Philippians 2:28-30 - Honour people like him

2:28

Since Epaphroditus had been spared Paul was keen to send him back to Philippi. He wanted to do this so that the Philippians would be glad and Paul would have less anxiety. Why would the Philippians be glad? Because Epaphroditus would be able to tell them how Paul was getting on and give them encouragement. Why would Paul have less anxiety? Perhaps because the situation in Rome was dangerous, and with Epaphroditus having been near to death once he did not want to risk losing him. Perhaps also, so that Paul would then know there was someone in Philippi who understood the nature of the situation was able to help the Philippians get through the opposition they were facing. “I may have less anxiety”. Note that Paul did have some anxiety. Now he was not prone to worry in the sense of it being debilitating, as we will read later he had learnt to trust Christ. But trusting Christ, living by faith, does not mean we will not have any troubles , nor that we will never have any mental torment.

2:29,30

Epaphroditus was the sort of Christian that should be honoured. They were to welcome him with great joy. He had risked his life for the sake of Christ. Note that it seems that his “risking his life” was not the result of direct persecution, but of illness. Sometimes following Christ will mean that just put ourselves at greater risk in some respect, healthwise, financial or physical danger. When faced with such situations we should count the cost and choose Christ.