2 Timothy 1:15-18: Phygellus, Hermogenes, and Onesiphorus
2021-12-18
Phygellus and Hermogenes
Here marks a shift in mood, returning to the idea of not being ashamed of him being God’s prisoner. All in Asia are turned away from Paul. Compare this with when Paul made sure all of Asia heard the Gospel. The area that was evangelized by Paul was now rejecting him. This is the cost of following Christ. Even those who follow Christ are ashamed of those who suffer for Christ because of fear of association and consequences.
He names two specific people: Phygellus and Hermogenes. We do not know much else about them. We can deduce that these people were important to Paul. Maybe they were close friends. Maybe they were powerful preachers of the Word. Whoever they are, this is major disappointment. I don’t think these guys were heretics or unsaved people. They probably got a little close to prison and realized they could not afford that for whatever reason. Maybe they had families to support. Maybe the cost was higher to obey God rather than men. You can understand why they might be reluctant to hang out with Paul when they might find themselves chained to him.
However, from Paul’s perspective, it must have been hard. After all that time in Asia, he had no friends left?
Onesiphorus
There was one man who met Paul and helped him: Onesiphorus. He is also mentioned in 2 Timothy 4:19; his home was located where Timothy was at the time of the writing. This man visited Paul, and he was not ashamed of his imprisonment. This man apparently must have traveled for his job for him to do the service he did. He sought him out intentionally in Rome, where Paul was going to face Caesar. Onesiphorus seemed to show no fear in visiting or helping the imprisoned Paul.
The interesting thing about this man is that he maybe unsaved. “The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day” (2 Timothy 1:18). Was an unsaved man acting more Christian than his Christian friends? He not only helped him in Rome, but also in Ephesus, where Timothy would have served in the past.
Onesiphorus serves a role model as to how to minister to Christians being persecuted for the faith. Phygellus and Hermogenes, though perhaps either friends of Paul or otherwise strong Christians, fell short in their duty to assist a brother in the Lord.
We will see other examples of such men in future sections.