TEXT [Commentary]
VI. Appeal for Timothy to Come and Related Comments (4:9-18)
9 Timothy, please come as soon as you can. 10 Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers.[*]
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm, but the Lord will judge him for what he has done. 15 Be careful of him, for he fought against everything we said.
16 The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. 17 But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.[*] 18 Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
NOTES
4:10 Demas. See Col 4:14; Phlm 1:24; both times he is paired with Luke and once with Mark.
deserted. The word (also used in 4:16)—enkataleipō [TG1459, ZG1593], meaning “forsake, abandon, desert”—is the same as in the Greek version of Ps 22:1 [21:2 in LXX] and Mark 15:34; there, of course, the words are spoken by Jesus on the cross. This verbal link with the cross of Christ contributes to drawing Paul’s impending death into association with Jesus’ death. This same theme had been hinted at in 1:15 (see commentary), which uses a different verb. See also 2:9; 4:6; more generally on this connection, see Towner 1999.
4:11 helpful. In Greek this is the same word (euchrēstos [TG2173, ZG2378]) used for Onesimus in Phlm 1:11, another “rehabilitated” person. It is used again in 2:21, where again it assumes rehabilitation (Marshall 1999:817); see also 1:16 regarding Onesiphorus.
4:16 The first time I was brought before the judge. The language used here has been understood in ways beyond those mentioned in the commentary below. The following three interpretations, though less likely, can be noted: If the setting is Paul’s imprisonment of Acts 28, this may refer (1) to one of the defenses of Acts 22–26 (cf. Acts 22:1; 24:10-21; Quinn and Wacker 2000:821), or (2) to the combined events of Jerusalem and Caesarea (Acts 23–26) as opposed to the trial that would take place in Rome (yet awaited in Acts 28). Or assuming a setting during a second Roman imprisonment, it could allude to (3) Paul’s first trial in Rome (the first imprisonment) as opposed to his present, second imprisonment there. Quinn and Wacker (2000:820-823) discuss these and other options in some detail; Knight (1992:468-469) summarizes the evidence.
4:17 the Lord stood with me. Note the promise of the Lord Jesus in Acts 23:11 (cf. Acts 18:9-10; 27:23), and see, e.g., Exod 34:5; Ps 109:31; the Greek version of these texts uses the same verb that Paul uses here, paristēmi [TG3936, ZG4225].
gave me strength. The same verb, endunamoō [TG1743, ZG1904], is used in 2:1 (cf. Phil 4:13) in Paul’s exhortation to Timothy; here that exhortation is called to mind and underscored by Paul’s own experience (cf. 3:11; note also Mark 13:11).
4:18 Yes, and. There is some evidence (D1 F G Ψ) for the word kai [TG2532, ZG2779] (and), but the evidence for its omission is stronger (א A C D* 33 1739). The NLT’s addition of these words renders some of the emotive force of 4:18 and its thought connection to 4:17.
COMMENTARY [Text]
It was usual to close a letter with greetings and, in Paul’s case, news and instructions about the mission (cf. 1 Cor 16:5-24; Titus 3:12-15). These serve to direct a complex and far-flung mission and to maintain relationships. It is perhaps natural that for modern readers the closing lines are in some ways the least interesting for devotional purposes. This material can seem to represent the husk of a New Testament writing, the merely historical residue of their origin in the particulars of a bygone day. It helps to recall, however, that for the original readers, who were personally acquainted with the names and the news, this may have been the most interesting part of the letter, the point at which sleepy eyes snapped open.
Of course, these words are not merely historical residue in any event. It is natural that the concerns that pervade the body of the letter should suffuse themselves here too, and they do in a particular way in this letter. It is in these closing lines that we learn what was at the forefront of Timothy’s mind and Paul’s from the start of the letter, namely, Paul was urging Timothy to make his way to Rome immediately. Here we will also observe that the old man was still hard at work, orchestrating a mission from his prison cell and on the whole manifesting more verve and focus than at least some of his younger and free colleagues. His heart had been beating with the same interest in everything he had said to this point. The fact of opposition, suffering, and abandonment are very much to the fore. And here we will also see Paul’s understanding of the cruciform life coming to its climax. Like Jesus Christ, Paul’s death is characterized by desertion and makes appeal to Psalm 22 (see note on 4:10). Here we see Paul’s hopes of “sharing in his death” fulfilled (Phil 3:10). Indeed, this conclusion to Paul’s ministry will mark a yet fuller realization of Psalm 22’s expectations.
