But I hope in [the] Lord Jesus to send Timotheus to you shortly, that *I* also may be refreshed, knowing how ye get on.
Paul has just set out Christ's descent from glory to the cross, and told the Philippians to have that same mind. Now he turns to a travel plan, and the man he hopes to send shows that same mind at work in an everyday choice.
Paul does not say he will send Timothy. He says he hopes to — and he says where that hope rests.
There is something very lovely in the way Paul writes to his beloved friends. He tells them of his "hope" to send Timothy, and of his "confidence" that he himself would soon come. Both are "in the Lord," or "in the Lord Jesus." James tells us we should say, "If the Lord wills." Paul uses those words at times (1 Corinthians 4:19; 16:7). But Paul hopes, or is confident, in the Lord. There may be a difference between this and being "in Christ." That phrase would take us up to our union with Christ in heaven. The expression "in the Lord" seems to picture us as His bondservants down here. But both are in Him.
The uncertainty behind the word "hope" was not vague. Paul was writing under a sentence that might fall either way.
His death by violence seemed about to happen at any moment, and he had no special revelation to say otherwise. Yet, as we have already seen, he was inwardly persuaded that the Lord still had need of him — and that for the very sake of those he writes to. But while the suspense lasted he would keep his trusty fellow worker beside him. Then, once his fate for life or death was settled, those at Philippi could have the earliest and most trustworthy news of it.
Timothy was Paul's closest companion, and Paul was a prisoner. Sending him away cost something.
What a beautiful sample of the same self-denying love the Apostle had pointed out in Christ! He was seeking to form that love in the hearts of the Philippians. We know what Timothy was to the Apostle. To lose him at that moment might be the greatest loss to himself. Still he says, "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon."
Where the ESV has "cheered by news of you," older translations read "of good comfort." The phrase behind it is unusual. It belongs to a small family of words in this chapter.
The word we have translated "cheered-in-soul" is a very rare word. It only occurs here in the Greek Scriptures, and is thought not to occur at all in the Greek classics… Translators have rendered it in many ways: "good comfort, good courage, good cheer, take heart, refreshed." In the next verse we get a similar word that is even more uncommon. We have translated it "equal-in-soul." Paul loves to play on Greek words, and probably meant the two to be linked together. In verse 2 of this chapter we get a third very rare word. It is also found only here in the Greek New Testament, and it belongs to the same group… Our ordinary English Bibles translate it "of one accord."
The comfort Paul wanted was not relief from prison but news from Philippi.
But we see the same affections coming out still. Even in common things, he cannot be happy till he knows their state… I cannot rest perfectly happy till I know that all is well with you all.
That kind of bond ties a man's own condition to the condition of others.
This word "good comfort" means revived or refreshed, and we need not be surprised at his saying this. He told the Corinthians that he carried two burdens: pressure from outside, and what came upon him daily — the care of all the churches… If they are in good condition, so am I. If they are in distress, so am I. How good to find our interest so bound up with the saints.
The chapter moves from a pattern to people who show it.
This lowly mind is first set forth in perfection in Christ Himself. Then, for our encouragement, we see it in Paul, in Timothy, and in Epaphroditus. They were men with the same nature as ourselves. But they walked with Christ before them as their Pattern, and so they show the blessedness of those who forget self to serve others in love.
- Pattern. The mind of Christ earlier in this chapter is not left as an ideal. Paul, Timothy and Epaphroditus each live it out, and they share our nature.
- Cost. Paul sends away the one man he could least spare — self-denying love, of the kind he had just described in Christ.
- Dependence. He "hopes in the Lord Jesus." He holds his plans as a bondservant does, not as a schedule he controls — and his life hung in the balance.
- Comfort. The rare word for "good comfort" means cheered or revived in soul. What revives Paul is news of others, not release for himself.
- Bond. He cannot rest until he knows how they are. Their condition becomes his condition — his own interest bound up with theirs.
For I have no one like-minded who will care with genuine feeling how ye get on.
Paul is a prisoner in Rome. He plans to send Timothy to Philippi to find out how the believers there are doing. His praise of Timothy is warm, but it stings. Out of everyone with him, only one man truly cared about the Philippians.
The word "like-minded" points back into the chapter, and not only to Paul's own devotion. One writer traces it to the great pattern set out earlier in Philippians 2.
We must connect the word "like-minded" not only with Paul's own example in verse 17, but with the far greater example of Christ Himself in verses 5 to 8. In Timothy there lived, in a special way, "the mind which was in Christ Jesus." That is why Paul gave him his farewell instruction, "So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord" (2 Tim. 1:8), and again, "Preach the word" (2 Tim. 4:2).
