for he was also sick close to death, but God had mercy on him, and not indeed on him alone, but also on me, that I might not have sorrow upon sorrow.
Epaphroditus came so close to dying that his recovery could only be called mercy. Paul counts that mercy twice — once for the sick man, once for himself, spared a second grief on top of the grief he already carried.
Many people assume that illness in a believer's life is God punishing a particular sin. Commentators answer that assumption with this case.
It would be a very serious mistake to say "that all the trials and sufferings of Christians are punishments for some particular sin." Very often God sends these things as a preventive and to draw the heart nearer to Christ. Who would dare say that the sickness of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2 was a punishment for some particular sin? The apostle expressly tells us that "for the work of Christ, he was near to death."
No miracle raised Epaphroditus; God's mercy did. One writer sets that beside what the apostles' miracles were for.
Notice that the disciples never did miracles to save themselves from suffering. They did none to heal their friends when they were ill either. Paul left Trophimus sick at Miletus; it was only God's mercy that healed Epaphroditus. The miracles the apostles did confirmed the testimony. Christ, glorified with the Father, was the object and source of that testimony.
Earlier in the same letter Paul had written that to depart and be with Christ is far better. So calling survival a mercy can look like a contradiction.
"But God had mercy on him." We must remember what Paul said only one chapter earlier. He said "to die is gain," and that to depart and be with Christ is "far better." Yet now he says God had mercy on Epaphroditus in sparing him... So God has mercy on us, and sometimes, if He sees fit, spares us or those we love, to stay down here a little longer, to live for Himself. But let us be careful. In our prayers about such a matter let us say, "Your will be done." Otherwise we may have the sad experience of Hezekiah. He gained fifteen years of life, but in those years he became the father of Manasseh, one of the most wicked of Judah's kings.
Paul does not stop at what God did for Epaphroditus. He counts the healing as kindness done to himself. One writer draws from that how God views the sickness of His children.
See how the apostle loves to trace the goodness of God, not merely toward the person who was the immediate object of God's dealings, but toward himself also. Scripture nowhere suggests such a thing in the mind of God as looking coldly on the sickness or death of His children. Too often this is the case with us, as if it did not much matter, or as if it were a mark of spirituality to be like a stone.
The phrase assumes sorrow already in place. Losing Epaphroditus would have added a second grief, and the Philippians would have felt the loss too.
Paul already had much sorrow. He would have had sorrow upon sorrow if the Philippians had lost their beloved servant and messenger through the services he had done for them. But God had spared Epaphroditus, and the apostle himself... What a picture of mutual love and kind concern!
That grief sits inside a letter known for joy.
Christians are richly blessed. They can draw on unfailing, unlimited and endless wells of joy, and circumstances cannot stop them flowing. And yet this is not to say that they do not know sorrow (or that they should pretend not to feel it). Not so in Paul's case. In this very letter he tells us about Epaphroditus, his fellow-worker and fellow-soldier. If illness had snatched Epaphroditus away, Paul would have had "sorrow upon sorrow" (2:27).
A quick miracle would have closed the story early. Instead the sickness became the reason this man's name is known at all.
And we have noticed what great losers you and I would be if God had miraculously healed Epaphroditus — for we would probably never have heard of him.
- Cause — he nearly died doing the work of Christ, so his illness was no punishment for some particular sin.
- Gift — Paul worked no miracle here; God's mercy healed Epaphroditus, and mercy is His to give, not ours to demand.
- Prayer — spared life is real mercy, but Hezekiah's extra fifteen years warn us to pray, "Your will be done."
- Reach — the mercy landed on Paul too. God never looks coldly on the sickness of His children, and neither should we.
- Result — joy in this letter never pretends sorrow away. And if God had healed him at once, we would never have heard of Epaphroditus.
I have sent him therefore the more diligently, that seeing him ye might again rejoice, and that *I* might be the less sorrowful.
Epaphroditus had come to Paul from Philippi, fell ill, and nearly died. Now Paul sends him home in a hurry, so that his friends can rejoice — and so that his own sorrow will weigh less.
Epaphroditus had travelled from Philippi with the church's gift, then fell ill, and news of his sickness reached home. Paul speeds up the return journey because of what the Philippians were feeling.
Epaphroditus had been sent twice: first by his brothers in Philippi, then by Paul — and Epaphroditus went. And when he got home to Philippi, how his friends and brothers would rejoice! They had been so sad and anxious, and so Paul had sent him the more diligently, or speedily. But now they rejoiced again. Paul does not say he rejoiced to see his beloved friend and brother leave him. He says he was less sorrowful, because he knew the joy of that meeting so soon to take place in Philippi.
Some take the word for "rejoice" as no more than a "farewell." One writer shows why that reading does not fit.
The verb has a second meaning: it is used for greeting someone, and so for "farewell." But the context keeps that sense within narrow limits... Everywhere else it means "rejoice," or "be glad." That is strikingly true in the letter to the Philippians, where it is a clear keynote: Philippians 1:18; 2:17-18, 28; 3:1; and 4:4, 10.
