Comments on Philippians 2:19-30

  As a reminder, Paul wrote this letter while under house arrest in Rome, and unsure of what his future would hold. Even still he was reminding the believers in Philippi of the importance of Christ. He had reminded them that he could rejoice with the Gospel going out and towards the end of chapter one he encouraged them to “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ … “ (v27). He opened chapter two extolling Christ and talking about who He was and is and then again encouraged them to obey the Word of God. Now we get to the part of the letter where he talks about some of his future plans as well as Epaphroditus, so let’s go to the text:

 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare.  For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus. But you know of his proven worth, that he served with me in the furtherance of the gospel like a child serving his father. Therefore I hope to send him immediately, as soon as I see how things go with me;  and I trust in the Lord that I myself also will be coming shortly. But I thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger and minister to my need; because he was longing for you all and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, so that I would not have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I have sent him all the more eagerly so that when you see him again you may rejoice and I may be less concerned about you. Receive him then in the Lord with all joy, and hold men like him in high regard; because he came close to death for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was deficient in your service to me.

Timothy:  We have to remember that this was written as a personal letter showing Paul’s concerns for the saints at Philippi. He trusted Timothy and wanted to send him on ahead so that he might receive word on how they were faring. Paul has a pastor’s heart and mentions that Timothy is “of kindred spirit” with his concern for the Philippians as well. We know of at least twenty-six other Christians in Rome that Paul mentions by name at the end of his epistle there, and yet Paul would say, “I have no one else of kindred spirit.” As far as practical application for us today: are we caring for the saints? Of note here as well in verse 20, the KJV has Timothy “naturally” caring for them but the word there is γνησίως which is from the same root as Genesis or beginning/birth but has more of the force of doing something genuinely or sincerely as I read above in the NASB translation. The gift of pastoring is a spiritual one and Timothy’s heart of compassion and concern for the Philippian believers resulted from that. We often see the opposite today. To quote Ironside, “It is quite possible to be an admired teacher, upon whose words thousands hang, or an eloquent evangelist with eager multitudes flocking to listen with delight to his messages, and yet be a vain self-seeker, using the very gift that God has given, for personal aggrandizement, or to obtain wealth, even while professing to care little or nothing for money. But the more marked the pastoral gift, of very necessity the more unselfishly devoted must the servant be. It will be his great ambition to feed the flock and shield them from their dangers.” 

So we see this heart in Timothy though there were none around him that were also willing to serve in this way. “They all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.” What a condemnation of the church there in Rome. And this becomes an issue when there are problems in the local assembly. We can get focused on ourselves, we can forget to care for the larger body of Christ. Yet we need to have that concern if we are to share in the mind of Christ. Wiersbe pointed out that we as Christians will either live here or in chapter 1:21 “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Those are really the only two options. Are we going to stay focused on our own problems and neglect others, or are we going to seek to have the mind of Christ and love others with that sacrificial love He showed on the cross. Timothy showed himself to be in the mind of Christ.

Also of note, it is probably that Timothy was converted on Paul’s first missionary journey through Lystra and Derbe that we can read about in Acts 14. However, Paul doesn’t immediately tap him to follow along with him. Rather we don’t read about him again until Acts 16 which we know to be at least a couple of years later. Timothy had time to show “his proven worth.” It is important for new believers to not be given too much responsibility in the church too quickly. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 3:6 “not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnation incurred by the devil,” when discussing qualifications for church leadership. Apparently Timothy was known even among the Philippians as one who was trustworthy and serving the Lord with his life. I appreciated Wiersbe’s note on this, so I’ll quote him, “The submissive mind is not the product of an hour’s sermon, or a week’s seminar, or even a year’s service. The submissive mind grows in us as, like Timothy, we yield to the Lord and seek to serve others.” Given this heart that Timothy had displayed, Paul hoped to send him to Philippi to help the assembly there and he could trust that they would receive him because they knew his heart as well. 

