Slices
Prepare
Do you write a round-robin letter at Christmas? If yes, what kind of details do you include? What might key differences be if you were writing just to your Christian family?
Bible passage
Personal remarks
9 Do your best to come to me quickly, 10 for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15 You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16 At my first defence, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17 But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Final greetings
19 Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus ill in Miletus. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters.
22 The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.
Explore
This final passage in 2 Timothy brims with small, endearing and personal matters. They give us a glimpse of Paul the man, rather than Paul the apostle. There are details of things he’s missing (v 13). There is commendation and condemnation (vs 11,14,15). There are greetings to and from friends (vs 19–21). And there’s a sense of loneliness and longing for his ‘dear son’ (vs 9,11,21).
All of this paints a picture of the joy and the cost of ministry. The middle verses (vs 16–18) describe how he felt abandoned by everyone who could have supported him at his first defence and look with certain hope to the promise of heaven. Central to that is the Lord, right beside him (v 17), strengthening and enabling him to overcome and complete his ministry.
The sign-off to this second letter to Timothy reveals the heart of Paul: his love and encouragement of those who work alongside him for the sake of the gospel, and his utter confidence in the Lord he trusts.
Respond
Pray today for your church leaders and those you work alongside. Ask God to strengthen them in their ministry and to give them encouragement and blessing. Ask God how you can be a part of doing that.
Deeper Bible study
But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.’1
Paul was about to forsake this earth for the presence of his Lord. Though he has been deserted, Paul’s love is revealed in verse 16: ‘May it not be held against them’. He forgave his deserters for fearing to stand by him. Forgiveness is part of Christian ministry. Jesus forgave us from the cross, Stephen forgave his enemies, and now Paul forgives – but it is one of the hardest tasks.
As William Tyndale was being strangled and burned for translating the Bible into English, his last words were, ‘Lord, open the eyes of the King of England’. Later, English Bibles were put into every church. Patrick Ireland was a survivor of the horrific Columbine High School massacre where 13 were killed and 24, including Patrick, were injured. Throughout his long recovery, Patrick learned that bitterness causes further wounding. God showed Patrick that the key to forgiveness was to stop focusing on what others had done to us and to focus on what God had done for us. Christ’s words from the cross, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’,2 revealed a purpose for Patrick; 20 years after the tragedy, he shared, ‘Maybe I was chosen to forgive’.3
A nun was killed and thrown off a bus in India by a fundamentalist. The nun’s sister visited the murderer in jail and said, ‘We as a family forgive you’. With the help of the Bishop of Bhopal, they met the governor and requested him to commute the sentence. When the man was released they took him to their home in Kerala. He accepted Christ. The leader of the persecutors of Christians in the Khandamal massacres was witnessed to by the son of the man he killed; he became a believer and now preaches. Forgiveness is possible, though it needs the help of the Holy Spirit.
Lord, help us to forgive our enemies.
1 Matt 6:15 2 Luke 23:34 3 Elsa Morgan, ‘Chosen to Forgive’, Our Daily Bread, Devotion, June 2, 2020
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 29–31; Psalm 119:1–24
Pray for Scripture Union
Please pray for Content Developer Leanne Sheppard and the rest of the Development Hub team as they put the finishing touches to a new resource for Christmas. Pray that this resource will provide an opportunity for Faith Guides, churches and children’s and youth workers to build relationships and share Jesus.
