(4:9-22)

Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren.

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (4:9–22)

     A business, government, or large organization cannot function properly or survive without networking. Suppliers, customers, employees, stockholders, and many others are necessarily involved. There is no better illustration of this principle than the human body with its wonderfully varied and intricately related parts. Paul used that figure in his first letter to the immature and disunified church at Corinth to teach them what unity and harmony in the body of Christ must be like (1 Cor. 12:14–27).

It is therefore no surprise that the last part of Paul’s last letter focuses on other people, the many friends and a few foes, who influenced his ministry in one way or another. The great apostle knew they were involved in everything he did, and in these closing verses he recognizes and remembers this network of people. Even he could not effectively minister alone. He was fully aware of his distinctive calling and authority as an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ (see, e.g., Rom. 1:1; 1 Cor. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:1; 2 Tim. 1:1). But he did not presume to work for the Lord independent of other believers or try to meet every need and accomplish every task himself. He had teams of fellow workers, fellow servants, fellow preachers and teachers in whom he placed great trust for mutual ministry. Most of them were faithful co-laborers, “valiant men [and women] whose hearts God had touched” (1 Sam. 10:26).

Some of the people were old friends and some were new, some were consistent in their service and some were not, some were always ready to volunteer and some were never to be found, some were willing to make any sacrifice for the Lord, and others were not willing. Quite a few were unbelievers, some of them being within the church and others being outside. But all were a part of Paul’s life, and all played a role in his ministry.

As he faced the executioner’s ax, many of these people were on his mind. In passing on the mantle of ministry to Timothy, he brought the young pastor up to date on the spiritual condition, activities, and whereabouts of certain men and women. Some of them, including Timothy, he hoped would visit him before he died. Others he simply greeted or extended greetings from. Some are named, and others are nameless. Some of them he was sending out or had already sent out to strategic places to build up faltering congregations. Others he mentioned because of the special harm they had brought to him and to the cause of Christ.

Paul did not write this section as an afterthought; it was not incidental but vital to the Spirit-inspired message. The Lord wanted the rest of His church to know about these people in Paul’s life and to learn from their faithfulness or their failure.

TIMOTHY, THE FAITHFUL SON

Make every effort to come to me soon; (4:9)

     At the beginning of his first letter to Timothy, the apostle addresses him as “my true child in the faith” (1:2) and in this second letter as “my beloved son” (1:2). He had no other earthly friend who was so dear to him.

Nor did he have a co-worker who was more dependable. He tells the church at Corinth, “I exhort you therefore, be imitators of me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, who is my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, just as I teach everywhere in every church” (1 Cor. 4:16–17). In the same spirit of confidence, the apostle told the church at Philippi, “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” (Phil. 2:19–20). Timothy not only followed Paul’s doctrine but also his example.

The love was mutual. At the beginning of the second letter, the apostle says to Timothy, “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day, longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy” (2 Tim. 1:3–4).

Although the faithful and beloved Luke was with Paul in Rome at the time, the apostle longed to see Timothy with the longing of a father, especially because he knew the possibility of seeing him again in this life would soon be gone. It was therefore imperative that Timothy make every effort to come to Paul soon.

Many great Christian leaders have had a spiritual mentor, someone who has taken special care in teaching them the Word and in setting a high example. For Timothy, of course, that person was Paul. Like him, such mentors doubtless have no greater satisfaction than seeing someone under their guidance turn into an effective servant of Christ.

The writer of Hebrews told his readers to “take notice that our brother Timothy has been released” (Heb. 13:23). This young minister was following in Paul’s footsteps, even to the point of being put in prison for boldly proclaiming and refusing to compromise the gospel.

DEMAS, THE UNFAITHFUL DESERTER

for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; (4:10a)

     Paul moves from the most faithful to the most unfaithful. It is possible that Demas in some way had been valuable to Paul and to the ministry in Rome and that the apostle wanted Timothy to come soon in order to pick up the work that Demas had abandoned.

Demas is first mentioned by Paul in Colossians, which was written shortly after 1 Timothy and some five years before 2 Timothy, during Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome. At that time, Demas, along with Luke and Epaphras, was one of the apostle’s closest associates (Col. 4:12–14). In the book of Philemon, written about the same time and from the same place, Paul sent greetings in behalf of Demas, one of his “fellow workers” (Philem. 24). We can be sure that Paul had invested much time and effort in the careful teaching, counseling, and encouraging of Demas and expected him to help carry on the ministry.