The section begins with Paul writing, “Timothy, please come as soon as you can” (4:9)—that is, make every effort to come to me quickly. This makes direct and explicit what was assumed in 1:3-4 and what probably stood behind the repeated summons to suffering (1:8, 12, 16; 2:3, 9; 3:12; 4:5). A central purpose of the entire epistle is this request that Timothy come to Paul in prison, likely with a view to passing the baton to Timothy. The desire of haste could be due to Paul’s need of a Christian companion (4:10-20), his physical and other needs (4:13), a fast approaching end to his life, and/or the onset of winter (4:21), which would threaten to delay Timothy’s trip an entire season; winter closed travel across the Adriatic Sea (November to March; cf. Acts 27:12).
The reason Timothy was to act quickly was that Demas had deserted Paul. The Greek of 4:10 has the word gar [TG1063, ZG1142] (for), which is not translated in NLT. Demas’s motives in deserting Paul (”he loves the things of this life,” 4:10) stand in stark contrast to the eager expectation of Christ’s glorious “return” in 4:8 (“all who eagerly look forward to his appearing”). The message for Timothy may go beyond mere information about Paul and Demas to taking a lesson about a fallen (for the moment, at least) comrade. In the apocryphal work, Acts of Paul and Thecla (second century AD), Demas and Hermogenes (cf. 1:15) appear as opponents of Paul; it is said that they were “full of hypocrisy and flattered Paul as if they loved him” (2.239). Of course, this may be no reflection on the historical Demas, who may well have recovered from the lapse Paul mentioned here.
The reason for Demas’s desertion is that “he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica” (4:10). The phrase translated as “the things of this life” is more literally “the present age.” This involves more than merely the contrast between “this life” and a “life to come” after death. It concerns the historical succession of epochs, where “the present age” is the age of this creation, from Adam until Christ’s second coming (and any associated events), while “the age to come” (e.g., Matt 12:32; Heb 2:5; 6:5) is the age of the “new creation,” the “new heavens and earth” (e.g., Isa 66:22; Gal 6:15; Rev 21:1). Believers find themselves beneficiaries already of “the age to come” and its salvation while they must await its full advent until Christ returns (see notes on 1:10 and 3:1). The challenge for each believer is to live in the present world as a citizen of the world to come (John 17:9-19; Phil 3:12-21; Col 3:1-4; Heb 10:32–12:3). What precisely “love of the present age” meant in Demas’s case is not specified. It may have been a thing, a relationship, an ambition that he treasured, or only that he was not willing to “suffer with [Paul] for the sake of the Good News” (1:8), all of which amounts to the same thing.
The next person Paul mentioned is Crescens, who is otherwise unknown. Why he went to Galatia or whether he was sent is unstated. Paul did not accuse him of desertion. The comment may merely convey information that would have been meaningful to a colleague active in the field. Given the flow of thought, however, it seems to contribute to a picture of Paul’s isolation at the hour of his death, and this is probably intentional. In the case of Titus, too, nothing is known of why he went to Dalmatia, though by this point we are almost certainly not to think in terms of a desertion. (For an introduction to Titus the man, see commentary on Titus 1:4.) Titus 3:12, written some time before this, implies his being south of Dalmatia in Nicopolis. Luke is then mentioned. In both of these he is associated with Demas (see note on 4:10) and once with Mark. Traditionally, Luke is considered the author of the two-volume work, Luke–Acts. Strictly speaking, Luke was not the only one with Paul (see 4:21). The comment was probably made with respect to a smaller group of Paul’s coworkers. Even so this statement implies a feeling of isolation and seems to reinforce the urgency of Paul’s summons to Timothy. It is often guessed that Luke was with Paul as his physician.
