Philippians 2:20Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

At the same time he honors them by sending Timothy. What do you say? You are sending Timothy? Why? Yes, he says: "For I have no one like-minded," that is, no one as solicitous as I am, "who will sincerely care for your state." Did he then have no one with him equally zealous? No one. What does this mean? It means one who, like me, cares for you and is tested on your behalf. Another, he says, would not so readily decide for this reason to make so long a journey. But Timothy loves you as I do. Others might have been sent, but there is no one like him. Therefore to be like-minded means to love the disciples as he does. "Who," he says, "will sincerely care for your state," that is, with a father's care.

I could have sent another, he says, but I have no one equal to me in zeal except him. That is, no one cares for your affairs as I do, and no one would care for you sincerely, that is, paternally. Notice how he cares. When he himself had no suitable time to come to them, he sends others, so that those under guidance may never at any time fall into negligence.

What does it mean that they seek their own? Those who do not love God freely do not seek God for God's sake. They pursue passing advantages, seek profit, and thirst for honors from men.

When a superior is moved by love for such things and serves God for their sake, whoever he may be, he is a hireling. He cannot be numbered among the sons of God. Concerning such men the Lord says, "Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward" (Mt 6:5).

The shepherd grieved among hirelings. He sought someone who would sincerely love the flock of Christ, and among those near him at that time he found none.

The praises of blessed Timothy are just. The divine Apostle has written them here both to show his own affection toward them, namely that he sent for their benefit the one in whom alone he found consolation, and to persuade them to receive him as a preacher of the truth with every readiness to serve (Phil 2:23). Therefore I hope to send him at once, as soon as I know what will happen to me.

"I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for you." At that time the Apostle had almost no disciples with him, no fellow-workers in his preaching. The brethren and saints of Caesar's household mentioned at the end of the Epistle were, in all probability, simply Christians who shared in the Apostle's life. Most of them may have been newly converted from among those imprisoned with the Apostle.

The Apostle hopes to receive comfort from this: that Saint Timothy, both by his good order and care for the Philippians and by his devotion to Saint Paul, will remove from their community all the undesirable things that so grieved the Apostle, according to the report brought by Epaphroditus. "For," Saint Paul says of Timothy, "I have no one equally zealous, who would care for you so sincerely. And you know his proven faithfulness, because as a son with a father he served with me in the Gospel."

Showing the fullness of his care for the Philippians, the Apostle tells them of his intention to send the Apostle Timothy to them. To awaken complete trust in him, he speaks of Timothy's entire devotion to the cause of Christianity, free from all self-interest, by which many false teachers were marked. The Apostle wished to send him, on the one hand, to learn the condition of the Philippians. On the other hand, he wished Timothy to be comforted by their progress, and at the same time to inform them of his own condition. This condition was evidently to change for the better. After that, he intended first to send Timothy, and then to go himself. From this the Philippians were to understand that the Apostle was not in a hopeless state. In all this, St.

The thought of possible death in bonds, or at least of their possible continuation, moves the Apostle to care for the spiritual good of the Philippians through someone else. The Apostle's choice rests on Timothy, who in character was very much like the Apostle, ΐαόψυχον. Therefore he could most suitably replace the Apostle Paul where Paul himself could not be present. All the others, who by bodily and spiritual qualities could have taken upon themselves the duty of envoy, lacked sufficient devotion to the work of Christ. They did not wish to obey the Apostle in everything as submissive children. The Apostle, however, will send Timothy only when he receives definite information about his own case. For he continues to hope for a speedy personal meeting with the Philippians. In that case Timothy's mission would, of course, prove unnecessary.

He explains why he sends Timothy. It is because no one can act so faithfully in the spirit of the Apostle as he can. It is also because Timothy is closer to the Philippians, is sincerely disposed toward them, and cares for their good. “Like-minded” means that no one has so made the Apostle's spirit his own as Timothy. In relation to the Philippians, he is disposed no less warmly than the Apostle. “‘Like-minded,’ that is, caring and concerned for you as I am. Another, he says, would not so readily decide for this reason to undertake such a long journey. But Timothy loves you as I do. I could send others, but there is not one like him, ‘who will sincerely care for you,’ that is, paternally.”