At that time any friend of Paul, especially a co-worker, risked sharing persecution and prison with him. As the risk increased, Demas’s resolve decreased, because he loved this present world more than he loved the Lord, the Lord’s people, or the Lord’s work. He may not have been a true believer at all. “If anyone loves the world,” John says, “the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Demas’s heart may have been a rocky place, covered by just enough soil to superficially accept the seed of the gospel but not enough to bring full salvation. When the heat of the world’s “affliction or persecution” became too fierce, he withered and fell away (Matt. 13:5–6, 20–21). Or perhaps his heart was thorn infested; and when “the worry of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches [choked] the word,… it [proved to be] unfruitful” (Matt. 13:7, 22). His reaction to the deprivations faced in his physical life eventually exposed the depravation of his spiritual life.

In any case, his cowardice was greater than his commitment, and he deserted Paul. Deserted is from enkataleipo, a strong verb that means to utterly abandon and leave someone helpless in a dire situation. Perhaps the sacrifice of many comforts, including the probable loss of his own freedom, became too high a price for Demas. He was a fair-weather disciple, who had never considered the cost of genuine commitment to Christ. He may have been caught up emotionally with the idea of a noble cause, which he did his part to serve when the demands were not great. But when the cause became costly, he was nowhere to be found.

His reason for fleeing to Thessalonica is not given, but he must have considered it to be a safe haven. Perhaps that was his home (see Philem. 4), in which case he may not have been known there as a Christian, or believers there were not yet persecuted. He may have renounced Christ altogether and rejoined the world. Whatever the case, he brought great disappointment and anguish to Paul.

CRESCENS, THE FAITHFUL UNKNOWN

Crescens has gone to Galatia, (10b)

     Except for what little can be inferred from this brief mention, we know nothing about Crescens. Because he was sent to Galatia by Paul and did not flee, as did Demas, he obviously was a faithful and dependable servant of Christ. There were many churches in that region, most of which were strong and had been founded by the apostle himself. Paul had ministered in Galatia on each of his three missionary journeys, and believers there held a dear place in his heart. He would not have sent them a man in whom he had less than full confidence.

Crescens was a dedicated leader sent to dedicated churches. He is among the myriads of faithful men and women who, for the most part, were known in the early church but have been unknown in church history and are unknown in the church today. Yet his life and work were an open book to the Lord, and we can be sure that he will receive a full divine reward in addition to the deep gratitude of Paul.

TITUS, THE FAITHFUL KNOWN

Titus to Dalmatia. (4:10c)

     Titus, on the other hand, was both known and faithful. Paul’s letter to him was written several years after 1 Timothy and about a year before 2 Timothy. Besides here and in the book that carries his name, Titus is mentioned by the apostle nine times in 2 Corinthians and twice in Galatians.

Paul apparently had preached in Crete during a brief layover there on his way to Rome under guard (see Acts 27:12). At that time, he left Titus, his “true child in a common faith,… in Crete, that [he] might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as [Paul] directed” (Titus 1:5).

Titus was a builder and equipper, a man the apostle fully trusted to teach and pastor struggling churches. Sometime after release from his two-year house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30), Paul probably went to Macedonia. From there he went to Dalmatia (also known as Illyricum; see Rom. 15:19), which was located just north of Macedonia on the east side of the Adriatic Sea. He then traveled south to Nicopolis, a town in the province of Achaia near the Macedonian border. It was here that he asked Titus to meet him (Titus 3:12). It may have been from Nicopolis that Titus went to Dalmatia, probably at the request of Paul, in order to strengthen the church there and build up its leaders.

LUKE, THE FAITHFUL COMPANION

Only Luke is with me. (4:11a)

     Some interpreters take Paul’s mention of only to indicate disappointment with Luke, as if the apostle were saying with regret, “I have no real friend or helper left, just Luke.” But that view is unfair to this man and flies in the face of everything else we know of him from the New Testament. It was rather that this devoted friend could not alone carry the burden of ministry in Rome while the apostle languished in a dungeon with no prospect of release. Because of Nero’s brutal persecution, many believers had fled the capital. Those who remained were in constant danger and needed spiritual guidance and encouragement more than ever.

Luke is mentioned by name only three times in the New Testament, of which he is the only Gentile author. Yet he wrote the longest of the four gospels as well as the lengthy book of Acts. Paul himself refers to this man as “Luke, the beloved physician” (Col. 4:14) and as one of his “fellow workers” (Philem. 24). Because of his literary skills, it seems probable that he acted sometimes as Paul’s amanuensis.

Although Luke was a physician by profession, we are told nothing of any medical work he may have done after his conversion, though he doubtless treated Paul and his other companions as their “beloved physician.” From his gospel we know him as an evangelist, and from the book of Acts as a capable historian. He was used uniquely by the Holy Spirit to chronicle both the life of Christ and the early life of the body of Christ. Yet, as a humble servant of the Lord and of his fellow saints, he carefully kept himself in the background.

