16:1
From now on Acts is almost entirely about Paul and his mission work. Derbe and Lystra were the first two places that he visited, and in this chapter we are introduced to various characters, coming from very different backgrounds. The first of these is TImothy. Timothy was more than a co-worker with Paul, he was more of a spiritual son, as shown by the two pastoral letters bearing his name. 2 Tim 1:5 tells us that his mother was Eunice, and his grandmother Lois. His mother was Jewish, but he came from a mixed marriage, his father being Greek.
16:2,3
Timothy had already garnered a good reputation, with other believers speaking well of him. Paul saw the potential in Timothy and decided to take him along on his missionary journey. We then get a rather surprising item. Paul had him circumcised, indeed Paul himself circumcised him. Now given the council in Jerusalem which we read about in the previous chapter, and especially Paul’s writings in Galatians this seems at odds with all that. However, Paul’s contention was that circumcision had nothing to do with salvation. As a Jew he should have been circumcised on the eighth day, but it seems that his father had not allowed that to happen. So Paul was making sure that Timothy could not be accused of being a “failed Jew”.
No comments:
Post a Comment