Acts 16:1–3

This chapter opens with Paul back at Derbe and Lystra — back, that is, to the scenes where he had suffered the stoning. In those very places he now finds Timothy, who was to become in his later years such a comfort to him. A happy illustration of how God's government acts in favour of the godly. We tend to think of it only as acting against the ungodly. Out of the place of Paul's sufferings sprang one of his greatest comforts.

Luke says little about the other results of the apostle's visit to Derbe and Lystra. Our attention centres on a "young disciple" there. So Timothy was not converted at this time. No doubt he was converted during the apostle's earlier visit, for Paul speaks of him as his "true child in the faith". Paul had become his father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Timothy fully knew what persecutions Paul endured at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. Most of these persecutions happened on Paul's first missionary journey, when Timothy was perhaps only a boy. But he knew all about them, and he may have seen some of them himself. At Lystra the crowd stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. Very probably the boy Timothy stood among the disciples who gathered around him when he rose up and entered the city.

Paul traces Timothy's faith back only to where the Christian faith began in his family, with his grandmother: "a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice" (2 Timothy 1:5). We learn from this same letter that Timothy had known the Holy Scriptures from childhood — and who can doubt that he learned them through the teaching of these godly women, or at least his mother? The grandmother and the mother had embraced the Christian faith, and so had Timothy. The apostle seems to treat this as proof that "the faith" was all the more real in Timothy's soul. It also laid on him a still more solemn duty of faithfulness to the Lord in this loose and corrupt period of the church. Every reader must conclude that it is a priceless blessing to have godly parents — parents who seek to bring up their children in the nurture and instruction of the Lord.

Confusion had entered into the practical life of the Jews, as it had among Christians. The mother of Timothy was a Jewess, his father a Greek — a thing unlawful among the Jews. His mother was godly, and his grandmother too. Now such a marriage was completely contrary to the custom of the Jews. See Nehemiah 13:23-31; Ezra 9, 10. According to these books the sons and daughters counted as heathen. They had to be rejected and sent away, along with the wife. It was a disorder.

They must above all look for the evidence that it is God who has called him. This involves the principle mentioned when Timothy first went out with Paul: he "was well spoken of by the brothers" (Acts 16:2). There were those who knew him well.

They did not have to go far before they found a new companion, Timothy of Lystra. He was to fill the gap caused by the disagreement with Barnabas. Paul lost the fellowship of Barnabas as a friend and brother. But in Timothy, his own son in the faith, he found a sympathy and a fellowship that ended only with the apostle's life.

Scripture says little about the other results of the apostle's visit to Derbe and Lystra. It concentrates our attention on a "young disciple" there. So he was not converted on this visit, but no doubt during the apostle's earlier one. Paul speaks of him as his "true child in faith." Paul had brought him to new birth in Christ Jesus through the gospel. His circumstances were unusual. He was the son of a believing Jewish woman, Eunice, but his father was Greek. The believers in those parts gave him an exceptionally good testimony.

This chapter opens with Paul back at Derbe and Lystra — back, that is, to the scenes where he had suffered the stoning. In those very places he now finds Timothy, who was to become in his later years such a comfort to him. A happy illustration of how God's government acts in favour of the godly. We are apt to think of it only as acting against the ungodly. Out of the place of Paul's sufferings sprang one of his greatest comforts.

His home was in either Derbe or Lystra, probably Lystra. His mother was a believing Jewish woman named Eunice. Genuine faith lived not only in her but first in his grandmother Lois. His father was a Greek, and since he had never been circumcised, he may have been raised as a Greek. Even so, he knew the Holy Scriptures from earliest childhood. The brothers who lived in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him… It was at Lystra that a crowd stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. Very probably the boy Timothy was among the disciples who "stood around him" when he "rose up and entered the city." He must also have known how John Mark had turned back from the very path of service to which he was now called. Yet he did not hesitate to follow Paul, though he must have known it would mean sharing the same kind of persecution. I wonder how many of us would have done the same.

Timothy was timid by nature (2 Tim. 1:6-8), yet Paul clearly saw him as a dependable worker with a good report from the believers. This always matters if you are concerned about doing the work of the Lord.

The servant's viewpoint and the assembly's must stay quite distinct in this matter. The servant is to be God's servant only, and not man's. Even so, the assembly has to judge whether it can share fellowship with him in his work… Above all, they must look for evidence that God has called him. This involves the principle mentioned when Timothy first went out with Paul: he "was well spoken of by the brothers" (Acts 16:2). There were people who knew him well.

The presbytery were the company of elders who doubtless knew Timothy, and so testified to it. (Compare Acts 16:2.)

Confusion had crept into the everyday life of the Jews, as it had among the Christians. Timothy's mother was Jewish, his father Greek — a thing unlawful among the Jews. Such a marriage went completely against Jewish custom. See Nehemiah 13:23-31; Ezra 9 and 10. Those books count the sons and daughters as heathen, to be rejected and sent away with the wife. It was a disorder. The Jews all knew his father was a Greek. With a Jewish mother, Timothy's position was a scandal to them, and the apostle removes the scandal. In their eyes the Greek father had made the mother impure. They would have had plenty to say if her son brought them the gospel.

To circumcise Timothy was precisely what the law would not have done. Everyone knows that when a Jew and a Gentile married, the law would have nothing to say to their children. In law, a Jewish father could not own his own children by a Gentile mother, and the same the other way round. (See Ezra 10.) Timothy was the child of such a marriage. So no one had any claim to circumcise him, even if it was allowed. And just because there was no such claim, Paul stoops in grace to those on lower ground, and stops their mouths completely. Grace knows how and when to bend, no less than to be as unflinching as a rock.

Timothy's father was a Greek, so Timothy was not circumcised. Jewish circles would not have accepted him. Paul knew this and circumcised him... In Timothy's case it was simply a matter of removing something that would have got in the way of his service for the Lord. Paul was not concerned to keep up an appearance of consistency that would have been only skin-deep. Here was a God-given helper in the work, and it was best to remove all that would hinder his labours.

The two cases look alike, yet the apostle treats the men very differently. This difference of action involves a principle, and breaking it has been the fruitful source of division in the Church of God. "Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing." In itself it makes no difference. But the moment anyone tries to impose it, we must resist firmly. Otherwise the liberty of the gospel is damaged, or conscience toward God is wounded. In this case it was "false brothers," not unbelieving Jews, who tried to impose circumcision and so bring the gospel under Jewish law.

Paul could circumcise Timothy (Acts 16:1-3), because no one could demand it. But with Titus, where they did demand it, the apostle firmly refuses. Grace knows what is consistent with the truth of the gospel.

Here we find a principle of real importance for our guidance. It matters all the more because Paul did something that many, one can imagine, would judge him for. It is remarkable how ready people are to judge those who know far better than they do. People who know very little are the readiest of all. Nothing is easier than forming a judgment. Whether the grounds are adequate and the conclusion sound are other questions... What alarm this must have caused among the believers, especially the Gentiles! The battle for Gentile freedom from circumcision had just been fought and won.