Before he went on to commending their brother Epaphroditus back to them, he did again mention his faith that he would be coming to them too. In the first chapter we read, “for I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayers and the provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.” (vs 19-20). So again here he writes, “and I trust in the Lord that I myself will be coming shortly.” (v24). Paul had faith that the Lord would see him through this difficulty and his concern for the Philippians led him to desire meeting with them again. 

Epaphroditus: However, he sent Epaphroditus back to them first. Read carefully the commendations that Paul heaps onto Epaphroditus, “my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier.” Praise God that those who are in Christ are family. Like a natural family we surely have differences and even arguments sometimes, but we can still call one another brother and sister in the Lord. I mentioned the other night during the 2 Peter study how wonderful it was that Peter could still call Paul his beloved brother as well, despite the correction he had received. So Paul calls Epaphroditus “my brother.” 

Paul could also call him “fellow worker and fellow soldier.” The Greek here sounds very similar as well. We have συνεργὸν from συν meaning together or with and εργὸν from which we get energy but meaning work or labour. So: a worker together. Then we have συστρατιώτην again from συν and then the word  στρατιώτης which you might hear a similarity to the word strategy but means a soldier. The reason I pointed this out though is that repeated word “together.” As we are part of the body of Christ we need to work and fight together. We can be reminded of the men of Jerusalem as they were rebuilding in Nehemiah “Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon” (4:17). Make no mistake, there is a spiritual war going on around us and we need to not find ourselves unarmed. Epaphroditus willingly undertook a long journey to bring Paul the gift from the Philippians and apparently was sick for long enough that they had heard about it and were concerned for him. However, Epaphroditus, despite being “sick to the point of death,” was more concerned that they were worried about him than about himself. The word used there in verse 26 translated in the NASB as “distressed” and in the KJV as “full of heaviness” is ἀδημονέω and the only other times it is used in the New Testament are in the gospels of Matthew and Mark when Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane (chapters 26 and 14 respectively). He was distressed because they were concerned for him and his heart was for their good. 

We know from Acts 14 that Paul was able to miraculously heal some, and yet we have in our passage that Epaphroditus was sick to the point of death and yet Paul didn’t claim any part in healing him but rather writes, “God had mercy on him, and not only on him but also on me…” Paul loved his brother and was worried for his sickness as well, but made it a matter of prayer and reliance on God. We can also learn from this that sickness is not always a result of sin. This brother had made a long journey (over 600 miles) either by foot or boat, we’re not sure, to bring the gift the Philippians had gathered to Paul in Rome. At that time there was a sickness known as Roman Fever that caused delirium, unstoppable fever and violent tremors that would not abate. We don’t know exactly what sickness Epaphroditus had, but we do know that God chose to heal him from it despite the fact that it almost killed him. Paul counted it a mercy to himself as well because of his care for his brother. He didn’t want to lose him either.

So now that Epaphroditus was feeling better Paul was going to send him back to Philippi with this letter. It was obvious that Epaphroditus was a bit homesick by this point and was eager to go on his way, although there must have been some sorrow at the parting of the brothers as well. But Paul could send him in good conscience, and feel more sure of the situation in Philippi with Epaphroditus there to help and so could take comfort from sending him. Paul also wrote a glowing commendation of him. Some might think there is an odd disconnect between Paul writing of Christ who “made himself of no reputation,” and then here telling the Philippians to “hold such in reputation,” but the difference is who is doing the honoring. Epaphroditus, like Christ, was not looking for honor or recognition, but rather was doing what he could to help his brother in need. It is good for us to recognize those that are helpful though and to honor them for the work they are doing. We ought not do the work for that recognition, but we can and should recognize others’ efforts. All for the glory of God. 

We had before us this morning two brothers that both exhibited the mind of Christ in their service to others. Paul holds up Christ as the supreme example at the beginning of this chapter, but it is good for us to have other examples as well, as long as we imitate them only as far as they are imitating Christ. We can thank Epaphroditus that we even have this letter to study, and praise God for keeping him alive to deliver it. Let us care for one another as these brothers did and work and fight together for the faith.