Bible Commentaries: December 9-15, 2024

Information about the city of Philippi

• The name means belonging to Philip. A city in Macedonia, formerly called Crenides, whose name derives from Philip, king of Macedonia and father of Alexander the Great, who rebuilt and beautified it (around 350 BC). Ancient Philippi, about fifteen kilometers from the coast, is in ruins today. However, its ancient port of Neapolis is known today as Kavalla. A series of steep hills passed through the ancient stone road built for the interior mines' traffic between Philippi and the sea.

• It was in Philippi that Paul first preached the Gospel in Europe on his second missionary journey, converting Lydia and the jailer (Acts 16:12-40; 1 Thess 2:2). The Apostle Paul visited those people twice (Acts 20:1-6), encouraging the church established there, which was under the care of Luke for many years. The Christians in Philippi always expressed their gratitude for the faith they had received through Paul. They helped the Apostle on several occasions (Phil 4:16), sent him money when he was in Achaia, and when they learned that he was a prisoner in Rome, they sent him a donation through Epaphroditus, 61, 62 AD (Phil 2:25-30 and Phil 4:10-20).

Some information about Timothy

• The name Timothy means Honoring God. A young companion of Paul, a resident or perhaps a native of Lystra in Lycaonia, where the apostle first met him (Acts 16:1, 2). His father was a Greek, but his mother and grandmother, being pious Jews, carefully brought up Timothy in the teaching of the Holy Scriptures (2 Tim. 3:14). He was probably converted while still young, on the occasion of the apostle’s first visit to Lystra (Acts 14:6; Acts 16:1; 1 Cor. 4:17; 1 Tim. 1:2; and 2 Tim. 1:2). After the separation which occurred between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark (Acts 15:37-39), Paul chose Timothy to assist him in his labors. Having been circumcised, he was a loyal and esteemed co-worker of Paul. He assisted the Apostle in establishing the churches at Philippi and Thessalonica (Acts 17:14), taking a special interest in the former (Phil. 2:19). After remaining for some time at Berea (Acts 17:13, 14), he probably went to join Paul at Athens, who then sent him to Thessalonica (1 Thess. 3:2), and soon met his master again at Corinth, bringing news of the church.

With Paul and Silas, he is mentioned at the beginning of the two Epistles to the Thessalonians. Timothy is next seen working in Ephesus (Acts 19:22), receiving encouragement for this work from the greeting in the Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon. From that city, he was sent with Erastus to Macedonia and Achaia (Acts 19:22), with a special mission for the church at Corinth (1 Cor. 4:17). Later, he appears with others in a greeting to the church at Rome (Rom. 16:21), and then accompanies the Apostle to Asia (Acts 20:4). It is not known whether he went with Paul to Rome. It is most likely that he met his director and teacher in that city and was then sent to Philippi (Phil. 2:19). The Apostle recommends that he hurry to visit him when he was last imprisoned (2 Tim. 4:9-13). The Epistle to the Hebrews mentions Timothy's release from prison, but it is not known when this letter was written nor where it was written; it is also challenging to understand the reference. Church tradition says that he was martyred in Ephesus when John was exiled on the island of Patmos.

Some information about Titus

• Titus was Paul's friend and trusted companion. He was Greek by birth (Gal 2:3) and was converted to Christianity by the influence of that Apostle, who called him his "true son according to the common faith" (Ti 1:4; 1 Tim 1:2). Nothing is known about his family or his homeland. Titus is mentioned for the first time when he accompanied Paul and Barnabas to the city of Jerusalem (Gal 2:1 and Acts 15:2). Some years later he reappears in connection with the church at Corinth, from which place he bore a letter to the Apostle (2 Cor. 2:13; 2 Cor. 7:6). The interest which Titus took in that church seems to have been remarkable (2 Cor. 8:23), and his purity of motives is regarded as unquestionable (2 Cor. 12:17, 18). At Paul's direction, he remained in Crete (Titus 1:5). There is no evidence of the Apostles ever visiting that island, except what is read in Acts 27:7. But he may have been in Crete after his first imprisonment at Rome. Titus had to meet Paul again at Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). After this, he parted from the Apostle to go to Dalmatia (2 Tim. 4:10). Of his afterlife, nothing is known. Some have identified him with Justus, to whom reference is made in Acts 18:7, and Silas. But his name does not appear in the Acts of the Apostles.

God's plan to redeem humanity

• Man was created to be a servant of God, but he does not want to be a servant; he wants to be a master. Eve gave in to temptation because she wanted to be like God (Genesis 3:5). The brief story of the enslaved person Onesimus, who ran away from Philemon's house, is in the Word because it resembles the man who runs away from God's presence because he does not want to be his servant (Philemon 10-12). Onesimus ran away so as not to be a servant and ended up in the same prison where Paul was imprisoned. There, he heard the message of salvation and converted. He was freed, and Paul returned him to his master's house. The book is a letter that Paul wrote to Philemon to welcome back the enslaved person, now transformed into a brother in faith, since Philemon had already converted, and to treat him kindly, saying that if he had caused him any harm, he should put it on his account and he would pay for it himself.

• It is common to find people who were born in an evangelical home, and when they reach a certain age, they move away from the house of the Lord because they want to “be free.” It turns out that true freedom only exists in the home of the Father. The world enslaves; it surrounds man with oppression; it robs him of the right to make his own choices, forcing him to follow what the masses, the “collective unconscious,” are doing. In this prison, the Holy Spirit (typified here in the person of Paul) finds the “runaway” servant and makes him understand these things.

The Holy Spirit reaches man to free his soul from the prison of the world of sin and deceit and sends him back to the Father (verse 12) so that he may be with Him forever in his eternity (verse 15, final part). Verse 18 is the assurance that the Holy Spirit (the Blood of Jesus) gives man that all sin committed has been forgiven (1 John 1:7).