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?