God’s Word for You

2 Timothy 4:19-21 before winter

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Sunday, July 19, 2026

19 Greet Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because he was sick. 21 Do your best to get here before winter. Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.

Just before he ends the letter, Paul sends greetings to a number of people that Timothy would have had contact with, along with news about a few other people, and finally greetings for Timothy from several people who knew that Paul was writing. In the midst of all this is another request: “Do your best to get here before winter.” Let’s briefly touch on all these points.

First: Paul greets a married couple and one other old friend. He had met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth; they had been expelled from Rome when Emperor Claudius drove out all of the Jews (49 or 50 AD, it was not the first time this had happened). Paul worked with them as tentmakers, earning money to pay for his room and board, and getting to know them and deepen their knowledge of Christ, so that in turn they were able to teach Apollos (Acts 18:3-26). Here, Paul uses Priscilla’s diminutive name Prisca, probably the shortened form that her family and close friends used. The expulsion of the Jews was lifted shortly after Paul wrote 1-2 Corinthians, because when he wrote to the Romans a little while later he sent them greetings as part of the church in Rome. Someone tracing their travels would also note that since he sends them greetings here, Priscilla and Aquila must have gone to Ephesus.

Onesiphorus and his family are also greeted. We also heard about his usefulness to Paul in 2 Timothy 1:16. Paul’s praise and appreciation for this man is also extended to his household. We can well imagine that his traveling to help Paul would have been a hardship to his wife and family while he was gone for weeks or even months, and in danger much of the way. We are happy to learn by this greeting that he had returned home to them safely.

Next, Paul shares a little bit of news. Erastus was an official, “a director of a city’s public works.” Was Paul disappointed that Erastus had remained in Corinth, and had not made an appearance at his trial? The presence of so important and influential a man might have helped Paul’s case, but we can’t say more about this. Paul certainly does not describe Erastus has having abandoned him as he had with Demas (4:10).

The other news is about Paul’s frequent companion Trophimus (see Acts 20:4 and 21:29). He was left behind in Miletus on account of being sick. Miletus is about 50 miles south of Ephesus. Perhaps by including this news, Paul was either explaining why Trophimus was now there, or hinting that Timothy or someone from Ephesus might travel down to check on him.

This raises an interesting question. Paul was able to heal the sick (Acts 19:11-12, 28:8-9) and even raise the dead (Acts 20:10). Why, then, would Paul leave this man behind and not heal him? And why did Paul only give Timothy advice about his stomach trouble (1 Timothy 5:23) and not heal him? Remember that the purpose of miracles was especially to prove the truth of the Scriptures and of the Apostles’ preaching, just as when Jesus had performed miracles. Now that the gospel was becoming more well-known, the Lord no longer wanted this gift to be used so often, so that attention would not be taken away from the preaching. Jesus had promised his disciples: “These signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well” (Mark 16:17-19). These were auxiliary gifts; the giving of faith and forgiveness is the main work of the church, through the means of grace. Professor Habeck writes: “We know that today in the case of charismatics they often for the assurance of their salvation focus their attention upon what they are able to do and not upon what the Lord has done for them.”

There are also greetings from old friends (Linus, in fact, might be that Linus who later became the first bishop of Rome), but let’s turn to Paul’s final request: “Do your best to get here before winter.” There are, I think, three reasons for this. The first is simply that the fall weather was bringing on colder weather and Timothy was going to bring him his cloak. Second, winter sea travel in the Mediterranean was treacherous. Several times Paul had simply remained in this or that city on account of this weather rather than try to sail during January or February (1 Corinthians 16:6; Titus 3:12, and see especially Acts 27:12). But finally, Paul knew that his time was running out, and he wanted to see Timothy before the executioner came calling.

Paul was not scrambling like a trapped animal to find a way out of his dilemma. He was not planning to bust out of his prison. He was not begging anyone to raise bags and bundles of bribe money; denarii for a guard to turn a blind eye. He just wanted to see a friend, perhaps his best friend, once again before the end. Even when we are separated from the people we love for long years, our thoughts are never far from them.

So are these verses proclaiming law or gospel? When I think of times I have been tempted to get out of trouble or an uncomfortable situation, even (as a boy) a punishment I didn’t deserve (and there were a few), and then I compare myself to Paul’s calm, even loving acceptance of what he was facing, then there is law here. I could have, should have, done better. I didn’t think to bless anyone, friend or foe, but Paul did. Which commandment was I breaking? It would be enough to start with the First, whenever I fail to fear, love, and trust in God above all things. What a wretched and miserable coward a man can be! But there is gospel here too in these greetings and blessings, the scribble at the end of this letter. There is the gospel of forgiveness in the list of names of people who were sending their greetings to faraway Timothy from Paul’s circle of friends who were still there in Rome. Just look at them all! “Eubulus greets you, and so do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.” Paul has just said that nobody stood with him in the first hearing, and yet here are these six or eight or however many of “the brothers” there were, all speaking up to say Hi to Timothy. And he doesn’t say one disappointed word about any of them. Did they arrive later? Were none of them around when the bailiff came for him? I suppose we can’t really say, but there is no reproof in his words. And so here in the absence of words, Paul loves his neighbor as himself. He scolds no one. Paul always helps along the pathway of wanting to be a better man. Imperfect as he is, and as brilliant an author as he is, and as marvelous a missionary that he was, he also beats everyone I know in one thing a lot of us miss: Paul doesn’t question God’s forgiveness. Paul can walk and talk and live out his life to the very last moment basking in the forgiveness of his sins. He doesn’t mope or wish he had done better, he stands up and does; he speaks, he writes, he preaches, and he befriends without hesitation. Go get ‘em, Paul! Show us all how it’s done. Let me see Christ’s love in my life, even with your example. There is a life well-led, well-lived, and—God bless you, Paul—well-ended.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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