Lessons #291 and 292
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual exposition not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GWT = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New English Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
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Concern for the apostle and his team (Eph 6:21-22)
21 Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
We have now to the concluding portion of this epistle to the Ephesians. Paul began the epistle with personal information and greeting. The personal information was concerned with his office as an apostle of Jesus Christ by divine will. The greeting involved the words “peace” and “grace.” Following his introduction, the apostle launched into the doctrine of divine work that involved exposition of election, adoption, redemption, and creation of a new humanity in Christ from Jews and Gentiles. These doctrines were expounded in the first three chapters of the epistle. When he finished his doctrinal exposition, he went into applications of the doctrines he espoused. These applications of the doctrine simply put is that believers are to live as Christians in the church, in personal life, in domestic life, and in the spiritual warfare. The applications of doctrines in the areas mentioned are described from the fourth chapter of Ephesians to verse 20 of the sixth chapter. As the apostle ended the application of doctrine in the spiritual warfare, he concludes the epistle.
The apostle signaled a change in topic or an introduction of a new paragraph in our passage with a Greek conjunction (de) that may be translated “but” to indicate contrast. It may be translated “and” as a marker of an additional idea to the train of thought to a preceding discussion or a marker that connects an additional element to a discussion. Often when it is used as a marker of connective, it is left untranslated. This seems to be the interpretation adopted by most modern English versions because the Greek conjunction is left untranslated. Nonetheless, the Greek indicates that what follows is a new paragraph that is concerned with a topic different from the preceding discussion on spiritual warfare. The context suggests the apostle in the Greek signaled an end or conclusion of his epistle.
The conclusion of the epistle is similar to its introduction in that the apostle dealt with personal matters and final greeting that involved peace, love, faith, and grace. The personal matters are described in verses 21 and 22 while the final greetings are stated in verses 23 and 24. We begin our study of the concluding section of the epistle with personal matters.
The personal matters the apostle focused in verses 21 and 22 are primarily about himself and his apostolic team. Thus, we can summarize the central issue in verses 21 and 22 with the proposition: The apostle sensed the Ephesians’ interest in his affairs and so he sent Tychicus to them. Thus, the theme of these two verses is “the sending of Tychicus to the Ephesians” or “the mission of Tychicus.” So, we could simply analyze these two verses with two major assertions that deal with this theme. The first is that the apostle assumed or sensed that the Ephesians were interested about his affairs. The second is that based on this assumption or perception, he sent Tychicus to report to the Ephesians about his affairs and that of his team. The sending of Tychicus is concerned not only with reporting about the apostle’s affairs but also to encourage them. Thus, we could expound on these two assertions by going through the details given in the passage; nothing will be wrong by this approach. However, we believe that the Scripture is given to teach us, as Apostle Paul stated, for example, in Romans 15:4:
For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
The Holy Spirit through the apostle is clear that everything in the Scripture is written to encourage us in our spiritual warfare or as we journey through this life into the eternal stated. This being the case, then it is not enough to simply consider the details of the personal matters the apostle discussed in Ephesians 6:21-22. Therefore, it is necessary to tailor the proposition that captured what the apostle said in these two verses so that we may apply it to our daily living as Christians. Hence, we believe that the message the Holy Spirit wants us to convey to you from the section we are considering is this: You should be concerned about your spiritual leadership who is under suffering. It is this message we will expound by making two major assertions.