Luke had been a longtime companion of Paul, accompanying the apostle for many years and over hundreds, perhaps thousands, of miles. It is easy to trace his direct association with the apostle through his use of plural first-person pronouns in Acts (we, us, our, etc.). He was with Paul at Troas and Philippi during the second missionary journey, joined him again at the end of the third, and went with him to Jerusalem to face arrest and imprisonment. He accompanied Paul on the trip to Rome, was shipwrecked with him off the shores of Malta, ministered in Rome with him during the first imprisonment, and comforted him during the second and last. At the writing of this letter, the apostle is not sad but glad that Luke still is with me.

MARK, THE UNFAITHFUL RESTORED

Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. (4:11b)

     We do not know where Mark was at this time, but it seems evident that he lived somewhere on the route Timothy would take from Ephesus to Rome. He probably would have traveled by land to Troas (see v. 13) and from there taken a ship to Macedonia. After crossing Macedonia, he may have taken another ship to Brundisium on Italy’s east coast and continued on to Rome.

Mark, who sometimes was called John, was a native of Jerusalem, and one of the first congregations of new believers met in his house (Acts 12:12). Because of his promise as a Christian leader, he was chosen to go with Paul and Barnabas as they set out with other companions on the first missionary journey. But when they “came to Perga in Pamphylia, … John [Mark] left them and returned to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13). Whatever Mark’s specific reason for leaving, Paul did not think it was adequate or excusable. Some years later, Paul and Barnabas set out again from Antioch to “return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” Barnabas wanted to give Mark a second chance, “but Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. And there arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus” (Acts 15:36–39). Paul had no stomach for men who were lazy, cowardly, or uncommitted. He especially did not want fellow workers who would not carry their share of the load and who bailed out when things became too uncomfortable or demanding.

We do not know if Mark changed before or during his ministry with Barnabas, his older cousin (Col 4:10). From all New Testament accounts, Barnabas fully lived up to his name, which means “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36) and probably was a descriptive and loving appellation given to him by the church. Whenever and however the change in Mark occurred, Barnabas must have been involved. By the time of Paul’s first imprisonment in Rome—perhaps twenty years after the two had parted company—this young man had proved himself not only to Barnabas but also to Paul. During that incarceration, the apostle asked the church at Colossae to welcome the now-faithful Mark if he visited them (Col. 4:10) and counted him among his devoted “fellow workers” (Philem. 24).

Mark also spent time with Peter (1 Peter 5:13), from whom he may have received insight into the revelation he records in his gospel. In many ways and to many people, he had become a faithful and valued leader in the early church, and Paul asked Timothy to bring him [Mark] with you, for he is useful to me for service.

It is a great disappointment to see gifted servants of the Lord become disinterested in His work and shirk the demands and hardships of ministry. But it is a great satisfaction to see such a person turn from his fears and selfish pursuits and wholeheartedly return to the work of the kingdom.

TYCHICUS, THE FAITHFUL MESSENGER

Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. (4:12)

     Perhaps Paul had earlier sent Tychicus … to Ephesus, which was located in that man’s home province of Asia (Acts 20:4). Or it may be that Paul was sending him there to deliver this second letter to Timothy, just as he had used him to deliver his letters to the churches at Ephesus (Eph. 6:12) and Colossae (Col. 4:7) and perhaps to deliver the letter to Titus (see Titus 3:12).

We do not know what abilities Tychicus had, but it seems likely that the Holy Spirit had given him the gift of service (Rom. 12:7). There is no evidence that he was a teacher or pastor, but he was a valuable asset to Paul and a trusted friend.

CARPUS, THE FAITHFUL HOST

When you come bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus, and the books, especially the parchments. (4:13)

     Along with his other personal requests of Timothy, Paul asked that he bring the cloak which I left at Troas with Carpus. Troas may have been the hometown of Carpus; he obviously lived there now. From the context it seems probable that Paul stayed with Carpus there and had entrusted him with the care of several valuable possessions. It also may be that the church in Troas met in Carpus’s house.

A cloak was a large, heavy wool garment that served as both coat and blanket in cold weather, which Paul would soon face (v. 21). In the economy of that day, especially for Christians under Roman persecution, such clothing was extremely expensive.

Books and parchments also were expensive. Unlike the cloak, they could provide Paul with no physical comfort or protection, but they were invaluable to him for the sake of the ministry. Books probably refers to papyrus scrolls, possibly of Old Testament books. Parchments were vellum sheets, made of specially treated animal hides. They were extremely expensive and therefore used for only the most important of documents. These particular parchments may have contained copies of Paul’s own letters or may have been blank sheets on which he planned to write other letters. He had no plans to finish studying or to finish writing.