After this, Paul mentioned Mark. His name appears frequently in the New Testament, especially in Acts (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37, 39), and also in Colossians 4:10, Philemon 1:24, and 1 Peter 5:13. According to early tradition, he was an associate of both Peter and Paul. He is thought to have written the Gospel of Mark based on Peter’s teaching (Eusebius Ecclesiastical History 3.39.15; Jerome De viris illustribus 8; cf. Eusebius Ecclesiastical History 2.15.1-2.17.24). Timothy is urged to bring Mark with him when he comes to Rome, for he will be helpful to Paul in Paul’s ministry. Either Mark was with Timothy at that time or he was on the road to Rome. At this point, it appears Paul no longer harbored the reservations about Mark expressed in Acts 15:37-39. We do not know why Mark left Paul and Barnabas during the journey of Acts 13–14, though the language implies less than commendable motives (Acts 13:13; 15:38; Larkin 2006:499-500, 524). The term translated “deserted” by the NLT in Acts 15:38 is not the same term used here for Demas in 2 Timothy; the word in Acts 15 (aphistēmi [TG868/A, ZG923]) can have the sense of apostasy from the faith (1 Tim 4:1), but that is clearly too strong for that context. On balance, Luke’s reticence in his narration and Barnabas’s strong backing of Mark must be noted, while Paul’s perspective was probably not without real justification. It was a sad affair all around: Either Mark had put his hand to the plow and looked back, or his departure had been over a matter of principle, perhaps having something to do with the shift of leadership from Barnabas to Paul or even with the Gentile mission itself.
Maybe upon reading 2 Timothy 4 we are to imagine that Paul had softened his idealism since his earlier days; maybe he himself had come to understand something more of Jesus’ wisdom (cf. Matt 20:10-12, where Jesus does not impose a strict standard on all) and his own teaching (1 Cor 7; 12). The more likely explanation is that Paul had always been as zealous for love and redemption as he was for purity and simplicity of devotion. The work needed people totally devoted to the task, people who had counted the cost, who had “a strong belief in the trustworthy message” they were taught (Titus 1:9) and on whom he and the churches could depend. But that desire never overran his care for his coworkers, or at least, in the long run it did not.
Then Paul told Timothy that Tychicus had been sent to Ephesus (4:12). For this coworker, whose name means “fortunate,” see Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21-22; Colossians 4:7-8; and Titus 3:12. He appears to have been a Greek (implied in Col 4:7-8, 10-11) from Asia Minor (Acts 20:4). It is possible that he was coming to take over for Timothy (and that he was carrying the present letter), if Timothy was in Ephesus (see 4:19). If Timothy was elsewhere, then Paul was reporting Tychicus’s whereabouts and possibly adding to the picture of his own isolation. What emerges out of the list of names thus far, then, is the pathos of desertion and isolation, on the one hand, and the orchestration of a very lively mission, on the other. Death and life intermingled, as always, in the Good News of the Cross.
After speaking of various individuals, Paul told Timothy: “When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas” (4:13). This is one of the details that does not sit well with the Roman imprisonment of Acts 28. On the whole, 2 Timothy projects a darker picture of Paul’s situation than Luke does in Acts 28 (Johnson 2001:450-451); for example, in 1:16-18 Paul is evidently in chains and hard to find, whereas in Acts 28 Paul is under house arrest and freely entertaining visitors. To reconcile this we seem required to assume that Paul’s situation changed toward the end of the imprisonment of Acts 28, implying that 2 Timothy fits at a point well into the two years after his transferral there from Caesarea, where he also had had a long stay (see Acts 24:27; see also 2 Tim 4:16 below). But in that case, Paul would be reaching back years for a cloak he had left in Troas; in fact his last recorded visit to Troas is Acts 20:5-6. A simpler explanation is that 2 Timothy concerns a second Roman imprisonment (see 1:8) and that Paul’s recent arrest—possibly in Miletus (4:20), Troas, or their vicinity (Fee 1988:295)—and transfer to Rome had not allowed for gathering his things.
