Over the last two months I’ve been translating II Timothy. The reason, or perhaps intrigue for this, occurred during our vacation in Portugal when I had one of those experiences in which I distinctly felt drawn to II Timothy 3:5. That verse stayed with me as I meditated upon it throughout or time in Europe such that when we came home, I turned my heart and mind toward the whole book.
Pauline authorship of II Timothy is often disputed, and having translated it I can see why. The language, the flow, and even some of the statements feel very unPaul. However, I don’t always write the same way, and most people do change given the circumstances, and this feels like a more personal letter than say Galatians or Romans. In my opinion, it is second only to Philemon in personal connection. So as I translate it, I take it at face value that Paul is actually writing Timothy and his main point is helping the young church leader in his ministry. This does affect my interpretation and hermeneutic of the passage.
My intention is to cover a few verses with commentary in successful posts, probably about ten or so. Maybe eight. Depends.
So, without any more introduction, let us dive into the opening lines of II Timothy.
Chapter One
1. Paul, an apostle of Messiah Jesus, by the will of God, because of the promise of life in Messiah Jesus.
2. Grace, mercy, and peace from God and our Lord Messiah Jesus to the beloved child, Timothy.
3. I have grace from the God of our ancestors, who I serve with a clean conscience as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.
4. Remembering your tears, and longing to see you, so that I might be filled with joy.
5. I hold the memory of your unhypocritical faith, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and which I am convinced dwells in you.
6. It is for this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God which, by the laying on of my hands, is inside you.
7. For God did not give you a cowardly spirit but power, love, and clear thinking.
8. Therefore, you should not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord nor my imprisonment for him, but rather share this suffering of evil for the gospel by the power of God.
A fairly straightforward opening helps us get our bearings straight. Paul is not writing to a church, like Corinth, but to a person, a man called Timothy. This Timothy is like a beloved child to him. Timothy of course is not his child, but it reminds us that within the bonds of church life and ministry the family dynamic is always in play — for we are like a family. Timothy is not his child, he is like his child, and therefore his feelings are paternal. Timothy should read Paul’s words as if they were from his father. Of course, Timothy’s father is nowhere to be found, because he was not a believer. Paul has carried part of the responsibility for spiritually teaching and leading Timothy.
In that vein, there is something else I Read going on here that I’m not certain is often brought out. In quick succession Paul says six important things to Timothy: 1) I pray for you all the time because of how sad you were (tears) 2) your faith is a memory to me, as in, it used to be 3) Your grandmother and mother are heroes of the faith and they set you on this path 4) I remain convinced their faith is in you (perhaps despite current evidence?) 5) Rekindle the gift – relight the fire – 6) Don’t be ashamed of me, instead be brave.
If I put these together I get a picture of Paul trying to bring the young pastor back around to faithful ministry. Something has happened in Timothy’s life and ministry that has caused him to waiver. He is questioning his calling or his faith. Therefore, Paul has to give him this refresher course on where he began — even going back to what we might call his ordination when hands were laid on the young man. I tell you as one who has done ministry for thirty years, when you have to go back and revisit your calling just to keep going, you are in a crisis of faith. I read this as Timothy being in the midst of such a crisis of faith.
Textually, at least, it seems like the crisis might be linked to the persecution and suffering that was happening to Paul and others. If we take the words literally, then Paul is concerned Timothy would have shame because of what had happened and was happening to those who follow Jesus. It is the kind of shame that is understandable when people you look up to are arrested, imprisoned, executed by the state, and they always mention that Jesus himself was crucified as a criminal. But Paul wants wants Timothy to adopt his own personal mindset best vocalized in Romans 1:16, ‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.’ Paul indicates Timothy had turned into a shameful coward.
Timothy was beat down, worn out. He felt cold inside. So Paul reminds him of all these things about his past — how he used to be about his faith, how he once was emotionally linked to Paul, his godly mama and grandma, even his own moment of calling in order to get him to rekindle the fire that had gone out. That is the word-picture of verse 6, to rekindle the gift. The gift is like a fire that has smoldered down to mere embers. It is time to blow it gently with fresh wind of the Holy Spirit, feed it with a little fuel from the word of God, and watch it burn brightly again in faith. The word for rekindle here in the original text is a compound which as best I understand it something like ‘again’ +’to life’ + ‘fire’.
Bring it it to life again. Resurrection.
The gift God has given us sometimes grows dim, cold because the world beats it down. Faith then calls us to rekindle it, and bring it to life again. In the same way we read this as Timothy, we must also be as Paul to help others get to that great recovery by reminding them who they are, where they came from, how they used to be, and what they need to do. Such work of reminding is a great description of pastoral ministry.