Notice what Paul does not write. He hands his own comfort away and describes the result exactly, without inflating it.
There is such a thing as the Spirit of God identifying Himself with human affections, as well as with divine ones. We find divine affections in Philippians 1, and human affections here in Philippians 2. The Holy Spirit has been pleased to bring down divine affections, so to speak, and put them into us. He has also been pleased to bring the human affections of the saints to life... The Apostle does not say, "And that I may rejoice too." There is no unreality here, nothing but transparent truthfulness, as well as the most blessed love... He did feel the pain of parting with Epaphroditus. But he could rejoice that such a help went to them, because they would rejoice. And he himself would be the less sorrowful. It was his loss, but it would certainly be their gain.
In verses 26-28 each person is more troubled about the other than about himself.
Verses 26-28 give us a fine picture of delicate affection and tender thought for others. Epaphroditus had been sick, and for the work of Christ he came close to death. The Philippians had heard of it, and this distressed the heart of the devoted sufferer. It was a deep trial to him that he had caused them even a moment's anxiety. It made him long to see them again, so that their hearts would be at rest. Paul fully shared this feeling. He wanted to keep him, but he urged him to return, so that the saints would rejoice when they saw him again. Wonderful! What does the selfish heart of man, as man, know of such feelings? This is the Spirit's fruit — He forms the new man after Christ.
One writer traces this whole letter back to the sickness.
God's all-wise dealings with His children form a mysterious chain. The weightiest results often hang on the slenderest links! Without the sickness of Epaphroditus, and the kind sympathies that followed, we might never have had this priceless letter. Both the blow and the mercy came upon Epaphroditus for our sake — for us in later generations, who have thought over this matchless writing to the profit and delight of our souls. God's Church would then keep a living picture and example before it to the end. It shows what His grace is, and what that grace works out in practice when men receive it with understanding into their hearts. To part from Epaphroditus was no joy to Paul; but in thinking of the glad effect of his return to them, he found a medicine for his grief.
- Sent because they grieved. Their sadness over his sickness made Paul hurry him home instead of keeping him.
- Sent to restore joy. "Rejoice" here is not a polite farewell. It is the keynote of the letter, and seeing him again sets it off.
- Sent at a cost. Paul says only that his sorrow will weigh less. There is no pretended gladness — his loss is their gain.
- Sent by the Spirit's work. The selfish human heart knows nothing of such care. It is the Spirit forming the new man after Christ.
- Sent within God's plan. The illness produced this letter. Paul found medicine for his grief by picturing their joy.
Receive him therefore in [the] Lord with all joy, and hold such in honour;
Paul is sending Epaphroditus home to Philippi. He does not leave the welcome to chance. He tells the church how to greet him, and then widens the rule past one man to a whole class of people: "such men." So why did this returning worker need Paul's recommendation at all? And what makes a person worth honouring among Christians?
At first glance the command looks unnecessary. A man comes home from a risky errand he took on for the church. Of course they would be glad to see him. One commentator reads the command itself as a sign that the welcome was in doubt:
I gather from this instruction, which might seem unnecessary, that the Philippians did not hold Epaphroditus in as high esteem as the Apostle thought right. There were both overseers and deacons in God's assembly there, as we know. But Epaphroditus was likely an untried man. He came into public notice for the first time as a volunteer, carrying the aid the Philippian saints meant to send to Paul.
The welcome is to be given with joy. That word sounds through the whole letter:
Everywhere else it means "rejoice," or "be glad," and especially so in the letter to the Philippians, where it is a clear keynote: Philippians 1:18; 2:17-18, 28; 3:1; and 4:4, 10. We must also take account of the related word "joy" in the same letter: Philippians 1:4, 25; 2:2, 29; and 4:1. That is impossible to mistake.
Epaphroditus left no record as a preacher or teacher. Paul commends him anyway, and expects the well-gifted to stand up for those with less:
Notice how careful he is to commend his fellow labourer to the esteem of the saints. Epaphroditus does not seem to have been a man of much outward mark. But men with great gift ought to stand firm for those with lesser gift. In the Apostle's case there is no jealousy about others. There is the greatest desire to keep up their value in the eyes of the saints... We find no great account of what he had done in preaching or teaching. But there was the earnest, unselfish service of love in this blessed man of God. That was enough for the Apostle Paul, and it ought to be enough for God's children too.
Another writer applies this to us. Our respect drifts towards the confident speakers:
Sometimes we are quicker to honour the ready speakers, or those who take the leading part in a conference, or those who can press home the teachings we love most. So the Lord reminds us through Epaphroditus who it is that He delights to honour. They are the men who go when and where they are sent, and who are ready to gamble their lives, if need be, for the work of Christ.
Older translations read "hold such in reputation" where the ESV has "honor such men." Paul gives a reason for the honour, and it is not the one we would expect:
Then notice the tender care of the blessed apostle. It is like a tender mother sending her beloved son away. She commits him with earnest affection to the care of a friend. "So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men." Why? Was it because of his gifts, his rank or his wealth? No; but because of his self-surrender.