One writer gives a more literal rendering of the phrase, and notes how rare such a person was.
Even in Paul's day there seem to have been few people who could cheer the Apostle's soul like this. But Timothy was one of them. Paul writes of him: "I have no man equal-in-soul, who will genuinely care about the things concerning you; for they all seek their own things, not the things of Christ Jesus." (The word translated "things" could just as well be translated "interests".)
The care Paul praises is not cold duty. One writer uses this verse to teach a wider lesson about feeling in Christian service.
Paul was not just a theologian, setting out Christian doctrine in a philosophical way. He was an eager servant of Christ. What he preached moved him in his spirit, and so did the needs of both saints and sinners. He praised Timothy too as one who would "care with genuine feeling how you are getting on" (Phil. 2:20, New Translation). Let us grow the same tenderness of feeling today.
It would be easy to read this as praise for a kind personality. One writer points to a different source, and notes that Timothy's care ran in two directions at once.
Timothy showed a son's obedience together with cheerful service. Paul knew him and could count on him, so he hoped to send him to them soon. Timothy was unselfish in the way he worked with Paul, and he would take an interest in others too. "I have no man like-minded," was the apostle's judgment of him, "who will naturally (or, with genuine feeling) care for your state; for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's." Here the secret comes out. What made Timothy such a valuable and true servant was not a naturally pleasant character, but a heart that sought the things of Christ.
Timothy was a great comfort to Paul in prison. That is what made sending him away so costly.
What a comfort Timothy must have been to Paul in the Roman prison! What cheer and joy to have such a man with him! What refreshment to his soul! Yet he is willing to give him up. "I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you." He does not seek his own. In self-denying devotion he is willing to part with him, so that the Philippians might enjoy his company.
Verse 20 stands against the verse that follows it. One writer reads the two together as a picture of the church in Paul's own day.
Take the practical state of the church as Paul saw it in Philippians 2:20-21. That was in his day. What a testimony! It was not that they had given up being Christians.
One writer turns the verse into a question for the reader today.
Before God, whose "things" are you seeking? Whose interests? Whose comfort? Whose pleasure? Whose ease? Whose profit? To me, these words are a real challenge. I pray God that they would challenge everyone who reads them! Perhaps this explains why so few young people go to the dark and needy parts of the Lord's harvest field.
- Mind — "Like-minded" reaches past Paul to Christ Himself in verses 5 to 8. Timothy shows the chapter's teaching in a living man.
- Feeling — The care was not cold duty. One rendering is "care with genuine feeling how you are getting on."
- Source — This was not a pleasant personality. It came from a heart that sought the things of Christ, and that is what made Timothy so useful.
- Cost — Paul gave away his one comfort in prison. He proved his own teaching by letting his best helper go for someone else's good.
- Contrast — Paul wrote "all seek their own" while the apostles still lived. The question it leaves is simple: whose interests are you seeking?
For all seek their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ.
Paul is about to send Timothy to Philippi. As he praises him, he passes a verdict on everyone else around him — words written from prison, by a man who could find almost no one whose heart ran like his.
The complaint is broad. Paul is describing love for Christ cooling among everyone who carried His name. So what were they neglecting?
There is no real doubt about what the apostle means. He speaks with deep feeling of love and devotion to Christ fading — love for His interests and His aims — among all who bore His name. This is not to be limited to his companions at the time. It is his solemn statement of the selfishness creeping over Christians as a whole, though in the passage itself he points to blessed exceptions: Timothy and Epaphroditus, and no doubt the saints he was writing to. The letter itself makes clear what "the things of Christ" are. They include the gospel, and fellowship with it and its conflicts. They include love for the saints and sympathetic help in their every need — not only spiritual but personal and material. They include our own progress in the grace of Christ, and gracious consideration of one another. And they keep Himself before us: in the love that came down to obey even to the death of the cross, in the glory where He is now on high, and in the assurance of His speedy coming.
Does "all" mean every believer then alive? Commentators differ. One weighs the Greek and finds a limit there — without softening the blow.
Someone may ask: does this Scripture really mean that in those days no one except Timothy sought the things of Jesus Christ rather than his own? God forbid that anyone should take away for a moment from the terrible force of this Scripture. But it is fair to say that in the Greek New Testament there is a little word before "all" — hoi, the word "the." Greek grammar, it is said, puts some limit on "all" here. ... I believe there always has been, and always will be, a remnant — however small and weak — who do seek the things of Jesus Christ. May God help us to be part of it, at any cost!
