2 Timothy 1:2

Introduction to Timothy

A native of Lystra in Asia Minor ( ,)

The son of Jewish Mother and a Greek Father ()

This would qualify Timothy as a Jew

His mother went by the name Eunice and his grandmother went by Lois

Both of them were Christian Believers ()

His mother did not raise Timothy very strictly Jewish

was not circumcised () and was married to a presumably unbelieving Gentile

Paul chose Timothy to travel with him and help him

Timothy was well spoken of by the church ()

Was also already a Christian when we are introduced to him

In order to be effective and to reach the Jews with Paul, he had become circumcised ()

He travels alongside Paul to numerous churches and learns to lead alongside him

Along with Silas/Silvanus through Asia Minor to Troas, then to Macedonia.

At Philippi they encounter conflict ( , )

Then moved through Amphipolis and Apollonia before arriving at Thessalonica and hitting more opposition

Timothy and the others fled by night for Beroea, Paul left him there with Silas and went on to Athens

The opposition of Thessalonica followed them to Beroea, Once Paul made it to Athens he then called Timothy to join him

Timothy and Silas try to catch up to Paul in Athens but find him in Corinth. From there Paul entrusts Timothy and sends him back to the Thessalonian church to establish the Thessalonians in their faith and to encourage them ()

On this trip Timothy is also entrusted as being Paul’s eyes and ears () since Paul was unable to go himself as a result of the opposition in the city

The church themselves were enduring their own persecution from their neighbors

Timothy is atributed as establishing

After accomplish his purpose in Thessalonica Timothy returns to Paul in Corinth

Encourages Paul with good news

Brings questions that the church was struggling with back to Paul

These questions and reports go on to create Paul's letter to the Thessalonians

While in Corinth, Timothy is attributed as establishing this church as well for he alongside Paul and Silvanus preached the Son of God, Jesus Christ

We are unsure if Timothy stays with Paul the full 18 months in Corinth but we then find him again with Paul on the next Missionary journey.

Timothy Meets Paul at Ephesus

After meeting with Paul they receive rough reports about the Corinthian church and therefore Timothy is sent back to resolve these issues

Timothy was sent to remind them of Paul’s teaching

He was walking into a mess, Paul had to send a letter with him telling the church to encourage timothy and not dispise him then to take care of his needs and send him off again

Timothy later appears with Paul in his first imprisonment as the cosender of 3 of his new letters

Of this Paul says he has no one like Timothy who serves from pure motives for the people. He was a guy who genuinely cared for others

1 Timothy is written by Paul after he is set free from prison the first time and to Timothy in Ephesus so Timothy was sent back there

Now we find Timothy receiving this letter from Paul after Paul has been imprisoned again. As we discussed last week, now expecting to die and writing to his trusted companion.

Later Church tradition (though not written until the 4th century by Eusebius) places Timothy as the bishop of the church at Ephesus where we conclude that he finished out his ministry.

Why is all this important?

While reading this letter, we can sometimes see Timothy as this fearful, discouraged young man and that is simply not the case. Did he need encouragement? Absolutely!

With this background we see that Timothy helped in the development of at least three different churches.

He was someone Paul trusted to be a problem solver and someone he trusted to truly represent him to struggling churches.

This was a young man who had faced numerous trials, been chased out of cities, and stuck by his mentor when no one else would. This wasn’t just someone who was a year in but someone who was certainly more then five years into his faith and still right in the middle of God’s will.

This was a young man that exhibited faithfulness, someone the apostle Paul himself would entrust the mission of maturing his own sheep for him, something he knew he would be accountable for to the creator of the universe, Jesus Christ!

With that said there is a lot to be learned in this book as we see the final concerns of Paul but there is also great wisdom to be learned from Timothy as a young faithful protege of Paul dealing with difficulty and staying true to following Jesus with his life.