If you were about to die, and not only that, if you were about to face execution for something you didn’t do – that which you knew was a lie, what would you do? And not just that, if you were also abandoned by almost all of those who were close to you and to whom you’d devoted yourself, so that technically you were betrayed – what would you think? If everything you’d focused your life on was being wrapped up this way, facing death, feeling the horrible sting of betrayal, and having the sharp fangs of aloneness biting into your soul, what would you do with your remaining days?
Well, we know what Paul did because we have this letter. He wrote it, or perhaps dictated it to Luke who was with him, from Mamertine Prison in the bowels of Rome. Yes, the bowels. It was a dungeon in the ground, a circular pit 30 feet in diameter with a hole at the top through which criminals were dropped in. Rome didn’t have a prison system in which they incarcerated people for lengthy sentences. It executed criminals after trial or sent them to work as slaves in the mines. Mamertine could hold perhaps 35 anguished souls in a lightless, foul pit and they were often executed simply by the guards opening a door through which the city’s sewage system, which ran along side the dungeon, would fill the room and drown the condemned. They’d be washed away with the sewage to make room for the next batch of prisoners.
Paul escaped this fate only by having his head removed instead. He knew this was coming and stated as such in 2 Timothy 4:6. No, he had no illusions about what was happening. Unlike his first Roman imprisonment, this was the real deal. Previously (Acts 28) he’d been under house arrest and had been able to receive visitors in a rented house with decent living conditions. It was there that he wrote the so-called Prison Epistles, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. It was in some ways a glorious time in which his preaching converted even members of Caesar’s household:
“Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household.” Philippians 4:21-22
He had been optimistic about his release (Philippians 1:24-26) and, indeed, he was eventually let go. After that he traveled to Ephesus and met Timothy there, his son in the faith, and left him in charge. Later as he traveled he wrote 1 Timothy in order to help the younger man keep godly order and resist the encroachments of false doctrine and sin. Five or six years pass between the two letters and now we find Paul in a place that reeks of utter failure. Have you too followed the Lord into what seems like a dead-end? Have your plans been frustrated, maybe even obliterated and have you questioned your faith?
There’s an old saying in boxing that you never know how good, nor how bad, an undefeated fighter is. The point is that we don’t see someone’s character until they’re faced with failure and trials. Likewise, one’s faith is not only tested, but built up, when we face limits. In some ways we have it all backwards in our worldly way of thinking, and this thinking infiltrates the church. The Bible teaches faithfulness to God, to seek His will and glory; the world demands success on our own terms; it seeks comfort and convenience, often at the expense of righteousness.
“for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:3-4 ESV
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 ESV
We recall Joseph’s plight when he was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, only to find favor with Potiphar and be put in charge of his master’s entire household. God sometimes works like this, doesn’t He? A trial comes but a blessing is on its heels; we think the storm has passed and that the trial was the worst of it. But then, and Paul knew this of course, Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce the handsome young man and won’t take no for an answer. Joseph refuses out of loyalty first to God and also his slave master, Potiphar. The Bible’s ethics catch us by surprise, don’t they? So, Joseph runs off to avoid sin and dishonor. He refuses to take vengeance through sexual sin. How many of us have fallen into such a trap against God, thinking to ourselves that we didn’t deserve some trial or another so we sin out of spite? Joseph holds the Lord in the highest esteem and, by extension, his slave owner too. He doesn’t take vengeance.
But then Potiphar’s wife lies about the whole thing. She didn’t need to do that. She could have just let it go but the other servants probably knew about her being rejected because Joseph literally had to escape her clutches and ran away naked. They knew and she was probably filled with great rage at being scorned and humiliated by her husband’s special slave. So she told Potiphar that Joseph tried to rape her and then Joseph went from privileged slave far away from home to a prisoner. He literally went from bad to worse. But watch how faith responds even to this. In Genesis 40 we read something remarkable. In fact, it’s probably the most amazing thing about the whole story…something about Joseph’s character of faith that makes the rest of story possible. It’s stunning.
Joseph has every right to feel sorry for himself. To be betrayed by one’s own brothers like he was, thrown in a pit where he heard them talking about him so hatefully, and to be carried off into a distant land like he was. Imagine his fear. He was 17 when this happened and he’s faced with the reality that he’s never going to see his homeland or his beloved father again – nor his brother Benjamin (who was also born of Rachel). Nevertheless he respects the Lord and works faithfully and then this happens. Joseph has a legitimate gripe, does he not? But what do we see? In Genesis 40 we read that Pharaoh, whose word is law in all of Egypt, has some kind of fit with his cupbearer and chief baker – was his dinner late…or cold? – and has them thrown into Joseph’s prison. Well, they have dreams that trouble them and no way to have them interpreted. Joseph notices that they’re upset and inquires (verse 7) as to what the trouble is.