The word "such" makes this a standing rule, not a one-off courtesy. One writer lists this verse among the passages that teach us to recognise those who work among God's people. He then draws a sharp line between that and the power to appoint them:
I can know and acknowledge all those who labour according to God among His flock. Show me your authority for appointing them. That is the question. Here are the passages that teach me to know and recognise those who give themselves to the work, and to obey them because of this work: 1 Corinthians 16:15-16; Philippians 2:29; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:7, 17... An exhortation to obey is quite a different thing from the authority to appoint.
- Receive — Paul commands the welcome because it was in doubt. Epaphroditus was likely an untried volunteer, held in lower esteem than he deserved.
- Commend — the well-gifted are to guard the standing of a lesser-gifted worker. Paul shows no jealousy, but keeps up their value in the eyes of the saints.
- With all joy — joy is the keynote of the whole letter, and the welcome is to be given in that spirit.
- Hold such — "such" widens the rule past one man to a type. It covers anyone whose service is earnest and unselfish, even with no record of preaching or teaching.
- Honour — the ground of honour is self-surrender, not gift, rank or wealth. And to honour a worker is to recognise him, not to appoint him.
because for the sake of the work he drew near even to death, venturing his life that he might fill up what lacked in your ministration toward me.
Paul ends his praise of Epaphroditus with a reason: this man nearly died doing the work of Christ. Two questions shape the verse — what was that "work," and what was the "lack" in their service that he filled?
Epaphroditus had carried a gift from Philippi to Paul, a prisoner in Rome. One writer ties his illness to that journey.
A messenger on such an errand ran many risks that modern travel has removed. Epaphroditus likely set out in weak health on his dangerous errand. But he took no account of his life, if only he might spend it in the direct service of his Lord. And to serve His apostle in his chains was, he was sure, to serve Christ Himself. Clearly, something in his illness tied it to his visit to Rome and his personal service to the apostle. At home he would not have run the same risk of such a sickness.
Paul names the cause: the work of Christ. One writer uses this case to answer a wider question about Christian suffering.
It would be a very serious mistake to say "that all the trials and sufferings of Christians are punishments for some particular sin." Very often God sends these things to prevent something, and to draw the heart nearer to Christ. Who would dare to say that the sickness of Epaphroditus in Philippians 2 was a punishment for some particular sin? The apostle tells us plainly that he "nearly died for the work of Christ."
The phrase translated "risking his life" rests on an unusual Greek word, and its background is the gaming table.
"He drew near even to death, gambling his life." The word translated gambling is another very rare word. It appears nowhere else in the New Testament. It means to "throw down a stake," as a gambler does. The stake he threw down was his life.
The gift was ready in Philippi and Paul was in need in Rome. What was missing was someone to bring the two together.
There lay the beloved apostle in his prison at Rome, and there lay the loving gift of the saints at Philippi. But how was it to be got to him? These were not the days of bank cheques and postal money orders. Nor of railway travel. It was no easy matter to get from Philippi to Rome in those days. But Epaphroditus, that dear, unassuming, self-surrendering servant of Christ, offered himself to supply the missing link. He did the very thing that was needed and nothing more. He became the channel of communication between the assembly at Philippi and the apostle at Rome.
Commentators differ on the tone here. Some read the words as pure praise. Others hear a mild correction.
In the last verse he seems to hint that they had been a little careless about him — "your lack of service" — and he hints the same in chapter 4:10. He gives a very gentle rebuke. Then he softens it by expressing his confidence in their loving care.
Paul takes care to commend this man to the church. What made him worth commending was not gift or position.
Notice how careful he is to commend his fellow labourer to the esteem of the saints. Epaphroditus does not seem to have been a man of much outward standing. But highly gifted men ought to stand up firmly for those of lesser gift... We find no great account of what he had done in preaching or teaching. But there was the earnest, unselfish service of love in this blessed man of God. That was enough for the apostle Paul, and it ought to be enough for God's children too.
Why did this quiet servant get a place in Scripture at all?
What a tide of divine affection and sympathy rolled in on that unassuming, self-sacrificing servant of Christ! The whole assembly at Philippi, the blessed apostle and, above all, God Himself — all engaged in thinking about a man who did not think about himself. Suppose Epaphroditus had been a self-seeker, taken up with himself, his interests, or even his work. Then his name would never have shone on the page of inspiration. But no; he thought of others, not of himself. Therefore God and His apostle and His Church thought of him.
- The work. Serving Paul in his chains was serving Christ Himself. Carrying a gift to a prisoner counted as the work of Christ.
- The risk. The word behind "risking his life" means to throw down a stake, as in gambling — the stake was his own life.
- The cause. His sickness came from that service, not from any particular sin. So we cannot treat every Christian's illness as punishment.
- The gap. Distance made a gap, and he filled it as the missing link between Philippi and Rome. Commentators differ on whether Paul's words also carry a gentle rebuke.
- The honour. No record survives of his preaching or teaching. Unselfish love in service won Paul's praise, and it should win ours.