These people had not stopped believing. That is what makes the verse so searching.
Take the practical state of the church as seen by Paul in Philippians 2:20-21... That was in his day. What a testimony! It was not that they had given up being Christians.
The verse also presses on the word we use for Him.
While other things hold first place in our thoughts and our affections, we call Him "Lord" to little purpose. If He is truly Lord, He owns us completely. So His rights and His claims are our duty — and, if we think wisely, our interest too.
One man stood outside this verdict — and Paul gives him away.
He is just about to send Timothy away from himself so that he might know about them... Timothy shared the unselfishness of the apostle's heart. "For they all seek their own interests." You might think Paul would need his love and service all the more. Whatever he needed, love is only itself in unselfish action and suffering.
What marked Timothy was not talent but feeling. The older wording "naturally care for your state" has been rendered more plainly:
Timothy too he commended as one who would "care with genuine feeling how you get on" (Phil. 2:20, New Translation). Let us cultivate today a similar tenderness of feeling.
That leaves a choice running through every ordinary day, and something that exposes it.
There is no escaping the choice: we are taken up either with the Lord's things or with our own. The apostle judged it necessary to name this root of evil even when writing to the church at Philippi — an assembly with more than usual vigour and obedience to the word... With this before him, the apostle shows what the day of Christ does when it is understood and applied. It works powerfully against the selfishness of our hearts and deals with it unsparingly. The light of that day falls straight on what fills the present day.
Two things are needed together, not one:
This selfish attitude is, sadly, all too natural to us. We will not think differently without both a real purpose of heart and our eyes fixed on the right Object.
- Two sets of interests. Everything you do serves either His things or your own. There is no third column. The verse asks which one you are filling.
- His things named. The gospel. Love and real help for His people. Growth in grace. His cross behind us, His coming ahead. That is what you set aside when you choose your own.
- Not salvation, but devotion. Those Paul described had not stopped being Christians. They had stopped caring. That is why this warning lands on believers.
- One exception. One man shared the apostle's unselfish heart. Paul proved the same spirit by giving him away when he needed him most.
- The remnant, at any cost. There have always been a few who seek His things. It takes purpose of heart, eyes fixed on Christ, and the light of His day on today.
But ye know the proof of him, that, as a child a father, he has served with me in the work of the glad tidings.
Paul commends Timothy to the Philippians, and he points to what they had already seen. The verse turns on a proof they could test, a father-and-son bond, and a word for "served" that means slave's work.
Paul does not ask them to take his word for Timothy. He points to what time had already shown.
Timothy gave himself to the service of the Lord. He did not start well and then slacken off. The apostle can say to them, "But you know Timothy's proven worth." It seems Timothy had given every proof that what the apostle said about him was true. As a son with a father, he had served with Paul in the gospel. Character like this has to grow. It does not appear all at once. Long experience and devotion to the interests of our Lord Jesus Christ develop it.
They could check the claim for themselves. Timothy had worked among them before.
Timothy was no stranger at Philippi, and those to whom Paul wrote could judge the truth of this appeal. His words are worth noting. Timothy's service, he says, was like that of a son towards a father. Paul had both brought him to Christ and trained him for the work. But that service had God, not man, as its object.
Paul starts the sentence one way and finishes it another way. One writer explains what that small change protects.
The Greek sentence here breaks off in the middle. Some think the apostle meant to say, when he began it: "that, as a child serves a father, so he served me in the gospel." But after the first two or three words, he felt this was putting Timothy in a lower position. So, "with that beautiful courtesy which is characteristic of him," he avoids this, "and inserts 'with' before 'me,' breaking the construction, but with admirable effect." (Vaughan)
The verb is not a general word for helping out. One writer gives it literally, where most versions read "servant."
You may remember the letter began: "Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:1). The word most translations render as "serve" in the first part of verse 22 is the verb "to slave." It comes from the noun "slave" found in the first verse of our letter... The opening of the letter presents Paul and Timothy as fellow-slaves of the same Master. So it would not do to suggest that Timothy "slaved for Paul"... Paul was no hireling, and neither was Timothy. They both were slaves. Neither one was his own, for each had been bought with a price.
Timothy did not live for himself. One writer names what lay behind that.