One would imagine that in his position that bitterness would have set in. Instead we find Joseph attentive to the moods and needs of others. This is the way of Christ, isn’t it? But it’s not just that, when he discovers their problem what does he say? In verse 8 he says, “Do not interpretations belong to God?”
The lesson is that the man of God overcomes trials and despair by being fixed on God, not circumstances. Joseph knows the Lord’s goodness and trust Him. He shows his goal in verse 14 when after interpreting the dreams to the glory of God he asks the chief cupbearer to “only remember me when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit (Genesis 40:14-15).”
Joseph doesn’t see his affliction as permanent because he knows God. His hope isn’t mindless optimism. He wasn’t repressing the truth or else why would he mention his being sold into slavery and false imprisonment? No, he’s wide awake to reality and yet interprets all things through the sovereignty of the Lord. We know how this ends for him and we know that what man meant for ill God meant for good. Joseph is our story in Christ. We too will reign with Him, being His ministers in the age to come, forgetting all our sufferings because of the glory of God that will soon be fully revealed to us. Joseph later named one of his sons Manasseh, which means “God has made me forget all my sorrows.”
This is hope in Christ. Whatever our sufferings, we will see Him someday and that alone will wash away every tear.
So, Paul writes this letter from a dungeon and the letter hasn’t a single ounce of self-pity. And the reason it doesn’t is because Paul knows the secret of life. Everyone says they’re looking for it but it’s right here. They know it. The secret is Ecclesiastes 12:14…fear God and keep His commandments. This is our entire and joyful duty on earth. We were made for Him and that means we were made for mission, not misery; commission, not meaninglessness.
A person who imbibes the world’s message of hedonism is going to take every setback, every failure and frustration, as a personal affront and they’ll respond with anger. We rage against “the machine” when we believe our happiness, not God, is our highest good. What does Paul do? Like Joseph, he has his sights set on Him who delivered him from sin, so he busies himself exonerating everyone who has deserted him.
“At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.” 2 Timothy 4:16
How can a man say such a thing at a time like this? Only Christ’s man can! And so you will too. Watch…
“But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen.” 2 Timothy 4:17-18
How could Paul – and how can we – so easily avoid being fixated on the wrongs done to him? How did he avoid becoming hardhearted? By being constantly fixed on what Christ has done, both Paul and ourselves stay on the right path. Martin Luther said:
“… while the righteous (true believers) make it a point to accuse themselves in thought, word and deed, the unrighteous (unbelievers) make it a point always to accuse and judge others, at least in their hearts. For this (fact) there is an explanation. The righteous invariably try to see their own faults and overlook those of others. Again, they are eager to recognize the good things in others and to disregard those of their own. On the other hand, the unrighteous look for good in themselves and for evil in others.”
A pattern of life that develops in Christians, a vital part of our sanctification, is the habit of a spirit of gratitude to be saved from one’s sins against God. This thankfulness overflows so that we view others in love and mercy rather than prideful judgment. It’s been said about Paul that he never got over being saved. Neither should we.
Nero was about to have Paul executed. In July of 64 A.D. a great fire had devastated Rome, destroying all but four of the city’s 14 districts. Hundreds died and thousands were without homes and jobs. According to Tacitus, many blamed the Emperor. In turn, he blamed the Christians and Tacitus records that many Christians were executed with great cruelty. All of Rome turned on them and the persecution was so great that Paul was abandoned, as we said, by all but Luke. Yet in the worst possible earthly moment for him, like Joseph, he wasn’t ravaged by bitterness or hopelessness. On the contrary, he so identifies with Christ and his mission to spread the gospel that he busied himself trying to make sure Timothy is set for the future. He’s pouring himself out so that the next generation gets the greatest blessing of them all: the gospel of Jesus Christ, pure and true. Paul is fully human here. Like Joseph, his heart aches and the betrayals have stung him deeply. But in Christ he isn’t a broken man. Instead, he’s a peacemaker who prays that their failures not be counted against them – just like Christ did when He prayed, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”
Paul’s mission in life was the right one – to be faithful to Him who saved him from sin. That’s the premise of everything he sees and how he interprets every event. So, that’s our question too. How do we interpret our lives? Do we trust in Him always? Is faithfulness and ministry our mission? If not I bet we’re getting tossed to and fro by far less than what Paul and Joseph faced. There’s a right way to see life and a wrong way. The right way is that the sovereign Lord is training us up in the obedience of faith (Romans 1:5, 16:26) to the conformity of the character of Christ (Romans 8:29). The Christian life is one of victory through faith through trials, not the absence of them. Great faith and fidelity to Him who saved us, is saving us, and will at last bring us, holy and blameless, to the everlasting Kingdom, is the goal and mission of our lives. Paul’s blessed faithfulness from the bottom of a pit is what God used to give us the incredible gift of 2 Timothy and some of the most beloved passages in all of Scripture. They bless us even today. What blessings will He bring through your faithfulness to Him in your trials? It’s not a question we should ever doubt. He will do His thing.
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