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Equipping Men with Biblical Knowledge and Leadership Skills
Category: Personal Study
Thread: Enigmatic Bible Characters Who Changed the World
Post Topic: Devoted Messenger, Beloved Brother, Sacrificial Soldier – to the Edge of Death and Back
Post in Thread: #5
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Scripture: Philippians 2:25-30
Key Verses:
Philippians 2:29-30
29 So then, welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30 because he almost died for the work of Christ. He risked his life to make up for the help you yourselves could not give me.
Enigmatic, Obscure Bible Characters
An enigma is a person that is mysterious or puzzling to understand. The Bible contains many such characters. The writer will drop a name or describe a nameless person, and tell a story about them. As a writer, it always makes me wonder – what makes them tick? Why was that particular name dropped? What’s their backstory?
In this series, I put you in their situations, and describe what we know and what we speculate about these obscure characters from history.
Observations
Context
When Paul wrote this letter to the church in Philippi, he was a prisoner in Rome. The church that he was writing to had been planted by Paul himself on Paul’s second missionary journey, taken with Silas. We read in chapter 4 of Philippians that the church had some splits over theological issues, but we also read that they were the most loving and generous church around, supporting Paul and his mission and the needy in the communities around them.
True to their giving nature, the church sent Epaphroditus to deliver a message and a package of gifts. Such a journey took time and always had dangers, unexpected illnesses among them.
Paul Lauds Epaphroditus
Paul’s description of Epaphroditus is glowing:
- Co-worker in Christ
- Fellow soldier
- Your messenger who took care of my needs
- Risked his life
- Paul would have experienced sorrow upon sorrow if Epaphroditus had died—Epaphroditus was beloved by Paul
What Happened?
We don’t know all the details, but from the text, we can glean the following about Epaphroditus:
- The church at Philippi sent him to Paul as their messenger, bearing a care package of sorts. Probably included both money and necessities.
- He had been of great service to Paul in prison. So great that Paul labeled him a fellow soldier in Christ.
- He had gotten quite ill, going to the edge of death and back.
- The Philippians had known of his illness and were quite concerned. So it must have been serious enough that Paul felt the need to send word back to the church there.
- God saw fit to heal Epaphroditus. His sickness was so dire that it required divine intervention (Luke would have been there in Rome too, and Luke was a physician, so he would have known. It wasn’t hyperbole).
- Upon recovery, Epaphroditus was distressed to learn that those back home knew about his illness. He wanted to spare them the worry. Remember, they had no iPhones back then.
- Paul trusted Epaphroditus to carry his letter back to Philippi. This letter became a prized epistle in our canon of Scripture.
Interpretation
Setting
Paul would have written this letter as a prisoner in Rome, awaiting his appeal to Caesar. Best case, he might have been under house arrest, but he would not have been comfortable at all. Paul determined that God had put him in that situation for a reason. He took his imprisonment as an opportunity to spread the gospel to the imperial Roman guards.
Genre
Epistle / Missionary Letter.
Takeaways
Epaphroditus is never mentioned in the book of Acts, yet Paul found it imperative to write glowing paragraphs about him in this letter. Epaphroditus embodied the sacrificial nature of the church at Philippi.
What an encouragement Epaphroditus was to Paul. He is a great example of how we can be an encouragement and a support to our Christian leaders and missionaries.
Imagine
A fellow-writer I met at a conference, Jenifer Jennings, wrote a book about Epaphroditus that inspired me to write this blog. Her descriptions of Philippi, Rome, and the struggles faced by a Gentile Christian in that ancient world are vivid and moving. Her research, impeccable. Check out this story here: Leading Philippi, by Jenifer Jennings.
Here is a tiny excerpt, from the scene after Epaphroditus awoke from his illness:
Epaphroditus shut his eyes again. “I asked Adonai to take what was left of me. To use it. Even if I never rose from this mat again.”
Silence stretched.
Then Luke said quietly, “That kind of offering…is rarely refused.”
Correlations
As exemplified by Epaphroditus, let us be humble servants, seeking to put the Lord and others above ourselves:
- Philippians 2:3-4 – In this same chapter, Paul exhorts us to humbly value others more than ourselves, not looking to our own interests, but to those of others.
As Epaphroditus made himself available, so should we make ourselves available when God calls us.
- Isaiah 6:8 – When the Lord asked whom he should send, Isaiah answered the call eagerly, without hesitation. “Here am I. Send me!“
Our life belongs to God. Everything we have is from God. Epaphroditus understood this, and was willing to sacrifice it all.
- Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Application
Generic Applications
What’s in a name?
Names meant a lot 2,000 years ago. Parents gave their children names for a particular reason. What does the name Epaphroditus mean? It means belonging to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess associated with pagan desires and rituals. She was the goddess of love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, fertility, etc. Out of that backdrop emerged this soldier for Christ.
Epaphroditus belonged, not to Aphrodite, but to Jesus. Everything he did and everything that was said about him bears this out.
Our backgrounds do not define us. Just as Epaphroditus emerged from a grotesquely pagan society and family to be so honored by Paul, so can we overcome our circumstances and history if we put our faith in Christ. And He will use us, as he used Epaphroditus.
Giving it all
Epaphroditus was willing to sacrifice everything for Christ. Judging by his name, he might have sacrificed family relations. He left the comfort of Philippi behind to bring their gifts to Paul. He stayed to serve Paul and make sure the apostle’s needs were met. And he almost gave his life for his efforts.
What are things that hold back Christians from giving everything we have to the Lord?
Personalize it
Epaphroditus knew he was going the extra mile to serve God’s apostle. To deliver care that others in his church didn’t have the capacity to provide. He figured he’d deliver the message and be a behind-the-scenes helper, taking care of Paul’s needs. He never expected his name to live forever, being read by countless people for thousands of years. But his availability made all the difference. He was available to deliver the care package. He was available to serve. And because of that, God allowed him to be available to carry Paul’s letter back to Macedonia.
Is there an area of my life where God wants me to be more available? Am I in a station in life where it would be possible for me to step in where others can’t?
Bible study methodology adapted from Searching the Scriptures with permission from Tyndale House:
Swindoll, Charles, Searching the Scriptures. Tyndale House Publishers, 2016.
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