Read with Me
2 Timothy 4:9-15 (HCSB)
Make every effort to come to me soon, for Demas has deserted me, because he loved this present world, and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you, for he is useful to me in the ministry. I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak I left in Troas with Carpus, as well as the scrolls, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did great harm to me. The Lord will repay him according to his works. Watch out for him yourself because he strongly opposed our words.
Listen with Me
As Paul draws his letter to a close, he urges Timothy to come to Rome and find him right away. The urgency was not due to loneliness, even though nearly all of Paul’s normal cadre of companions was elsewhere. Only Luke was a consistent visitor. Paul’s urging was because he honestly had no idea how long he had before the executioner came to take him away.
Little is known about some of the people mentioned by Paul. Demas had denied the faith to avoid suffering as a martyr, and had escaped to Thessalonica, away from the Neronian purge of Christians, which was confined to Rome and its immediate vicinity. Crescens, Titus, and Tychicus were on mission to the east. There is no indication of them denying the faith, Paul just notes that they were not with him at that moment, and probably would not be before the end.
Some wonder at the fact that Paul identifies mark as someone “useful” to his ministry. This is the same John Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10, Acts 13:5) whom Paul had refused as a traveling companion on his second journey because he had left in the middle of the first journey. That refusal caused a rift between him and Barnabas (Acts 15:36-40). But in the many years since then, Mark had matured, and Paul had begun to work in partnership with him, rebuilding that relationship.
Paul was lacking some things that he wanted Timothy to bring with him. Among those were a cloak that he had left in Troas. Winter was coming, and there was no heat in the death row dungeons, so Paul urged Timothy to bring the cloak before the cold weather set in (2 Timothy 4:21). He also wanted his scrolls so that he could continue to study until the very end.
Paul also wanted to warn Timothy to guard himself from a coppersmith named Alexander who had set himself not just against Paul, but against the message of the gospel itself. Paul considered him a positive danger to everyone in the church because not only was he willing to point out those belonging to the Way to the Roman officials, he was eager to do so. But even though Alexander had caused Paul much harm, he was not trying to avenge himself. He would leave that in God’s hands (Romans 12:9). But he wanted Timothy to make sure that he didn’t make himself an easy target for Alexander’s malicious activities.
Pray with Me
Father, it is humbling to see so clearly the heart of this mighty man of God at the end of his journey, his lack of rancor, and his concern for those to whom he had been a mentor. It is also interesting to see his desire to keep learning about You all the way to the end. Paul knew that his life wasn’t over until it was truly over, and in the meantime, he was looking for opportunities to be Your witness every day, and he wanted to continue to learn and to grow. Lord, help me to never let up, to never falter or stop growing and sharing every day that You give me breath. Amen.