As for the present context, if Tychicus was coming to replace Timothy, then the connection of thought may be, “When he arrives and you begin your journey, pick up these things.” Other letters from the period make the same type of request. A phailonēs [TG5341, ZG5742] (coat) was a cloak made of heavier material for cold and wet conditions (cf. 4:21a). Carpus is otherwise unknown. Maybe he had been Paul’s host when he had last been in Troas. The naming of Troas implies that Timothy was still in Asia Minor. He might have been sailing from Troas, which was a port town, or passing through via a land route. (For the recorded visits of Paul to Troas, see Acts 16:8, 11; 20:6-12; 2 Cor 2:12.)
Then Paul requested Timothy to “bring my books, and especially my papers” (4:13). “Books” (biblion [TG975, ZG1046]) could be in the form of a scroll (roll) or a codex (bound book or notebook) and could have been made of either papyrus (made from pressed strips of the papyrus plant; a paper-like material) or parchment (membrana [TG3200, ZG3521], translated here as “papers”) made of animal skin, which is more durable than papyrus. The adverb malista [TG3122, ZG3436], translated here as “especially,” is the same as in 1 Timothy 4:10 and 5:17 (cf. Titus 1:10) and may mean “that is to say” (Marshall 1999:819), which would limit the “books” in question to the “papers” (parchments). The result of these uncertainties is that we cannot know with specificity what Paul was requesting concretely, beyond the obvious facts that it had to do with reading (and possibly writing) materials and that at least some of these materials were parchments (membranas). The contents of these particular “books” is not known, though it is a fair guess that some Scriptures were included. Paul’s own notes might also have been included, as well as other Christian writings that were in circulation. One is reminded of the request William Tyndale uttered from a prison cell: “Above all, I beg and entreat your clemency earnestly to intercede with the lord commissary, that he would deign to allow me the use of my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar, and Hebrew Lexicon, and that I may employ my time with that study.” Without diminishing in the least their very real sufferings it can be observed that for Paul, William Tyndale, John Bunyan, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and others, prison was not a place of languishing and despair as much as a new venue and platform for their work.
Somewhat abruptly a new actor comes on stage: Alexander the coppersmith. Though Alexander was a common name, this could well be the same individual mentioned in 1 Timothy 1:20; note also the Alexander mentioned as being in Ephesus in Acts 19:33. This Alexander (4:14) is described as a chalkeus [TG5471, ZG5906], a “metalworker” (not necessarily of copper). There was a guild of coppersmiths in Troas. If Alexander was there, then this, along with the allusion back to Paul’s life before his arrest in 4:13, may be the connection of thought with 4:13. Alexander had done Paul “much harm” (4:14). He may have had a hand in Paul’s arrest (Simpson 1954:160; Marshall 1999:822; see also 1:15). If so, this underscores the fact that Paul’s struggles were not merely matters of theological disagreements within the church, mere in-house disputes as are most of our present-day ecclesiastical differences. The spilling over of theological disputes into the public and civic arenas is familiar from Acts (e.g., Acts 18–19). Whether or not that was the case, Paul appeared to have in mind significant harm, possibly of a physical nature.
Though Paul left the matter in the Lord’s hands—“the Lord will judge him for what he has done” (4:14), the language suggests confidence regarding the outcome (cf. Pss 28:4; 62:12; Prov 24:12; Rom 2:6; cf. 1:18). That he will be repaid according to his works may be not only an allusion to the specifics of his actions but an indictment of any claim to faith that existed (Rom 2:5-16; Jas 2:14-26). Paul told Timothy, “Be careful of him” (4:15). This Alexander was an ongoing personal threat to Paul’s delegates and assistants in Asia, possibly in Troas where Timothy was headed. Paul said that Alexander “fought against everything we said” (4:15). The verb anthistēmi [TG436, ZG468] (set oneself against, oppose) was used of Jannes and Jambres and Timothy’s troublemakers in 3:8. The opposition that Paul mentions here may have been general (Paul’s teaching as such, whether in church or public) or specific (a public contradiction of Paul in the church); it may also have been during Paul’s defense in court. It is not clear where it took place (Troas, Ephesus, Rome), if a particular set of circumstances is meant. Paul could be emphasizing something Timothy knew (out of paternal concern for Timothy) or passing on new information.
