Even Super Heroes need a Friend

“9 Do your best to come to me soon. 10 For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 11 Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. 12 Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. 14 Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds. 15 Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message. 16 At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them! 17 But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” (2 Timothy 4 ESV)

This passage is so very deep, and reveals the place where Paul was at this point in his life. “Do your best to come to me soon.” Paul lists those who have left him alone. Do you get the sense that Paul is lonely, and misses Timothy? This epistle pulls at my heart because what I see is the sadness of Paul in his writing. He loves Timothy like his own son. His greeting to Timothy is unlike all others in his epistles. Paul is alone except for Luke. How he longs for the company.

“Bring Mark,” Mark is useful to Paul in the ministry, and as the others have left, Mark can support the mission. He is useful and he is a friend. In verses 6, 7, and 8, Paul is telling us his time is almost over. He will be with Christ soon. As much as Paul is filled with Christ, he is alone, and we can see the sadness of this passage. The desertion by Demas, Crescens, and Titus is taking its toll on him. Paul is an old man. I cannot imagine how tired he was at this point in his life. How broken he was yet still fighting the good fight.

Paul asks Timothy to bring his cloak and parchments. Paul is cold, he asks for his cloak for warmth. He has been harmed by Alexander although he does not speak specifically about how he was harmed but warns Timothy of him because Alexander is against doctrine. Yet Paul leaves it to God to settle the matter. He holds no grudge. Sitting alone in his cell, how a single book could have passed time. What if those parchments contained a sketch of the gospel? What if Mark and Luke read that framework and were led to write the gospels? Purely conjecture, but what if it was? We will never know. Paul wanted those things and his loved ones because the end was close. No one wants to be alone at their death.

When Paul had to defend himself, no one was there with him. He stood alone in the shadow of the Lord and while that can be strengthening, when one is old and tired, physically beaten, how uplifting would it have been to have a friend standing there? But he held nothing against those who abandoned him. Paul was strengthened by the Lord and defended himself while still spreading the message of hope, the gospel.

If I could have that strength of God in my old age to come, how blessed would I be, would you be? Paul was a superhero of evangelism, but Paul was still human. He still needed God’s grace and God’s mercy. He still had aches and pains, he could still be overcome with loneliness, isolation, and boredom. He was still persecuted until the Lord brought him home.

From a righteousness standpoint, there was nothing that could be marked upon Paul after his conversion. Paul lived for Christ because he knew Christ died for him. What hope can we gain from this man? Hope in Christ, in forgiveness, in service to the Lord, or hope in our resurrection.

The Apostles were men, they were human just like us, and yet their faith in the Lord changed the world. What can you do for the Lord in exchange for what He has done for you?

Grace and Peace!