One wonders why Paul would not have taken such costly possessions with him wherever he went. It is hard to believe he would have parted with them voluntarily, because the risk of never seeing them again was high. The trouble of taking them along when they were not needed would have paled in light of the trouble, physical and otherwise, of being without them when they were needed. For that reason, some scholars suggest that he was summarily arrested in Troas and had no opportunity, or was not allowed, to take these things with him.

ALEXANDER, THE FAITHLESS ENEMY

Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. Be on guard against him yourself, for he vigorously opposed our teaching. (4:14–15)

     Paul devotes almost as many words to Alexander the coppersmith as he does to all the other men combined whom he has mentioned in the previous four verses. And for good reason.

This Alexander could hardly have been the person who risked his freedom, and possibly his life, by defending Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:33). He may have been the man whom, along with Hymenaeus, the apostle had “delivered over to Satan, so that they may be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:20).

But Paul’s identifying him as the coppersmith probably indicates he was neither of those men. Alexander was a common name in that day, and Ephesus was a large city. Like “Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis” (Acts 19:24), this Alexander may have been an idolmaker who fiercely resented the apostle and did him much harm. For that, as well as for his false teaching, the Lord will repay him according to his deeds, Paul said. Faithful to God’s Word (Deut. 32:35), including his own teaching of it (Rom. 12:19), he left vengeance in the hands of God.

Because the apostle tells Timothy to be on guard against him yourself, this enemy may have lived in Rome and caused Paul trouble during one or both of his imprisonments. In that case, he was warning Timothy to be on the lookout for him when he arrived there to see Paul.

Even worse than the harm Alexander caused Paul personally was the harm he had done to the cause of Christ by being vigorously opposed to Paul’s teaching. More than an enemy of Paul, he was the enemy of God.

THE UNFAITHFUL ANONYMOUS

At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them. (4:16)

     Defense translates apologia, from which we derive the English “apology” and “apologetics.” It referred to a verbal defense and frequently was used as a legal term. In the Roman court system, an accused person had two hearings, the prima actio, to clearly establish the charge, and the secunda actio, to determine guilt or innocence. Paul’s first defense would therefore have been a prima actio.

Whatever kind of trial it was, not one of Paul’s friends and fellow believers had supported him. As with the noun defense, the Greek verb behind supported may have been a legal term, referring to official testimony in court. No one stood by Paul or testified on his behalf; instead they all deserted him.

It seems certain that Onesiphorus, who “often refreshed [Paul], and was not ashamed of [his] my chains” (1:16), and the faithful Luke (4:11) had not yet arrived in Rome. Had they been there at that time, they would have stood by Paul and gladly shared his fate.

The price for such a stand could have been high. Because Paul was such a well-known leader among the Christians, and because Nero was so vehemently anti-Christian, some scholars believe the emperor himself may have presided over this hearing. Only a few years earlier, Nero had set Rome ablaze, blaming the unbelievably callous and evil deed on the Christians. While still alive, some Christians were sewn into the skins of freshly killed animals and released into the arena among wild dogs, who tore them to pieces. Others were coated with pitch and set afire to light Nero’s garden parties. That would be no excuse, of course, for those whom Jesus called not to take up their own crosses and follow Him (Matt. 10:38; 16:24; 27:40).

And although their actions were indefensible, perhaps some of them only rejected Paul, not Christ. Some may have been weak-hearted but not false-hearted. In any case, Paul prayed that their desertion might not be counted against them. Like Stephen (Acts 7:60) and the Lord Himself (Luke 23:24), the apostle had a supremely forgiving spirit.

CHRIST, THE FAITHFUL LORD

But the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, in order that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was delivered out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (4:17–18)

     Empire-wide persecution of the church had begun and Paul was on trial for his life. He stood before the dreadful Roman tribunal, perhaps before Nero himself. The court would have been jammed with spectators, much as in the trials of famous people in our own day, except that none of the spectators in Rome was on Paul’s side (cf. Acts 23:11).

Verses 17–18 form the apex of this passage, testifying to the faithfulness of Christ, the Lord [who] stood with [Paul] and strengthened [him]. He stood there not only or even primarily for Paul’s sake but that through the apostle the proclamation of the gospel might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Paul was the unique and divinely appointed apostle to the Gentiles (Rom. 11:13), and it was above all for their salvation and for the Lord’s glory that the apostle himself ministered (cf. Acts 9:15; 22:21; 26:17).

