I am excited to start writing about Paul’s first letter to Timothy. But before we dig in, it is important to know who Timothy is. The first place we see him mentioned is the book of Acts. “Paul went on to Derbe and Lystra, where there was a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman, but his father was a Greek. The brothers and sisters at Lystra and Iconium spoke highly of him. Paul wanted Timothy to go with him; so he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, since they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled through the towns, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders at Jerusalem for the people to observe. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers” (16:1-5).
We learn that Timothy was the son of a believing Jewish woman, and a nonbelieving Greek father. We learn a little more about his mother in 2 Timothy 1:5. “I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and now, I am convinced, is in you also.” Timothy was considered Jewish, because in Judaism, the method of determining one’s Jewishness is passed on through the mother. He was raised knowing the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15), but he was not circumcised, perhaps because of his Greek father.
In this passage from Acts 16, Timothy is circumcised before he travels with Paul. The question for some might be, Doesn’t Paul speak against this in Galatians? On the gotquestions.org website, they put it this way. “Circumcision was not necessary to have a right relationship with God. (Galatians 5:6; 6:15). Yet Timothy allowed himself to be circumcised so that he could be a more effective witness for Christ. He exemplified Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:22: “To the weak, I became weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”
Timothy was chosen to be part of Paul’s second missionary journey, and he became part of his inner circle. His name is mentioned twenty-four times in the New Testament. I was surprised when I read this. I knew that Paul had written the two letters to him, but I didn’t realize how many times Paul mentioned him in his other letters. Paul begins the following epistles with greetings from himself and Timothy: 2 Corinthians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and Philemon.
Paul describes Timothy in the following ways. “Timothy, my coworker…” (Romans 16:21). “He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord…” (1 Corinthians 4:17). “…Timothy our brother…” (2 Corinthians 1:1). “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 1:1). “And we sent Timothy, our coworker in the gospel of Christ…” (1 Thessalonians 3:2). As you can see, Paul held Timothy in the highest regard.
This passage in Philippians best exemplifies how Paul feels about Timothy. “Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon so that I too may be encouraged by news about you. For I have no one else like-minded who will genuinely care about your interests; all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know his proven character, because he has served with me in the gospel ministry like a son with a father. Therefore, I hope to send him as soon as I see how things go with me. I am confident in the Lord that I myself will also come soon” (2:19-24). Paul looks on Timothy like a son, someone who is like-minded in the faith.
Paul wrote the letters (1 and 2 Timothy) to encourage him. According to 1 Timothy 1:3, Timothy is in Ephesus. In Acts 20, Paul had left the church at Ephesus. This is a church that he loved dearly. We read in verses 36-38, “After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.There were many tears shed by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. And they accompanied him to the ship.” Now Timothy was at Ephesus, finishing the work that Paul had started.
According to Andreas J. Köstenberger, in his 1-2 Timothy & Titus commentary, “Paul’s first letter to Timothy was written about fifteen years after Paul’s initial encounter with Timothy. If Timothy was a young man in his mid-twenties when he first met the apostle, he would have been about forty years of age at the time of writing (cf. the reference to Timothy’s youth in 1 Timothy 4:12). The apostle would have been in his late fifties or early sixties.” I was thinking that Timothy was younger because of these verses, but this makes sense because of the obvious age difference between him and Paul.
Paul sends his letters as a means of encouragement. We see just a little bit of Timothy in these. He may have been feeling a little bit of discouragement, which is why Paul tells him to “…fight the good fight…” (1 Timothy 1:18). He may have been feeling unworthy or unqualified, which is why Paul tells him, “Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12). Timothy had some health issues, and Paul tells him, “Don’t continue drinking only water, but use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Timothy 5:23). And lastly, Paul must remind him, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Paul loved Timothy like a son. His second letter was written during his second Roman imprisonment, before his execution under Nero. In 2 Timothy 4:5, Paul writes, “But as for you, exercise self-control in everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” Timothy is called to carry on the ministry that Paul started. And that ministry has been carried on through the church for the last two thousand years.
Abundant Joy 