Who was Demas in the Bible?

Fellow-labourer with Paul at Rome, Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; of whom Paul had to write some five years later, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed to Thessalonica." 2 Tim. 4:10. This may signify, not that he had apostatised, but that he had fallen from Paul's line of things through love of this present age.

Three times Demas is mentioned by the apostle. In Colossians he writes, "Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you." (Col. 4:14.) In Philemon he terms him, in company with Marcus, Aristarchus, and Lucas, as a "fellow-labourer;" and in 2 Timothy he has to say, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (age). Nothing can be more sad than this closing notice of one who had been identified with such a vessel of testimony as the apostle Paul. The final break with Paul might have been sudden, but we may be sure that he had been long before in a backslidden state of soul. The very way, indeed, in which he is mentioned in Colossians, after Luke, the beloved physician, would seem to indicate that Paul was not ignorant of his condition. An open failure is always preceded by a gradual decline of spiritual life and energy. It is thus the Lord deals with His people. If they have grown cold, and are turned aside in heart from His ways, He permits them sooner or later to be tested, that their state may be discovered. This was the case with Demas. His heart had long been upon the present age, and the captivity of Paul and the consequent "afflictions of the gospel" were but the occasion of its manifestation. A time of persecution is always a time of searching, and Demas could no longer conceal his condition, and he therefore forsook the apostle — the Lord's prisoner — and followed his heart into the world. He might have been a real Christian, not merely a professor, but, lacking courage, he lost the opportunity of fidelity to the testimony at such a solemn crisis, and surrendered himself to the influences of the age, all of which were antagonistic to the truth, and to the devoted servant to whom the truth had been committed.

The "age," as distinguished from the world, has generally a moral signification, and is expressive of the sum of the influences that are at work around us in the world at any given moment; and it is precisely these influences that constitute the danger of God's people, and to which so many, like Demas, succumb, and "make shipwreck" of their testimony. It is on this very account that the apostle writes, "Be not conformed to this age." (Romans 12.) E. D.

And now the last message of the apostle. How he would have loved to have his beloved Timothy at his side and look into his face once more! "Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me." And once more at the close of the letter he writes, "Do thy diligence to come before winter." It was the cry of deepest affection of one who was deserted by others and yet not a lonely man, for the Lord was with him. Demas, a fellow worker and with Paul in his first imprisonment (Philemon 24; Col. 4:14), perhaps a Thessalonian, had forsaken the prisoner of the Lord. It is a mournful record, "having loved the present age, and is departed unto Thessalonica." It is wrong to conclude from this that Demas ceased to be a Christian and had renounced the name of the Lord. He, with love for the present age in his soul, would avoid the cross and its shame, and therefore abandoned Paul. What became of Demas? What was his after-history? The Lord alone knows this.

Verse 9 shows that Paul evidently longed for the company of his beloved child Timothy before he was taken from the earth: of course in Chapter 1:4 he had said so. For Demas had forsaken him, having loved this present world. How sad an observation! We cannot conclude that Demas had turned from Christianity, for he had gone to Thessalonica, where was a thriving gospel witness; but he was avoiding suffering with the apostle, and sought a more pleasant life in the world. The meaning of his name is "popular," and no doubt significant, for desire for popularity will not lead one into the same path as Paul. Crescens had gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia, for what reasons he does not say, so that any questions that may arise in our minds must remain unanswered. But he adds, "Only Luke is with me." How good to see this devoted man, "the beloved physician," remaining steadfast through all the years. His character seems humble, consistent, one who deeply valued the grace of God.

In that which follows we see what progress the evil had already made, and how the apostle counts upon the individual affection of his dear son in the faith. Probably there were good reasons for the departure of many, certainly for that of some; nevertheless it is true that the first thing that presents itself to the apostle's mind is the departure of Demas from purely worldly motives. The apostle felt himself isolated. Not only had the mass of Christians abandoned him, but his companions in labour had gone away. In the providence of God he was to be alone. He begs Timothy to come soon. Demas had forsaken him. The rest, from various motives, had quitted him; some he had sent away in connection with the work. It is not said that Demas had ceased to be a Christian — had publicly renounced the Lord; but it was not in his heart to bear the cross with the apostle.

Besides, the Apostle had just been passing through trial; "for," he adds, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world [age], and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia." v. 10. The two latter, Crescens and Titus, had gone; but they had not, like Demas, forsaken Paul. They had undoubtedly gone on the Lord's service; but Demas had become cold, yielding to the influences of the age; and, caring no longer to be a "partaker of the afflictions of the gospel," or to be identified with God's vessel of testimony, now a poor despised prisoner, he had, under some pretext or other, abandoned the Apostle and departed to Thessalonica. He loved this present age. What an epitaph! For he now passes out of Scripture history, and is no more seen. Once Paul had mentioned him conjointly with others as a fellow labourer again, he sends a salutation in his name, in conjunction with "Luke, the beloved physician" (Col. 4:14); and now he has abandoned the testimony. This is not to say that he was not a Christian; but he was one who not only could not endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, but one also whose heart had been decoyed by the world. Alas! how many Demases the Church has seen since that day!