A first major assertion is: You should have personal interest in the affairs of your spiritual leader in trouble. This assertion is based on the last clause of Ephesians 6:21 of the NIV so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing but which is the first clause in the Greek sentence. Thus, verse 21 in the Greek literally translates in order that you also may know with respect to me, how I am doing. The literal translation as we have given differs primarily from that of the NIV and most of our English versions in two ways. First, the literal translation takes the Greek clause as stating purpose while that of the NIV seems to take it as stating result. This difference is due to a Greek conjunction (hina) that here could be taken either as a marker of purpose in which case it may be translated “in order that” or as a marker of result leading to the translation “so that.” The truth is that in many cases, it is difficult to differentiate purpose from result. Thus, the Greek conjunction may be translated to indicate result that indeed follows the purpose of the subject. This seems to be the case here. The purpose and result of sending Tychicus merge so that most of our English versions translated the conjunction to reflect the result that is expected from the apostle’s purpose of sending him. This result that comes from the purpose of sending Tychicus introduced the second difference between the literal translation and that of the NIV. Second, the literal translation differs from that of the NIV with respect to the subject of knowledge that the apostle was concerned. The literal translation gives the subject in the clause how I am doing while the NIV gives it in an extended form of how I am and what I am doing. This interpretative translation is primarily due to two Greek words used. The first is a Greek interrogative pronoun (ti) that may mean “what? who?” although sometimes it may be used in a rhetorical question requiring no answer from the one addressed. However, the Greek word may also be used as an adverb with the meaning “why?”, “how.” The problem is to determine in what sense it is used in our passage. This determination is affected by the second Greek word (prassō) used that may mean “to act, to behave”, as it is used in Apostle Peter’s address to the Jewish leaders in Acts 3:17:
“Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.
The word may mean “to do, to accomplish”, as in Apostle Paul’s instruction to the Philippians in Philippians 4:9:
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
The expression put it into practice is literally those do. There is also another meaning of the word that is complex that means to experience events and to also engage in them, hence means “to experience, to fare.” It is this meaning that is used in Ephesians 6:21. The complex meaning implies that the apostle could have meant not just how he was faring but also what he was doing. It is probably to capture this complex meaning that instead of the literal translation of how I am doing the translators of the NIV expanded it into how I am and what I am doing. It is not difficult to imagine that the Ephesians would want to know what the apostle was doing in terms of the preaching of the gospel as well as how he was holding up considering his circumstances of being in prison.
Nonetheless, the apostle certainly assumed or sensed that the Ephesians would want to know about his welfare and activities that he wrote you also may know. The apostle, of course, was concerned about the spiritual welfare of the Ephesians that is evident in the epistle he wrote to them so it was proper for him to believe that they were also concerned about him. We are saying that the apostle assumed correctly that the Ephesians would be concerned about him as that is implied in the sentence you also may know. The word “also” is to emphasize the pronoun “you.” This aside, I believe the English version that probably best capture the thought of the apostle as he wrote the Greek sentence is that of the NEB that translates You will want to know. The point is that the apostle assumed correctly that the Ephesians had personal interest in him and his team. It is from this assumption that we derived the first major assertion of our passage which is that You should have personal interest in the affairs of your spiritual leader in trouble. It is a sign of being spiritually minded to be concerned about the affairs of a spiritual leader who is in trouble. We should not forget that spiritual leaders are not different from us when it comes to the spiritual warfare. They face the same troubles we do, only that it is expected that they, because of their knowledge of the word of God, should handle well whatever they face. This notwithstanding, it is important that believers take personal interest in the affairs of their spiritual leader in trouble. By the way, the assertion of showing interest in the affairs of spiritual leaders in trouble is not that unique because we are all expected to show interest in the affairs of our fellow believers, as per the instruction of the Holy Spirit through Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:4:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Anyway, I am eager to emphasize that being concerned or taking interest in the affairs of other believers is an indication of a healthy spiritual life. A person who is only thinking of self or that is self-centered is not living a healthy spiritual life. Therefore, you should check yourself to see if you are living a healthy spiritual life by being concerned not only with the affairs of spiritual leaders who are in trouble but also with all other believers.
How can a believer take a personal interest in the affairs of a spiritual leader who is in trouble if he does not know about it, you may ask? This is a good question since some of us hear the teaching of the word of God but we go right on doing what the Scripture forbids or we clamp up and become neutral in our mind in the sense that we comfort ourselves that we are not hateful to our fellow believer and so we must be doing well spiritually. No! You cannot operate in a neutral position and live an effective spiritual life. Consider the illustration with driving an automobile. If you put the gear in neutral, you will simply be idling but you are not moving the vehicle. In the same fashion, if you move to the neutral state after hearing any truth, you are not advancing spiritually. This illustration should convince you that it is not proper to remain neutral with respect to the word of God you have received. In our particular case, it is possible for a believer to say that he is not thinking bad about the spiritual leader in trouble but he is just not reaching out to the spiritual leader. That will be wrong. What is it that keeps that believer from reaching out to the spiritual leader in trouble? The question is how can a believer know to take personal interest in the affairs of a spiritual leader that is in trouble. The answer is found in the second major assertion derived from the passage we are studying.