From his earlier freedom and Timothy’s present danger, Paul returns to his situation in prison. He begins by saying, “The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me” (4:16). The first part of this statement is literally “in my first defense” (apologia [TG627, ZG665]). Paul’s Roman trial may have been divided into an initial, preliminary investigation and the trial proper. Here Paul would be referring to the first of these, which had prepared the way for a still-awaited trial (Dibelius and Conzelmann 1972:124). This could have taken place either during the course of the imprisonment of Acts 28 or during a later, second imprisonment in Rome. The latter is the option adopted in this commentary. In this extremely serious legal situation, the apostle had been forsaken: “No one came with me” (4:16). It is argued by some that the verb paraginomai [TG3854, ZG4134] was being used in a technical sense for “a witness or advocate standing forward in court on a prisoner’s behalf” (Kelly 1963:218). Further, Paul said “everyone abandoned me” (4:16). This could be hyperbolic (cf. 4:11), though the repetition seems to indicate a literal, complete abandonment. This makes clear that others had had opportunity to accompany Paul; they were culpable for failure to do so. How this relates to those mentioned in verses 11 and 21 is unclear; it may possibly include those of verse 21. The same verb, enkataleipō [TG1459, ZG1593], is used for Demas’s “desertion” in 4:10 (see note on that verse); as there, the idea may bear intended associations with Jesus’ trial, abandonment, and death.
Whatever was involved in their desertion, Paul wished God’s leniency toward them, in noteworthy contrast to Alexander in 4:14: “May it not be counted against them” (4:16). If this echoes Jesus’ own cry—“Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34 [though the text is doubtful at that point]; cf. Stephen in Acts 7:60)—then this is another reflection of the way in which Paul was interweaving his death with Jesus’. The different approach to Alexander has to do with the nature of his sin (cf. Matt 12:31-32; 1 Tim 1:13, 20; Heb 6:4-6; 1 John 5:16-17) or the fact that he had been cast out of the church (1 Tim 1:20).
Though people had abandoned Paul, the Lord hadn’t. The Lord’s nearness was connected with his deliverance and protection. In Psalm 22, to which Paul will make allusion in what follows, the psalmist looks for God’s presence and deliverance (Ps 22:8, 11, 19-21). In writing what he does here, Paul once again seems to have in mind strong associations with the Old Testament and Jesus’ own death; his own story is woven into these larger stories of God’s salvation. The Lord Jesus is the primary actor in all that follows in verses 17-18. It is he who alone stands alongside, gives strength, brings the proclamation to fulfillment, and rescues and saves his own into his Kingdom. To him is the glory! This is Paul’s final word on his life: To the Lord Jesus be the glory!
The Lord was the one who would strengthen Paul. The result of this strengthening—pointedly not human strength or assistance but God’s strength in Paul’s weakness (see 2 Cor 12:5-10)—is nothing short of the crowning of Paul’s entire mission: “The Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear” (4:17). Paul was the agent of God in the matter of the proclamation that had been entrusted to him (Titus 1:3). But any note of triumph in what follows redounds to the glory of the Lord, who has broken “the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News” (1:10). The language carries the possibility that Paul was envisioning the advancement of the gospel through his successors (due to his own example; cf. 1:11-14; 2:2; 4:5), but the succeeding clause makes it more likely that he is referring to his own, extreme circumstances. As in his earlier experiences (Acts 16:25-34; 22:1-21; 23:1-11; 24:10-21, 24-25; 26:1-29; cf. 2 Tim 2:9; Phil 1:12-14), so also here his defense (apologia [TG627, ZG665]) had turned into proclamation.
