of those names refer to the same person, you can find this reference in 1 Thessalonians 2:7. He identifies Apollos as an apostolos—this is in 1 Corinthians 4:9. Barnabas—this is in 1 Corinthians 9:1-6. Andronicus and Junia—this is Romans 16:7. And a group that is sent to Judea with funds to help them through the famine—and this is in 2 Corinthians 8:23.

He also mentions the word, but in a very negative way when he refers to those super-apostles, those false apostles who claim power from the Spirit but are not of the Spirit. This language he uses in 2 Corinthians chapters 11 and 12. So how do we understand its use here with Epaphroditus? Is he commissioned by Christ like Paul, and we should understand his apostleship that way, or is he commissioned by the Philippians themselves? If Paul understands Epaphroditus here to be commissioned by Christ, then we have an example of an apostle who would minister primarily in one location. The only other example we may have of that would be—some argue that Timothy and Titus did their final years in only one place, Ephesus and Crete respectively. But most scholars would argue that the label of apostle on Epaphroditus is because he's been commissioned by the local church, the Philippians, to be sent on a particular mission. And I think that's probably the most beneficial way to look at this.

But now let's ask a follow-up question. Was this commissioning a lifelong service or just a one-off to deliver a financial gift? If it is a lifelong service, if they were commissioning Epaphroditus as their representative to be a member of Paul's ministry chain going forward—if we assume that, then we have to ask some deeper questions about why Paul sends him back to Philippi and how we are to understand this for our ministry lives today?

We know that Epaphroditus got very sick, and Paul says he almost died. It's possible that he doesn't ever fully recover. He has some limitations that remain after the illness, and those limitations will prevent him from having the stamina or the capacity to continue on Paul's team, and so he would send him back to Philippi. The scenario that I'm reconstructing is speculative, but it also, I think, is plausible. And the reason I want to spend some time on it is that Paul spends some time on it. He sincerely praises Epaphroditus' efforts, and he wants the Philippians to receive him back with joy. So, my sense is that they're going to be surprised that Epaphroditus is coming back, and potentially maybe disappointed that Epaphroditus didn't measure up, whatever that might mean, right?

So, I think instead, Paul is framing Epaphroditus' return as—and this is important for how we understand ministry today—that Epaphroditus with all good intentions, and the Philippians with all good intentions, commissioned Epaphroditus to be part of the team of Paul's ministry. Based on the illness and perhaps other factors that we're not aware of, it wasn't going to work, and so Paul sends Epaphroditus back. Is that a failure? How Paul describes it, it's anything but a failure. It's faithful living, and sincere praise is given for Epaphroditus' effort. So, Paul thinks he did a good job.

How did Epaphroditus feel about these plans? I wish—I wish we had his own thoughts, a diary of his maybe. What I hope is that he also embraced Paul's praise and realized that God had a different purpose than what he had anticipated would happen when he left Philippi with a financial gift.

For us today, I think it's an important corrective to the expectations that we can sometimes place on ourselves or on others, where we work ourselves really to exhaustion and we are so tied to a plan that we think God had for us that we are unable to see that perhaps God showed us only the first step, but not the second and third. It takes courage to be an Epaphroditus today. Epaphroditus trusted that God was leading all the time—at least I hope he did. I think that's what Paul is encouraging us to think.

The plans changed in midstream. Do we give God the flexibility to move us, to take us in one direction and then seemingly point us in another direction, shift us in that other direction? Epaphroditus—I think this is the modeling that Paul wants us to see. Epaphroditus was flexible. He was humble. He was going where he was needed, and he was able to change direction when he needed to.

So here's a summary of Epaphroditus' story. The Philippian church sent him—they set him apart and they sent him to carry money and to stay with Paul, I think long-term as his coworker. Epaphroditus got very ill, but fortunately he recovered. The rigors of life with Paul prevented Epaphroditus from fulfilling the mission as everyone had initially assumed it would be, and Paul sent him back to Philippi. But he didn't send him back to Philippi with his tail between his legs, with his head down, plodding along. He sent him back with his head held high and a confident stride because the mission was accomplished. And the mission is that God is continuing to work in Epaphroditus' life, in the Philippian church's life, in Paul's life. And so Epaphroditus can be honored because Epaphroditus is modeling a faithful living in Christ. And in that way, then, of course, Christ himself is honored.

IV. Paul’s Focus & Christian Grief

So that's the story of Timothy and Epaphroditus. I want to make one note here about Paul's own story as it relates to Epaphroditus. Paul indicates in verse 27 about Epaphroditus' illness that he was so ill he almost died, but God had mercy on him. And God had mercy not only on him, but also on Paul, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. I want to highlight this because in chapter 1, Paul declares, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain." And sometimes that phrase, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain," is understood as though Paul feels no pain, will never have grief, is Superman.

But here, Paul says he was spared sorrow upon sorrow—deep sorrow. God spared him that. He would have felt, in other words, that if Epaphroditus had died, his heart would be broken. And so Paul models for us Christians today the goodness of grief—that it is okay when a loved one or a ministry partner passes to feel great sorrow for them. I mean, Paul knew Epaphroditus is safe in God's hands. He's not grieving because he's doubting or questioning God; he's just missing Epaphroditus, and that's how he would have felt if Epaphroditus had died.

So Paul's testimony here snuck in, and his description of Epaphroditus is worth underlining for us, especially for those who care for people who are ill. All of us—all of us know family members and friends who are facing a time of grief. It is okay to grieve. Paul describes it as sorrow upon sorrow. You can feel really sad for as long as you need and receive God's comfort and hopefully receive the comfort of the community as well.

So we find here in this description of Timothy and Epaphroditus, and also we get a little window into Paul's own life, we find characteristics and traits that we can model today as we try to be faithful each and every day in our lives as believers.