A second major assertion is: The spiritual leader in trouble should be willing to report about his affairs to the congregation. Sometimes, some believers have the mentality that they do not want anyone to know that they are suffering either because they think no one cares or because they think that they want to protect their privacy. In the body of Christ, either thought is wrong. Believers are in one body and so when one suffers, the entire body suffers as the Scripture states in 1 Corinthians 12:25–26:
25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Since believers are in one body of Christ, then we should remove the thinking of being alone so that we keep whatever burden we bear to ourselves. The Apostle Paul indicates that it is proper for a spiritual leader in trouble to let other believers know how he is faring with whatever the situation happened to be. We say this because the apostle intimates us of this in the first sentence of Ephesians 6:21 of the NIV Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything. The mention of Tychicus in this sentence implies the apostle sent him to the Ephesians although it is in verse 22 that he made a formal assertion of sending him.
It is commendable for a believer to be thought of as being dear and faithful by the spiritual leadership of any congregation. Apostle Paul thought very highly of Tychicus that once he mentioned him, he was carried away because of the kind of person he was that he had to describe him and his proposed task with respect to the Ephesians before he formally states the purpose of his mission to the Ephesians. We do not have any detail in the Scripture about him other than he was a member of the apostle’s missionary team during his third missionary journey, as we may infer from Acts 20:4:
He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.
This notwithstanding, once the apostle mentioned his name in his epistle, he was carried away because of how highly he thought of him. We know this because of his description of him. The apostle described Tychicus first with the phrase dear brother. The word dear is translated from a Greek adjective (agapētos) that pertains to one who is in a very special relationship with another and so means “only, only beloved.” It is the word the Father used to describe the Lord Jesus Christ at the time of His water baptism in Luke 3:22:
and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
The clause whom I love is more literally my beloved. The word also pertains to one who is dearly loved and so means “dear, beloved, prized, valued.” The apostle used it to describe the Ephesians in Ephesians 5:1:
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children.
The phrase dearly loved children is more literally beloved children. However, the apostle used the Greek word to describe a few individuals. He used it to describe a woman, Persis, that worked very hard in the Lord in Romans 16:12:
Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord.
He used the word to describe Timothy in 1 Corinthians 4:17:
For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.
The clause whom I love is more literally who is my dear. The apostle used the Greek word to describe Epaphras in Colossians 1:7:
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
He also used it to describe Philemon in Philemon 1:
Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, To Philemon our dear friend and fellow worker,
Based on those that the apostle used the word to describe personally, it appears that it is a term he used not only to describe believers in general as those who are dear to God but he used it specifically to address individuals that work hard with respect to the work of the Lord. So we can say that because Tychicus is one who works hard in the ministry that the apostle described him that way since he sent him to another church with the same purpose as we have with respect to the church in Ephesus. I am referring to his being sent to the local church in Colosse, according to Colossians 4:7:
Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord.
By the way, the word “brother” here in Colossians 4:7 and Ephesians 6:21 refers to the fact that Tychicus is a fellow believer. The apostle was not concerned about his ethnicity. His concern is simply to state that both belonged to the same family of God in Christ. This should be the way we are to think of our fellow Christians. Remember that our Lord indicated that those who are His relatives are those who hear His word and obey it, as we read in Matthew 12:48–50:
48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.”
The fact I want to emphasize is that believers should not be concerned about anything else that differentiates them from each other but to recognize that all believers are brothers and sisters in the Lord. The implication is that we should have a genuine love for each other. The apostle’s commendation of Tychicus implies he had a warm feeling towards him.