Then, after stating that Luke only remained with him, Paul gives a direction which contains in it a very precious instance of restoring grace: "Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry." v. 11. It will be remembered that Mark had once departed from Paul and Barnabas, from Pamphylia, "and went not with them to the work," on which account Paul did not think it good to take him with them on a subsequent journey (Acts 15:37-38). After an interval the Apostle wrote that Mark was to be received, that he was now serviceable for ministry. See Colossians 4:10. Mark, once unfaithful, was thus restored. Grace wrought, and it is interesting to trace the stages of his restoration. Like Demas, he is mentioned three times; but what a difference! Mark is recovered, and the Spirit of God records it; Demas becomes a backslider, unfaithful to the testimony, and disappears as such from our view.

"Luke, the beloved physician, saluteth you, and Demas." v. 14. The occupation of Luke was not blotted out because he was a saint and a servant of Christ, and even an inspired writer. Demas, I should gather, was even now distrusted by the Apostle, who mentions his name with an ominous silence and without an endearing word — a thing unusual with the Apostle. Even to Philemon, about the same time, he is "my fellow-labourer." In 2 Timothy he had forsaken the Apostle, having loved the present age. The steps of declension were rapid; no testimony tells of his recovery. But a more extensive falling off was at hand (2 Tim. 1:15); for, the ice once broken, many were ready to slip through. As for the Apostle, he had fought the fight, he had finished his course, he had kept the faith. The men who were little known for building up were active for leading astray; as one of this world's sages has said, The hand that could not build a hut can destroy a palace. Nevertheless God's firm foundation stands.

Demas receives no especial testimony. The apostle conveys his greetings, but is silent as to himself. Only in the epistle to Philemon is he named as a fellow-labourer of the apostle. Afterwards he forsook Paul. He was a brother: the apostle admits his claim but says nothing; he had nothing to say. "And Demas," for Paul's style is terribly cold.

"Of occasional visitors in Rome, his converts or his colleagues in the Gospel, the companions of his travels and the delegates of foreign churches, not a few are named. His youthful disciple and associate Timotheus, the best beloved of his spiritual sons, seems to have been with him during the whole or nearly the whole of his captivity.1 Another friend also, who had shared with him the perils of the voyage, Luke the "beloved physician", now his fellow-labourer and perhaps his medical attendant, hereafter his biographer, is constantly by his side.2 His two favourite Macedonian churches are well represented among his companions: Philippi despatches Epaphroditus with pecuniary(?) aid, welcome to him as a relief of his want but doubly welcome as a token of their devoted love:3 Aristarchus is present from Thessalonica,4 a tried associate, who some years before had imperilled his life with St. Paul at Ephesus 5 and now shared his captivity at Rome.6 Delegates from the Asiatic churches too were with him: Tychicus,7 a native of the Roman province of Asia and probably of Ephesus its capita1,8 the Apostle's companion both in earlier and later days: 9 and Epaphras the evangelist of his native Colosse, who came to consult Paul on the dangerous heresies then threatening this and the neighbouring churches over which he watched with intense anxiety.10 Besides these were other friends old and new: one pair especially, whose names are linked together by contrast; John Mark, who, having deserted in former years, has now returned to his post and is once more a loyal soldier of Christ;11 and Demas, as yet faithful to his allegiance, who hereafter will turn renegade and desert the Apostle in his sorest need.12 To these must be added a disciple of the circumcision, whose surname 'the just' proclaims his devotion to his former faith — one Jesus, to us a name only, but to St. Paul much more than a name, for amidst the general defection of the Jewish converts he stood by the Apostle almost alone.13 Lastly, there was Philemon's runaway slave Onesimus, 'not now a slave, but above a slave, a brother beloved,' whose career is the most touching episode in the apostolic history and the noblest monument of the moral power of the Gospel.14 {1. His name appears in the opening salutations of the Epistles to the Philippians, Colossians and Philemon: compare also Phil. 2:19-23. It may perhaps be inferred from St. Luke's silence, Acts 27:2, that Timotheus did not accompany St. Paul on his journey to Rome, but joined him soon after his arrival. Col. 4:14, Philemon 24. Phil. 2:25-30, 4:14-18. Col. 4:10, Philemon 24. Acts 19:29. In Col. 4:10, St. Paul styles him 'my fellow-prisoner'. Perhaps however this may refer to the incident at Ephesus already alluded to (Acts 19:29). Or does it signify a spiritual subjection … so that it may be compared to fellow-bondslave (Col. 1:7; 4:7), and fellow-soldier (Phil. 2:25, Philemon 2)? St. Paul uses the term fellow-prisoner also of Epaphras (Philemon 23) and of his 'kinsmen' Andronicus and Junias or Junta (Rom. 16:7). Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7. Acts 20:4; 2 Tim. 4:12. He is mentioned together with Trophimus, and Trophimus was an Ephesian, Acts 21:29. Acts 20:4; 2 Tim. 4:12; Compare Titus 3:12. Perhaps also he is one of the anonymous brethren in 2 Cor. 8:18, 22. Col. 1:7; 4:12. Col. 4:10; Philemon 24; Compare 2 Tim. 4:11. Col. 4:14; Philemon 24; Compare 2 Tim. 4:10. Col. 4:11. Col. 4:9, and Philemon 10, etc.

Then just a short word as to Demas. I do not think Paul would give up praying for him. The fact that he mentions his name would prove he was still interested in him. He was, of course, still there.