Finishing the Race – Strong! (3)

  

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 3

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service. But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus” (2 Timothy 4:9 – 12).

 

This is one of those passages that we tend to gloss over, after all, these are just names. Suppose our names were in this passage? How would we feel if they were glossed over, skipped over the way we skip over nonessential elements in life?

 

Of course these names are people, and they were people who mattered to Paul. We have people in our lives who matter to us and these people have names – we can’t separate the names from the people; “Jim” is Jim, “Mel” is Mel, “Linda” is Linda.

 

The more I read this passage, the more I see. What do you see? What are the likelihoods? What are the possibilities? As we continue to think about Demas, can you identify someone who is the opposite of Demas in this passage, as well as in the other two passages in Colossians and Philemon that we’re considering

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon.” Paul wants Timothy to hurry up and get to him, and the first reason why he wants him to come quickly is that Demas has deserted him. The fact that Paul lists Demas’s abandonment first, ahead of those fellow workers who were on mission to Galatia, Dalmatia, and Ephesus, says something about the impact Demas’s desertion had on Paul’s heart. Thankfully Luke was still with Paul. Paul had anticipated that Demas and Luke would both be with him, but now there was only Luke, the beloved physician.

 

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come” (2 Timothy 4:6). Paul is in prison once again. This time is the last time, this is apparent to Paul – execution awaits him; it is not a question of “if” but “when”. Demas had stood with Paul during Paul’s previous imprisonment, and certainly he would stand with Paul during this present imprisonment.

 

But wait, Demas is gone, he has deserted Paul; Demas has loved the present world and has deserted his friends Paul and Luke, he has left them alone. Crescens, and Titus, and Tychicus have gone on individual missions to serve Christ; Demas has gone on a mission to serve himself. Paul commissioned Tychicus and Titus and Crescens to go and serve; Demas commissioned himself to abandon his friends and to love himself and the present evil age.

 

This is a blow to Paul, and no doubt to Luke. Paul writes to Timothy, “Come quickly.”

 

“Come quickly because I am going to leave this world soon through execution, and one who was close to me, one whom I love, one whom I depended on, one whom I shared much joy and laughter and love with, one with whom I endured and overcame many challenges, one whom I was certain would be with me until the very end; this one, my friend, my beloved, my Demas…has deserted me. O Timothy come quickly! Come quickly!”

 

Now if, when we read this passage in 2 Timothy, we are simply thinking about Paul and Demas and Paul’s other friends, then we are missing the point. For I ought to be allowing the Holy Spirit to take the Word of God and challenge me in terms of my friendships and other relationships. If the Holy Spirit had intended us to gloss over passages such as this, He would not have included them in the Holy Word, these passages, just as the genealogies, have Divine meaning.

 

What do we “see” in this passage? How are we responding to this passage?

 

Finishing the Race – Strong! (2)

 

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 2

 

“Luke, the beloved physician sends you his greetings, and also Demas” (Col. 4:14).

 

What must Demas have felt like when his greetings were included in Paul’s letter to the Colossians? Gratified? Grateful that he was included in the letter? Thankful to be identified with Paul in Paul’s imprisonment?

 

Paul’s letter to Philemon accompanied his letter to the church at Colossae, and in that letter he wrote, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” How might Demas have felt to be acknowledged as one of Paul’s “fellow workers”?

 

“Say to Archippus, ‘Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it’” (Col. 4:17).

 

Is it possible that Demas compared himself to Archippus? Is it possible that Demas thought, “I am faithfully with Paul, fulfilling the ministry that God gave me. I will never need such a warning from Paul or from anyone else”?

 

When we look at Demas in Colossians and Philemon he is keeping good company. He is identified with Paul in his imprisonment. Demas is a member of an apostolic cohort proclaiming the Gospel and supporting Paul. How might Demas have been feeling? What might he have been thinking?

 

While we don’t know the answers to these questions, since we share a common humanity with Demas we can explore possibilities. If our names had appeared in place of the name Demas in Colossians and Philemon, what might we have been thinking and feeling – to be identified with Paul the apostle in his critical ministry?

 

Let’s not forget that Paul was in prison. To be identified with Paul took courage; there was always the possibility that you might be next, that you might be sleeping next to Paul on any given night.

 

But then we have, “Demas…has deserted me” (2 Tim. 4:10).

 

What happened?

Finishing the Race -Strong! (1)

  

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part I

 

Two years ago tomorrow, I lost one of the most honorable and trustworthy friends I have ever had, Bruce Harrison. Few, if any, days go by that I don’t think about Bruce and that I don’t “talk” to him, whatever that means. Bruce was my climbing partner as we negotiated our ascent on Mount Zion – attached to the rope of Jesus and His Word. Yet, we are still attached to that rope, the tension on it has not slackened, perhaps it is even more sure than before. For while Brucie has passed into the clouds beyond my physical vision and my natural hearing, he has tied his end of the rope around our Rock, Jesus Christ, and I can hear him saying, “Bobby, come on up, come on up.”

 

In contrast with Bruce, there is Demas in the New Testament. I’ve been pondering Demas for the past few days and I thought I was going to write about him and leave it at that, but this morning I see that we want to explore a bigger picture than simply Demas, so while we’ll see where this goes, we’ll begin with Demas. Demas is mentioned three times in the Bible:

 

“Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and also Demas.” (Colossians 4:14).

 

“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, greets you, as do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, my fellow workers.” (Philemon 23 – 24).

 

“Make every effort to come to me soon; for Demas, having loved this present world [age], has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…” (2 Timothy 4:9 – 10a).

 

What do you see in these passages? What is the storyline?

 

I’ll begin by pointing out that all the verses in the Bible matter. While our tendency may be to skip over groups of names, as I hope we’ll see with Demas, we may be missing important lessons when we do this. Panning for gold in Scripture brings much joy to share with others and works to establish us in Christ.

 

Colossians and Philemon were written at the same time. The former was written to the church in that city, and the latter was written to a brother in that church. (See Colossians 4:7 – 14 and Philemon 10 – 24). Ephesians was also written at this time. (Compare Ephesians and Colossians). Paul writes these letters from prison (Col. 4:3; Phm. 23; Eph. 6:20).

 

Paul also wrote 2 Timothy from prison – I think this is fair to say from the tenor and content of the letter. On the face of it, Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians were written prior to 2 Timothy; among other contrasting features, consider the change in the status of Demas. It further seems apparent that a significant change has occurred in Paul’s circumstances between the time he wrote the first three letters and when he penned 2 Timothy. While I realize that there is discussion as to whether Paul experienced one or two imprisonments in Rome, my own sense is that there were two – but in either case there is a drastic change in circumstances. (Yes, Philippians was also written from prison.)

 

Demas has gone from honorable mention in Colossians and Philemon to dishonorable mention in 2 Timothy. He has gone from standing alongside Luke and Mark and Aristarchus to, “for Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…”

 

As we ponder the context of these passages that mention Demas, what can we learn?

 

How are we challenged?

 

What warnings do we see for ourselves and others?

 

How might you structure and present this to a group of children or teenagers?

 

To a Sunday morning congregation?