Another way the apostle described Tychicus concerns his faithfulness as in the phrase faithful servant in the Lord. What does it mean to describe him as faithful servant in the Lord? To understand what this description means let us consider two key words in it: “faithful” and “servant.” The word “faithful” is translated from a Greek word (pistos) that is used in the Parable of Talents to describe a slave who invests and gains interest on the money given to him by his master in Matthew 25:20–21:
20 The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
The word is used to describe the slave who carries out well the duties his master assigned to him, as in Matthew 24:45–46:
45“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
The word may also mean “reliable”, as it is used in the instruction of Apostle Paul to Timothy about passing on the truth to those who can be relied upon to disseminate it to others, as stated in 2 Timothy 2:2:
And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
In our passage of Ephesians 6:21, the word is used in the sense of consistently and reliably carrying out what it is expected of an individual.
The word “servant” is translated from a Greek word (diakonos) that may refer to “a waiter at the table, attendant”, as it is used to describe those who served drinks in the marriage ceremony when Jesus turned water into wine, as we read in John 2:9:
and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside.
The word may mean “servant” with several nuances. It may mean one who serves another as it is used for Christians as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ in John 12:26:
Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
The meaning “servant” may refer to “an agent.” Thus, governmental authorities are referred to as God’s servants in Romans 13:4:
For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
The governmental authority is a servant of God in the sense that such an individual is God’s agent to execute justice. It is also in this sense of “agent” that the word is used to describe those who are agents of Satan that appear to be agents of righteousness although the word “servants” is used in 2 Corinthians 11:15:
It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Another nuance to the meaning “servant” with respect to God’s word or gospel is that of “ministers” as teachers of divine truths, as Apostle Paul used it to describe himself and others with respect to the new covenant in 2 Corinthians 3:6:
He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
The Greek word means “deacon” as used to describe a believer who has the responsibility of taking care of the needs of believers. Such a person had special charge of the sick and the poor of the church, acting historically as one that distributed alms or gifts. Of course, such a person assists the overseer of the church as the Seven appointed by the early church assisted the apostles. It is this meaning of “deacon” that our Greek word is used in Apostle Paul’s greetings to the church in Philippi in Philippians 1:1:
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
In our passage of Ephesians 6:21, the Greek word is used in the sense of minister in a general sense with respect to the word of God. This understanding is supported by the fact that our Greek word is used to describe Epaphras as a minister of Christ in the passage we cited previously, that is, Colossians 1:7:
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
The word “minister” is from the same Greek word translated “servant” in Ephesians 6:21. The phrase a faithful minister of Christ is similar in concept to the phrase faithful servant in the Lord of Ephesians 6:21.
We have examined the two key words “faithful” and “servant” so we can now answer the question of what it means to describe Tychicus with the phrase faithful servant in the Lord. It means that he consistently and reliably carried out his assignment with respect to the ministry of the word of God and the ministry of prayer. He worked hard to preach the gospel or teach the word of God consistently as well as being devoted to prayer. We base this interpretation on the fact that Epaphras that was describe in the same manner as Tychicus is one that carried out the two activities of preaching and praying, as we can gather from the apostle’s statement in Colossians 4:12–13:
12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis.
In addition, Ephesians 6:22 that we will get to shortly conveys that sense that Tychicus was expected to be involved in some sort of communication of God’s word to the Ephesians. Hence, we are correct to state that he was involved in preaching and teaching of the word, as well as praying for the Ephesians.
The fact the apostle described Tychicus as faithful servant in the Lord raises a personal question that each of us should answer. Can you be described in the same manner? Can it be said of you that you are reliable minister of Jesus Christ? In effect, can it be said of you that you are consistently being a witness for Jesus Christ in the sense of giving the gospel message to others. Are you consistently praying for other believers? I trust you can answer these questions in the affirmative.
