And he came also to Derbe and to
Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was
a believer; but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren
at Lystra and Ico'nium. Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him; and he took him
and circumcised him because of the Jews that were in those places, for they all
knew that his father was a Greek. As they went on their way through the cities,
they delivered to them for observance the decisions which had been reached by
the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. So the churches were
strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily
In a Nutshell
Luke tells us how Timothy had been a part of Paul's forward planning.
Questions
Why couldn't Barnabas and Mark travel back to those churches on a different journey from Paul and Silas?
Luke
knew how serious the split with Barnabas over Mark was. Thereafter Paul
travelled with Silas who, like Paul, was a Roman citizen (16:47). Silas had
been sent to Antioch with Barsabbas who, it seems, was the other nominee when
Matthias was chosen to take the place of Judas (15:22-23). Silas accompanied
Paul and Barnabas on their return to Syrian Antioch after the Council in
Jerusalem. The work continued and after conveying the apostolic message Silas
stayed in Antioch.
After
Barnabas returned to Cyprus with Mark, the church at Antioch did not let Paul
and Silas go to the work without giving their prayerful blessing. This seems to
have been the beginning of the next stage of the work under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. They visited the region between Syrian
Antioch and Tarsus. Luke tells us that Paul was keen to renew the contacts he
had made beyond there in Derbe and Lystra. Then he and Barnabas had been forced
to flee from murderous plots in Iconium and in pagan Lystra Paul had been
stoned. We recall there was no mention of Barnabas being stoned. Despite the
danger, churches were set up at Iconium, Lystra and Derbe and elders had been
appointed to look after the small groups of believers.
This
is another place in Luke's story where we would like to know the sequence of
events. It would help us to understand a few things. For instance, the tragic split
and also Paul's relationship with Timothy. It might also help us clarify
aspects of Paul's message - clearly there was a significant group among the
company of Jesus' disciples who wanted strict Jewish rules for all Christians.
We note that Paul was working hard to resolve the "Jewish problem"
(from the Gentile believer's point of view) and the "Gentile problem"
(from the Jewish believer's point of view). Paul's letter to the churches of
Galatia is his complaint. The churches are under the spell of false teaching,
he says. The idea that circumcision must be enforced upon believers is to
misunderstand the gospel. The circumcision party had come to Antioch from
Jerusalem, he says, and even Barnabas
was carried away by Peter's insincere dealings with Gentile believers. Paul
would have none of that. But I think Luke is telling us that Peter and Paul
were in complete agreement after Peter repented of this duplicity. Still the
working relationship of Paul and Barnabas may have been under strain. When Luke
says there was "sharp contention" over Mark he may be trying to tell
us that Mark had not yet understood how he could be a member of a team
that involved contact with Gentiles. So was this the point at which Mark was put
on his own special learning curve? When did he discover what Peter had had to
learn that what God makes clean shall not be
called common or unclean. If so, then it would mean he had gone
along with Barnabas but was not convinced. But then later he did go with
Barnabas to revisit Cyprus. So it is hard to figure out precisely what was
going on. And maybe, as we have said, Mark was with Barnabas because he had a
price upon his head.
I
suspect that many of our misunderstandings come from the way we read stories.
We try to find the "hero". In this instance we think of Peter, Paul,
Barnabas and Mark and all the others actors all competing with each other in
some way to be our story's as hero. In fact Luke is telling us that they are
struggling humans who have to learn that it is
through many tribulations that we must enter the Kingdom of God (14:22). That
was what Paul and Barnabas taught at Derbe on their previous visit. And so it is
rather ironic that they could not revisit together because of the tribulation of
their strained friendship. The issue may have been resolved in principle by the
Council declaration, but day-to-day habits remained and this seems to have
taken a toll.
Just
when did Paul take Timothy and circumcise him? Why was it necessary to do so?
Doesn't Paul go to great lengths to say that those who choose circumcision are
bound to obey the whole law? Could Paul have been circumcising Timothy for
appearances, just to avoid difficult Jewish accusations? Surely Luke
appreciated that this seems to have been a dodgy decision?