Timothy did not seek his own interests. He too cared for others. He showed that spirit of subjection and affection seen in perfection in One only — the Son of God. Obedience as a son, combined with cheerful service, showed itself in Timothy... Here the secret comes out. It was not mere natural pleasantness of character that made Timothy such a valuable and true servant. It was a heart which sought the things of Christ.
A reader might excuse himself by saying Paul was exceptional. One writer answers that objection step by step.
The life of Christ was in Paul, and Christ was his pattern... But Paul was an apostle and had seen the Lord, we say. Yes, but this same life and mind was in Timothy, and Paul had no one else like-minded. Yes, we say again, but he was Paul's constant companion... Yes, that was so. But the same life and mind was in Epaphroditus. He was one of the Philippians, an ordinary man like ourselves.
- Proved. The Philippians had already watched Timothy at work. Long experience, not a quick start, builds that kind of character.
- Trained. Paul brought Timothy to Christ and trained him for the work. It was a son's relationship, but God, not Paul, was the object of the service.
- Shared. Paul breaks his own sentence to write "served with me," refusing to put Timothy in a lower place.
- Owned. The verb is the one behind "slave" in the letter's first verse: two men bought with a price, belonging to the same Master.
- Reachable. Natural pleasantness did not make Timothy valuable. A heart seeking the things of Christ did, and the same life showed in Epaphroditus, an ordinary man like ourselves.
Him therefore I hope to send immediately, as soon as I shall see how it goes with me
Paul is waiting for the verdict of his trial. He tells the Philippians that Timothy will come to them as soon as he knows the outcome. It is a plan with no date on it, made by a man who does not know whether he will live.
Older versions read "I hope to send him presently." Today that sounds vague. The word is stronger than that:
In Matthew 21:19 and Philippians 2:23 the words should be translated "immediately," as elsewhere.
A close rendering of the whole sentence keeps both halves in view — the immediacy, and the condition attached to it:
"This one, therefore, on the one hand, I am hoping to send immediately, as soon as I may see the things relating to me."
What Paul had to "see" was the outcome of his trial. Only then would he send Timothy:
Timothy was marked by the lowly mind of Christ. So Paul could use him in the care of the saints. He hoped to send him to the Philippian assembly as soon as he knew how his trial would end.
The plan had two stages:
The apostle clearly meant to send Timothy to Philippi as soon as the trial was over. He would stay in Italy himself until Timothy came back with a report on how they were doing.
Two things stand side by side here: what Paul expects, and what he trusts. One writer marks the difference:
He bases his expectation on his circumstances, while he rests his trust in God. His case could not stay undecided for long, he thought. Once he knew the worst or the best, he would send off his trusted and beloved messenger… His enemies, who opposed him for the truth's sake, were strong. They seemed to hold his life in their hands. But the Lord he trusted was mightier than they were.
Paul expected to stay with them, yet he still spoke of waiting to see. One writer holds both together:
He had the impression from the Lord that he was going to stay, even though he did say he would "see how it will go with me"… He wanted to know Christ so much that he would rather go through even a violent death. But it was better for the saints that he should stay with them.
Sending Timothy cost Paul something. He was giving away a man dear to him, at a time when others were looking after themselves:
Sadly, even then all were seeking their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ… Whatever it cost him, he would send one so dear to him and to them, once he could report how matters stood.
Two verses earlier Paul said that everyone seeks their own things, not the things of Jesus Christ. Now he speaks of his own affairs. Willis keeps the two apart without setting them against each other:
We must notice the difference between the "things of Christ Jesus" (verse 21) and the "things that relate to me" (verse 23)… But the things relating to Paul also matter to Paul, and to those who loved him. They take nothing away from wholehearted devotion to the things of Christ Jesus.
Paul timed his two messengers by what the Philippians needed:
You see, he could say he would send Timothy soon. It was not so with Epaphroditus — he had to send him at once. They had heard that Epaphroditus had been sick, and they were sad. So the apostle takes care to end that sorrow by sending him to them.
- Without delay. The word behind "just as soon" means "at once." Paul is not putting Timothy off. He is timing him.
- The verdict. He waited to "see" the end of his trial. Then Timothy could go, and come back with news of the Philippians.
- Two footings. His expectation rested on his circumstances. His trust rested on God, who was stronger than the men who seemed to hold his life.
- The cost. Sending Timothy cost Paul a friend who was dear to him. Love gives away what it most wants to keep.
- His things and Christ's. Paul can speak of his own affairs and still put the things of Jesus Christ first. And when the Philippians were troubled, he sent Epaphroditus at once while Timothy waited.