It is important to pick up on the implications of Paul’s allusions to the Old Testament. At more than one point Paul’s language has suggested that he was paralleling his circumstances with Jesus’ on the cross and especially in relation to Psalm 22, a psalm that has strong associations with Jesus’ death (see notes and commentary on 1:8, 15; 2:9; 4:10, 16; cf. Mark 15:34). One can then note that Psalm 22:27-28 had anticipated the conversion of the nations: “The whole earth will acknowledge the LORD and return to him. All the families of the nations will bow down before him. For royal power belongs to the LORD. He rules all the nations.”
The implication is that this psalm, cited by Jesus, reaches a new stage of realization through Paul, whose trial and death are being patterned after Jesus’ passion. Specifically, this was occurring in Paul’s climactic and symbolic proclamation before the court of Rome. And with this event Paul sensed that his task had been completed (4:6-8): “all the nations” (Rom 15:11; 16:26; Gal 3:28; this is inclusive of the Jews) have heard. In this “it is important to notice that Paul’s sufferings and death do not simply indicate the temporal end of ministry; they are rather elements through which fulfillment is achieved. The importance for Timothy, who had been charged to fulfill his ministry (4:5), is that the moment of fulfillment for Paul, Timothy’s model, took place while Paul was a prisoner sharing in the sufferings of Christ” (Towner 1999:167-168).
The final comment on the Lord’s work in Paul’s earlier defense before his Roman judge continues in this very vein: “I was rescued from the mouth of a lion” (4:17, NLT mg). If a specific historical referent is meant by “a lion,” which is doubtful, this might have in mind the emperor (Josephus Antiquities 18.228 refers to Tiberius as ho leōn [TG3023, ZG3329], “the lion”). Some think the lion is Satan (1 Pet 5:8). The “lion’s mouth” is in fact a common image for death (e.g., Pss 7:2; 35:17; Heb 11:33; cf. Dan 6; 1 Sam 17:37), but here the allusion is to Psalm 22:21. As discussed above (4:10-17), Paul’s proximity to death is bound up with Jesus’ death and God’s salvation.
This statement becomes a springboard for Paul’s final declaration of unshakable, undaunted faith, defiant less of his Roman judges than of death itself (1 Cor 15:54-57), fearful less of those who want to kill the body than of God (Matt 10:28). Paul declared, “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack [lit., evil deed].” “The Lord” here refers to Jesus, as in 4:17. The verb rhuomai [TG4506A, ZG4861] (rescue) is repeated from 4:17. It is entirely possible that Paul had the Lord’s Prayer in mind (Matt 6:13). The allusion to the evil deed recalls Alexander in 4:14, who was to be repaid “according to his deeds.” It also stands in contrast to the “good work” arising from the gospel (2:21; 3:17).
The theme of the promise of “life” in 1:1 (cf. 1:10; 2:8) is here brought to its fullest development in Paul’s own person. Paul’s past experience of deliverance (3:11; 4:17) here slides into ultimate and complete deliverance (in contrast, 2 Cor 1:10-11 seems to anticipate further experiences of deliverance in this life; cf. Phil 1:19, 25). The thought is probably not just that God will reward him (4:8) by rescuing him from the grave but that he will continue to strengthen him (4:17) and so keep him in the faith (4:7) to the very end (cf. 1:12). This is allowed by this line and suggested by the next.