Well,
lets consider it slowly. Consider Timothy's parents - a Jewish woman named
Eunice and an un-named Gentile father. We read about Timothy's mother and
grandmother in Paul's second letter to Timothy (1:3-7). Later in that letter
Paul asked: Get Mark and bring him with you. So
Paul and Mark were reconciled, eventually. We might even sense that Mark was
able to smooth the relationship between his uncle and Paul. We note that
Timothy and Mark were able to work together. The older generation may have had
their frictions but this did not prevent the co-operation between these younger
fellows. Mark became the writer of the Gospel which encouraged everyone -
believers, apostles and elders, Jews and Gentiles, men and women, boys and
girls.
So,
what is Luke telling us about Paul, here? Why does he tell us that Paul had
taken Timothy and circumcised him? Was this after the split with
Barnabas? Or was it before? Was it when he and Barnabas had visited that
town, or was the family converted to Christ earlier, perhaps in the time when
Saul had been smuggled off to Caesarea and sent off to Tarsus years before
Barnabas had come to fetch him for the work he had been called to do in the
church at Antioch?
This
is what Paul wrote to Timothy (II 1:4-7)
As I remember your tears, I long night and day to see you, that
I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that
dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure,
dwells in you. Hence I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within
you through the laying on of my hands, for God did not give us a spirit of
timidity but a spirit of power and love and self-control.
This
is such an intimate communication. When we take into account that this letter
is from the one who had personally circumcised Timothy we feel just how close
this bond was. Even today we will rarely confront intimacy of this sort between
a believer and the one who administered the baptism. It is almost like we are
caught prying into something that is not our business. Although we know it is.
But why did Paul circumcise Timothy?
There
is a clue to all this. It is found in the "but" word that Luke uses
here. "But his father was a
Greek." The relationship between Jews and Gentiles came to a peculiar
focus in that family. Luke does not say that Timothy's father did not believe.
He says that Timothy's father was Greek. There is a big difference.
Timothy's Jewish mother was a believer. Our bibles in English say that
it was Timothy the disciple who was well spoken of by the brethren
in that region. If the uncircumcised son was spoken well of by the Jewish
brethren in that region it seems Timothy's Greek father derived a degree of Jewish
respect as well - after all he was married to a Jewish woman.
In his
letter, Paul tells Timothy that he should be thankful to God for his
grandmother Lois. She was the first to have faith in Jesus in that family. She
was Jewish and so was her daughter. But the daughter had married a
Greek. Had she "floated" around in neutral spiritual gear until she
accepted the Christ? The reason I ask this is that it seems possible that the
prayers of Lois were not only answered in Timothy but also in Timothy's mother and
father. That would suggest that Paul's circumcising of Timothy is told us by
Luke because he wants us to see it in the context of the conversion of that
Christian family. It would have been quite unfair to the young man, a son of a
Jewish mother, if, having embraced Christ, and deciding to go with Paul, he
could not then enter into contact with other sons of Jewish mothers and
therefore would have exposed himself unnecessarily to attack from the
"circumcision party".
Let's
try and think about what Timothy's point of view could have been. It seems it
was not only a matter of "What am I able to do from my side of my
relationships with fellow Jews?" but also "Will my fellow Jews be
able to relate to me in a synagogue context if I, a Jew, remain uncircumcised
like a Gentile." This would lead
us to conclude that the circumcision of Timothy was a Christian act performed
by Paul which was concerned about developing his Christian relationships with
fellow Jews. It was not a decision in which concern for Timothy's relationships
with fellow Christians was uppermost. Is it not likely that Timothy's Greek
father would have understood and approved of this if he were a Christian?
That
is the best I can do to make sense of the circumstances that Luke has put
before us. There are always apparent ambiguities which cannot be fully
explained. We should not let them confuse us or distract us from belief in
Jesus. But then we shouldn't pretend they are not there, or that we have
resolved some issues more definitively than we have been able to explain. We
can say that Jesus' disciples are always called to come to terms with complex
and confusing social situations. From within our lives the power of the Holy
Spirit shines forth as we learn patience, as we realise that God's Love is not hindered
by the complex problems which beset us.
This
"Hint" has been a long one. Paul's teaming up with Silas and Timothy
is a crucial turning point in Luke's story. But from now we will return to
briefer discussions.