Paul often had been delivered out of the lion’s mouth, a common figure of mortal danger (see Ps. 22:21; 35:17). It also was the specific danger into which the Lord allowed Daniel to be placed and from which He miraculously delivered the prophet (Dan. 6:16–23). An immeasurably greater threat—for Paul and for every believer—comes from Satan himself, our “adversary, the devil, [who] prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Yet even the devil has no ultimate power over those who belong to Christ.

Paul did not fear physical danger. Many times he had faced death, and at least once was left for dead (see Acts 14:19). “Whatever I face,” he declared, the Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom. He knew that the completion of his own salvation was nearer than when he first believed (cf. Rom. 13:11) and preferred “rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8). For Paul, as for every believer, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). And although the apostle would not give up the battle until the Lord took him home, his loneliness, pain, deprivation, and desertion made the prospect of heaven all the more appealing.

For that and for everything the Lord had done, was doing, and was yet to do, Paul exulted, To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

THE FAITHFUL OLD FRIENDS

Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus. Erastus remained at Corinth, but Trophimus I left sick at Miletus. (4:19–20)

     Paul did not fail to remember old friends. He had met Prisca and Aquila at Corinth on his second missionary journey. They had fled Italy when the Emperor Claudius ordered all Jews expelled from Rome (Acts 18:2). Because they were fellow tentmakers, Paul stayed at their house while “reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks” (v. 4). When he and his party left Corinth, he took along this devoted couple and left them to minister in Ephesus (vv. 18–19). While there, Priscilla (the longer form of Prisca) and Aquila met a fellow “Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, [who] … was mighty in the Scriptures” (v. 24). When they realized Apollos’s understanding of the gospel was incomplete, they lovingly took him aside “and explained to him the way of God more accurately” (v. 26). In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle greeted “Prisca and Aquila, [his] fellow workers in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 16:3), indicating that these two special friends were again living and ministering in Corinth, the city from which the epistle was written.

Earlier in this letter, Paul expressed appreciation for the household of Onesiphorus, who “often refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains” (1:16). Because the household is mentioned in both places, it is obvious that everyone in it was a Christian, perhaps led to Christ by Onesiphorus himself. Such a household would have included not only family members but also servants and friends who lived with Onesiphorus.

The Erastus [who] remained at Corinth probably was “the city treasurer” of Corinth, who sent greetings through Paul to the church at Rome (Rom. 16:23). He also may have been the man whom the apostle sent with Timothy to minister in Macedonia (Acts 19:22).

Trophimus was a native of the province of Asia, specifically the city of Ephesus, and had accompanied Paul from Greece to Troas (Acts 20:1–6). He probably helped carry the offering to the church in Jerusalem, where he was the unintentional cause of Paul’s arrest for presumably bringing a Gentile into the temple (Acts 21:29). On his trip to Rome, Paul sadly had to leave him sick at Miletus.

It is important to note that Paul made no effort himself to heal Trophimus, who, incidentally, was present at the late-night service in Troas when the apostle miraculously restored life to Eutychus, a young man who went to sleep during the sermon and fell out a window to his death (Acts 20:9–10; cf. v.4). The sign gifts were coming to an end. There is no evidence that any of the apostles, including Paul, performed miracles of any sort during their later years. As more and more of the New Testament was revealed and made available to the church, God’s Word no longer needed the verification of miracles.

THE FAITHFUL NEW FRIENDS

Make every effort to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, also Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brethren. (4:21b)

     Before he extends greetings on behalf of fellow believers who now ministered with him and to him in Rome, Paul expands an earlier request (v. 9), asking Timothy to make every effort to come before winter. He would desperately need the cloak for warmth. As for the books and parchments, Paul realized that what little light he now had for reading and writing would decrease still more as the days became shorter.

Final greetings are extended on behalf of Eubulus, … Pudens and Linus. All three names were Latin, perhaps indicating that the men were from Italy and had been members of the church in Rome.

Claudia was a faithful believer and close friend of Paul about whom we know nothing else. Conjecture and legend have suggested she was the wife or mother of Linus, but no firm evidence supports those views.

THE BENEDICTION

The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you. (4:22)

     All of the people Paul mentions in this passage were part of the network in which he was involved. The network included both men and women, close friends and avowed enemies, the faithful and the deserter, the true believer and the unbeliever. In one way or another, they all affected the ministry and outreach of the early church, especially the ministry and outreach of this great apostle.

As always, Paul’s focus was on the Lord, whom he now asks to be with those special friends and co-workers in spirit. Most of them he would never see or hear from again. He left them in the Lord’s hands and in His grace.