God’s Word for You

Philippians 2:25-27 sorrow upon sorrow

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, March 24, 2026

25 Also, I have decided that it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, besides being the one you sent to take care of my needs. 26 For he was longing for all of you and he was distressed because you heard he was ill. 27 In fact he was indeed ill, and nearly died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me from having sorrow upon sorrow.

Paul is going to send someone else to the Philippians. This other man is Epaphroditus, who evidently had been sent by the Philippians to Paul, “to take care of [Paul’s] needs.”

Paul was sending him back right away, and we take this to mean that it would be this man who would carry this letter back to the Philippians. It was not as if there was some problem with Paul’s other messenger, Timothy, but only that Timothy was being held back until Paul got final news about the verdict of his case. When that happened, Paul would send Timothy. If Paul was being set free, Timothy would just bring that news more quickly, to the Philippians and perhaps to other churches as well. If the verdict went the other way, then Timothy would go to Philippi to take over Paul’s work there. But Epaphroditus was going right away.

What do we know about this other man? What we know, we know from Paul’s words here. He was Paul’s well-known spiritual brother. Paul uses the Greek definite article to show us that this was common knowledge. He was also Paul’s “co-worker,” sharing the work of the ministry with Paul, perhaps the way that Pastors share pulpits during the Lenten season, or will stand in for one another in Bible studies, or visiting sick members. Epaphroditus was also Paul’s “fellow soldier,” which I take to mean that they had faced difficulties and maybe even dangers together. In 2 Corinthians 11:25-26, Paul says that he has been beaten with rods three times, stoned once, shipwrecked three times (this was before his shipwreck in Acts 27), that he has been in danger from rivers, from his own countrymen, from Gentiles, and from false brothers. Did Epaphroditus share in some of those dangers? Possibly.

On top of that, he was chosen by the Philippians to go and find Paul and take care of his needs. It is probable, almost certain, that he brought with him money of some kind from the Philippians; an offering from them collected specifically to help Paul while he was in prison.

But somewhere along the way, he became ill. The rigors of sea travel are not for everyone, but it was probably something much worse than sea-sickness; perhaps he was caught by some illness that raged through one of the ships he traveled on, and along the way to Rome, Epaphroditus almost died. But he didn’t give up. He didn’t turn around, saying, “This is too hard,” or “I’m not cut out for this.” Instead, he pressed on and found Paul and brought the help to the apostle that the Philippians had sent. But somehow they had found out that he had become ill and had almost died.

Now, Paul was sending him back so that they could see for themselves that he was all right, and even though it would mean some hardship for Paul (saying farewell to a friend). But he also says, “to spare me from having sorrow upon sorrow.” Doesn’t Paul have faith in the resurrection, someone might ask? Does Paul grieve “like the rest of men who have no hope?” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). I wonder if those who would ask this have ever lost a loved one in death. It is not sinful to weep or grieve when our loved ones die (John 11:25; Genesis 23:2; John 20:11). And Jesus blesses those who mourn, saying, “They will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4). But Paul is thinking of the possibility that Epaphroditus might have died, and would have brought him sorrow personally on account of their friendship, but also another sorrow, on account of the friendship that Epaphroditus had with everyone there in Philippi, so that his death while seeking out Paul would have meant severe grief and sorrow on both ends, in Rome and in Philippi. Therefore he sends him back.

In this passage, it occurs to me that Paul reflects some of the care and concern of God the Father for mankind. The two principal works of God are these: Creation (the first work in which God revealed himself), and redemption (the restoration of the human race). The Father, compassionately longing for the rescue of the human race (“so that my name will be great among the nations” Malachi 1:11), sends forth his one and only Son, who, by going, spares the Father from the grief of losing all of mankind, but who dies in the process, “to forgive the sin of your servants” (2 Chronicles 6:27). And the resurrection of Jesus, like a man rising up after an illness—but Christ bore no illness apart from the wrath of God for the sins of the world—and his resurrection is glorious. So the Father was thus spared “sorrow upon sorrow” like the sorrow he had felt when the wickedness of men brought down the flood and destroyed them all in the ancient times, grieving the Lord and filling his heart with pain (Genesis 6:6).

Christ’s work on our behalf brings glory to God, salvation to men, and joy to all. Praise be his holy name forever and ever!

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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