In any case, with the apostle’s commendation of Tychicus, he introduced a task he was to carry out with respect to the apostle as we read in the verbal phrase of Ephesians 6:21 will tell you everything. The word “tell” of the NIV is translated from a Greek word (gnōrizō) that may mean to cause information to become known so means “to make known, reveal.” The apostle used our Greek word in this way when he taught of one of God’s goal for the church with respect to angelic beings in Ephesians 3:10:
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms,
The word may mean to have information or be knowledgeable about something hence “to know” as the apostle used the word to state he did not know what choice to make with respect to being on this planet to continue his ministry or to be with the Lord, as he stated in Philippians 1:22:
If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
In Ephesians 6:21, the apostle used it in the sense of to make known or disclose information. The apostle indicates that part of the mission of Tychicus to the Ephesians would be to disclose pertinent information they would want to know about him.
Be that as it may, we asserted that the apostle was carried away at the mention of Tychicus because of the type of person he was that he digressed to commend him and introduce his task. This assertion is confirmed by the fact that the apostle after commending him, makes a direct assertion that he sent Tychicus to the Ephesians, as we read in the first clause of Ephesians 6:22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose. Most of our English versions translate the action of the apostle stated in this clause in the same way but a handful of English versions translated the Greek in a more literal way so that instead of translating I am sending him they translated I have sent to you although the Greek translates more fully as whom I have sent to you. This difference in translation does not mean that there is conflict in the Greek text; it is a matter of how to translate the Greek tense used in into the English. The Greek used what is known as the aorist tense that demands a literal translation of I have sent. The aorist tense is used by a Greek writer to present the action of a verb as a “snapshot” event, that is, the verb’s action is portrayed simply and in summary fashion without respect to any process. However, there are various ways that the aorist tense is used. In our passage, it is used in what Greek grammarians describe as “epistolary aorist.” This is an aorist tense used mostly in letters in which there is a time gap between its writing and reading. The writer, out of courtesy to the reader, adopts the time perspective of the reader that is different from his own. This means that he uses the aorist tense to describe an event which is present or future for him but which will be in the past by the time the reader receives the letter. Since there is no equivalence of this in the English, the aorist tense used in this way is usually translated using either the present or the future tense. This explains the reason majority of our English versions used the present tense to reflect the time perspective of the writing of the epistle but a handful of English versions adopt the time perspective of the reader hence the translation I have sent. Regardless, of how the Greek word is translated in our English versions, the point of the apostle is that he dispatched Tychicus to the Ephesians for the purpose of communicating something to the them. You see, the word “send” is translated from a Greek verb (pempō) that although means “to send” but has different nuances. It can mean to dispatch something through an intermediary, as the apostle used the word to acknowledge the gifts the Philippians sent to him through an unnamed agent or means in Philippians 4:16:
for even when I was in Thessalonica, you sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
The Greek word may mean “to appoint, commission, instruct”, as that is the sense when the word is used with respect to governors in 1 Peter 2:14:
or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
It is true our Greek word is translated “sent” here in 1 Peter 2:14 but the sense is that of “appointment” or “commission.” Consequently, the clause who are sent by him is translated who have been appointed by him in the TEV and the governors as commissioned by him in the NJB. Nonetheless, the meaning of the word in Ephesians 6:22 is that of dispatching someone for purpose of communication.
The apostle acknowledged that he sent Tychicus for a purpose of communicating his condition and that of his team for he writes for this very purpose, that you may know how we are. This clause confirms our second major assertion of the passage we are considering which is: The spiritual leader in trouble should be willing to report about his affairs to the congregation.
It is the apostle’s intention for the Ephesians to find out regarding his and his team’s condition or circumstances as that is what is conveyed in the clause of the NIV that you may know how we are that literally reads in order that you may know the things concerning us. The word “know” is translated from a Greek word (ginōskō) that although means “to know” but there are several nuances to the meaning “know.” To know may mean “to perceive, notice, realize”, as the Lord Jesus used it to indicate that He perceived or realized that power of healing had gone out from Him after the healing of the woman with hemorrhage in Luke 8:46:
But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
To know may mean to arrive at a knowledge of someone or something so “to know about, to make acquaintance of.” It is in this sense of to arrive at the knowledge of something that the apostle used the word with respect to sin in Romans 7:7:
What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed, I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”
To know may mean to grasp the significance or meaning of something hence “to understand, comprehend”, as the word is used in the apostle’s prayer for the Ephesians to grasp or comprehend the love of Christ as far as it is possible for a human being on this earth, as we read in Ephesians 3:19:
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
To know may also mean to acquire information through some means hence “to learn (of), ascertain, find out”, as the apostle used it in his determination to learn of the state of the faith of the Thessalonians, as we read in 1 Thessalonians 3:5:
For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.
