Finishing the Race - Strong! (4)

 

Demas – From Honorable to Dishonorable, Part 4

 

“Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me” (2 Timothy 4:10a).

 

How did this desertion happen? What led to it? Was there a “goodbye” or did Demas simply not show up one day? Was Paul left wondering where Demas was, where he had gone, whether he was all right? Did Demas tell Paul that he was going to Thessalonica, or did Paul receive a letter from friends in Thessalonica informing him of Demas’s arrival? Had Paul an inkling of what was going on within Demas?

 

What was it about the present world that Demas loved so much as to abandon Paul and Luke? It may have been peace and security.

 

It must have been a relief to Demas when Paul was released from his first imprisonment. Not only was the threat of execution removed from Paul, but the possibility that Demas might share Paul’s imprisonment was also gone. We don’t know how long the interval was between the imprisonment when Paul wrote Colossians and Philemon, and the final imprisonment when he wrote 2 Timothy; nor do we know where Paul and his companions traveled during that interlude (there are reasonable ideas about this, but this is not the place to explore them) – but the fresh and free air must have felt good, they must have been thankful every day for their relative freedom.

 

What brought Paul back to Rome? Was he arrested elsewhere and once again sent to Rome? Or did Paul, like Jesus, set his face to go to a great city where suffering, abandonment, and execution awaited him? Either way, what must Demas have been thinking and feeling as they approached Rome?

 

Was Demas willing to face the prospect of being identified with Paul, an enemy of the State? Was he willing to risk the possibility of being arrested and imprisoned and tortured and killed? Was he willing to wake up every morning, not knowing what lay before him – whether in prison or out of prison? Was the uncertainty and anxiety more than he could bear?

 

Was the prospect of peace and security enough to cause Demas to abandon his friends?

 

What was it about the present world that Demas loved so much?

 

While I want to emphasize that we don’t actually know what Demas loved about the present world, I think it is reasonable to say that personal peace and security was an element of his love. After having lived in uncertainty for so long, and with Paul imprisoned again and facing execution, the allurement of a relatively normal life must have been great.

 

Earlier in 2 Timothy Paul writes, “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2:3) … Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (3:12).

 

Demas arrived at a point where he chose to reject these words, and in rejecting the call of Christ Jesus he rejected his friends Paul and Luke; in loving the present world he rejected the coming world of the Kingdom of God in Christ.  

 

Demas moved from honor to dishonor.

 

Jesus says, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

 

How tragic to have one’s hand on the plow, whether for moments or for years, and then look back and return to the City of Man, the City of Destruction.

 

Perhaps the church in Thessalonica brought Demas to his senses, perhaps he lived the rest of his life in regret that he abandoned Paul in Paul’s time of acute need. Perhaps Demas would never again hear the story of Jesus being abandoned in the garden without deep remorse. Maybe Demas was able to speak to others of what friendship in Christ means, and that peace and security in Jesus Christ is far better than what the world offers us. Let us hope so. Our Father is merciful.

 

“This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12 – 13).

 

“We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

 

Is this love, the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ, the measure of our love and commitment to one another?