Following this, Paul declares, “and [he] will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom.” Literally, this reads, “and he will save (me) unto his heavenly Kingdom” (basileia [TG932, ZG993]). The language employed here is loaded with meaning. The verb for “save” (sōzō [TG4982 ZG5392]) brings to a head the related language of 1:9, 10; 2:10; and 3:15 (cf. Titus 1:3-4). The preposition eis [TG1519, ZG1650] (unto) follows, suggesting movement; the salvation is being thought of as a process with a direction and goal. This salvation was carrying Paul through his trials, preserving Paul from both external pressure and internal weakness (Phil 1:20; Eph 6:19-20). Here, just as in the foregoing verses, Paul might be continuing to express himself through Psalm 22 (Towner 1999:169); the Greek version of Psalm 22:28 reads, “the kingdom/dominion [basileia] is the Lord’s and he rules the nations” (cf. Rev 11:15). That he describes this kingdom as heavenly relates not to any anti-creation, anti-material outlook but to its purely divine and therefore eternal, incorruptible, and holy nature. This is God’s reign, already realized in Jesus’ exaltation to God’s right hand and yet to be realized finally in the future restoration of all creation (see note on 3:1; cf. Gal 4:26; Heb 12:18-29; Rev 21:1-2). As in 2 Timothy 4:8, Paul may have intended a pointed contrast with the earthly kingdom that was about to pass judgment on him. Certainly the whole thought brings to a climax the promise of life that opened the letter (1:1; cf. 2:8).
Clearly, only some Christians will undergo the kind of experience that Paul was undergoing as he wrote these words. Our application lies along a few different lines.
First, along with Paul, we continue to celebrate what God accomplished at this particular point in time, which for us stands in the unrepeatable past of the apostle’s work. What occurred in history through Christ and his apostles constitutes a foundation on which we continue to build (Eph 2:20; 1 Cor 3:10-17), a divine act of faithfulness and righteousness that will be celebrated into eternity. In this we are like Israel in recounting through the generations God’s great, one-time deliverance from Egypt, though now with a view to the ultimate act of salvation that the Exodus imperfectly foreshadowed.
Second, just as he did throughout the letter, Paul continues to project his own life as an example for Timothy and others. In effect, we may add him to the catalog of the faithful in Hebrews 11. To us he says, “Always remember that Jesus Christ, a descendant of King David, was raised from the dead” (see 2:8).
Third, in facing death the greatest burden of the faithful heart is not the nature of death’s instruments, whether they will be “natural” or hostile, not the degree of pain and suffering to be inflicted, but whether one will remain faithful in extremis, whether one’s confession will continue firm and uncompromised through the ravages of illness, tragedy, or torture, whether Jesus will be honored or we will be ashamed. In response, every servant of the Lord who aligns his or her life with the Good News can face not only death but the processes of death with a confidence equal to Paul’s. The Lord will rescue us from every evil deed! He will bring us safely into his eternal Kingdom!
Fourth, there may be another thought in Psalm 22 that was in Paul’s mind. Whether or not he was thinking it, we can note it because it is entirely consistent with Paul’s broader outlook. The psalm closes with these words: “Our children will also serve him. Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord. His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born. They will hear about everything he has done” (Ps 22:30-31). As Paul’s work came to its close and he passed it on to Timothy and others, he stood firm like the psalmist in hope that the Lord would fulfill his word, in spite of the present and expected assaults of evil (2:15-18; 3:1-9), and in spite of his being abandoned on all sides (1:15-18; 2:9; 4:9-16). “I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until the day of his return” (1:12). This may be the continued hope of every servant until the day of Christ’s appearing, whether they die as the pope with the world watching or, as a host of others do, with no one noticing or caring. “God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone” (2:19).
What should have been the formalities of a letter’s ending have metamorphosed into a climactic development of the letter as a whole, giving rise to a closing doxology: “All glory to God forever and ever! Amen” (4:18). Paul’s doxology in the face of execution expresses confidence that God’s glory will be upheld whatever the intent of his human judges. The NLT adds “to God,” but the Greek contains the likelihood that this praise is ascribed to “the Lord” of the preceding sentence, namely, Jesus. If so, this is another powerful declaration of Jesus’ inclusion in the divine identity (cf. Titus 2:13), complementing the letter’s opening (1:2). The sum of Scripture was Paul’s self-chosen epitaph. He had labored hard and had much in which he could glory, but he renounced it all and boasted only in the Lord (Jer 9:23-24; 1 Cor 1:31; 2 Cor 10:17-18; Phil 3): “Glory to the Lord.”