Philippians 2:19-30--Timothy and Epaphroditus

Timothy and Epaphroditus​
19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. 22 But you know Timothy's proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. 23 I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, 24 and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also.

25 I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, 26 for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. 27 Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. 28 I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. 29 So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, 30 for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

---

Paul now decides that he needs to send an envoy ahead of himself because the church in Philippi needs the encouragement and to be cheered up before Paul may be able to arrive (if he's able to make it to them at all).  Paul hopes to send Timothy to them--one of Paul's closest and most-trusted co-workers during his missionary journeys in Asia (modern day Turnkey) and Europe (Macedonia, Greece, Italy, and possibly other areas).

He knows that Timothy will look after them and care for them like they are his own sheep and will not treat them like how a hired under-shepherd treats sheep that do not belong to him.    Timothy will be genuinely concerned for their welfare and will look after them as Jesus and not fleece the flock for their own self-interest like so many other church leaders that Paul knew would do.  Timothy had proven himself to be a man of integrity that could be trusted with any task great or small and had become like a son to Paul--therefore it was like a father sending his son to them as him emissary or envoy.

Paul tells them that first he wants to see how it will go with him (maybe to figure out how much longer he'd be in prison, maybe to figure out if they were going to execute him) so that Timothy can also bring that news and if he believes it will end in freedom that he might make arrangements to follow shortly behind Timothy and Timothy can relay this news to the church.  Paul is much older than Timothy and it would take him longer to travel.  Until that time, Paul needed Timothy with him by his side and could not send him, but Paul was going to send them Epaphroditus to carry the letter and to take care of their needs for the moment.

Since we don't see Epaphroditus mentioned anywhere else in the Bible and he is called "your messenger" and longs to see the church members, it is likely that he was the person sent by the church to Paul with their letter that Paul is responding to and that he was sent to help take care of Paul's needs, but Paul thinks that he needs to send him back as soon as possible so that he can bring the letter and Paul's encouragement to the church.  Apparently Epaphroditus got sick on the way or while he was there helping Paul and the church back home was concerned about his well-being when they heard how ill he had gotten.

Apparently Epaphroditus was so sick that most thought he was going to die, but Paul says that God saved him for Paul's sake so that he would not feel the sorrow of the loss of a friend in addition to the sorrow of the loss of his freedom.  Paul knew that seeing Epaphroditus healthy was just the kind of encouragement that the church in Philippi needed and so he was eager to send Epaphroditus to them with this letter to them, and to do so as quickly as possible so that he too may be less anxious and might receive some word back about how the church in Philippi was doing and how they had received the news.  All Paul has at this time are the letters that are delivered to him by couriers from the churches and the envoys that they send to him to bring him news of what's going on.  The sooner he sends them back with his response, the sooner that he might hear back from them and he longs to hear from the church members because they are like children to him and it is hard for a father to be separated from his children, especially when he knows that his children are hurting and worried about him.

Paul asked that they give Epaphroditus a hero's welcome because he nearly died to accomplish the work that Christ had called him to do--the work that the church felt that they "owed" Paul for what he had done in bringing the gospel to them.  It was the least they could do to send someone to him while he was impassioned to help take care of him.  This is not the last we'll hear of Epaphroditus in this letter, but we will not hear about him elsewhere, yet he seems to be another valued co-worker and minister of the gospel alongside Paul.

Personally, I love this passage and others like it because it reminds me that the apostles like Paul were not out there doing it all alone and they had a team of people they had discipled that helped them and were there to take ownership and leadership as well as people within the local churches that he helped plant that were close friends of his and it was hard for him to hear that any person or church was discouraged or suffering because of what was going on with him.  These are all things that are very real to someone that lives a life of ministry, especially full-time ministry.  Make sure to encourage your pastors, but also those who minister to groups of churches.  Don't be afraid to form close friendships with them as they desire to have real people that genuinely care about them that will encourage them and pray for them on a regular basis--very often it's hard for pastors and church leaders to find people that will be willing to minister to them, and they need it too.  That part of what we see here in this passage.  Also, are you the kind of person that your church might send as a messenger to represent them?  Even though this man , Epaphroditus, is rarely mentioned, he seems quite important to Paul.

Are you maybe being called to be like Timothy to someone or do you need to maybe train someone us to be like Timothy for your ministry?  Who in your group could you trust to take care of God's flock in your absence?  Can others trust you with that kind of responsibility?  Are you the kind of person that would be said of them that you would look out for the Church in the same way that Christ would without a hint of selfishness or ambition for personal gain?  Are you a "spiritual son" to anyone?  Are you looking to be a "spiritual father" to others like Paul was?  We'll study more about this idea later and will learn much more about Timothy and his ministry to Paul and alongside Paul as we keep studying the Bible together.