The verbal phrase to find out about your faith is more literally to know your faith. Anyway, of the various nuances of the Greek word translated “know” in Ephesians 6:22, it is this last meaning of “to learn, to find out” that is applicable. In other words, the apostle sent Tychicus so that the Ephesians will find out or learn about his situation and that of his team.
The translators of the NIV indicate that what the apostle wanted is for the Ephesians to know how he and his team were doing since they have the translation that you may know how we are. However, as we indicated previously, the Greek literally reads in order that you may know the things concerning us. It is probably because of the clause of Ephesians 6:21 so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing that led the translators of the NIV to render the Greek clause of verse 22 that we are considering the way they did. For after all, the same Greek clause in Ephesians 6:22 appears in Colossians but they translated it differently in Colossians 4:8:
I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.
Here in Colossians 4:8, the Greek phrase we rendered literally the things concerning us in Ephesians 6:22 is rendered in the NIV as about our circumstances. Thus, what the apostle wanted the Ephesians to find out is their situation or their circumstances that concern them. This will include not only about the apostle’s welfare but his preaching or teaching activities while in prison. Anyhow, the apostle in using the pronoun “we” or “us” refers to his apostolic team that would have included Luke and others that he did not list in Ephesians but we can gather their names from the greetings of his epistle to the Colossians in Colossians 4:10–14:
10 My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11 Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
The point is that the apostle’s first stated purpose for sending Tychicus to the Ephesians is to provide information to them so that they will find out the situation of things with the apostle and his apostolic team.
A second stated purpose for sending Tychicus to the Ephesians is for their encouragement as stated in the last clause of Ephesians 6:22 and that he may encourage you that literally reads from the Greek and he may encourage your hearts. The word “encourage” is translated from a Greek word (parakaleō) that certainly means “to encourage.” But, “to encourage” may be understood in one of two ways. It could mean “to cheer up” or “to comfort someone,” as our Greek word is used in 2 Corinthians 7:6:
But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,
Another way to understand the word “encourage” is to urge strongly or exhort someone, as the apostle used the word regarding his appeal to Ephesians to live out their lives as Christians in Ephesians 4:1:
As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.
Considering the context that involves the situation of the apostle and his team, it is probably in the sense of to provide comfort or to cheer up the Ephesians that the apostle used our Greek word. This being the case, the second purpose of sending Tychicus is to comfort or cheer up the Ephesians through the information he provided about the apostle and his team. This interpretation is supported by the fact the apostle had implied discouragement might be setting in with the Ephesians, as we read in Ephesians 3:13
I ask you, therefore, not to be discouraged because of my sufferings for you, which are your glory.
This interpretation that Tychicus is to cheer up or comfort the Ephesians implies that the literal phrase your hearts of Ephesians 6:22 is used for the Ephesians themselves as indicated using the second person pronoun “you” in the NIV’s translation of he may encourage you of Ephesians 6:22. Apparently, the Ephesians must have been concerned about the apostle, as we have indicated, believers should be concerned about their spiritual leader in trouble. Therefore, the apostle did not want them to be discouraged or be down in their spirit so he sent Tychicus not only to tell them how he was doing but also through his report to cheer up the Ephesians. The apostle’s sending of Tychicus reveals not only that he was willing to make the Ephesians know about his situation but also that he himself was concerned about their own welfare, as a spiritual leader should.
In any event, let me end our study of the passage we have been considering by stating again the two major assertions we have considered. A first major assertion is: You should have personal interest in the affairs of your spiritual leader in trouble. A second major assertion is: The spiritual leader in trouble should be willing to report about his affairs to the congregation. Therefore, I urge you to ponder on these two assertions.
12/30/16