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Timothy and Luke
Two things dealing with people today -
Timothy: He joins Paul in our reading today, and a strange thing happens: Paul circumcises him. After the huge fight that Paul put up against the people who wanted Gentiles to get circumcised in Acts 15, you wouldn't expect him to do that, would you? But I don't think Paul is being inconsistent: he is removing a stumbling block. Paul knows and affirms (as certainly Timothy does too) that it is not NECESSARY for Gentile Christians to be circumcised, but they also want an audience that is willing to listen and so it is USEFUL for Timothy to do so. If Timothy were not circumcised, they would immediately lose any opportunity of addressing Jews. And so, for the good of the Good News, Timothy submits so that they might reach Jews.
Luke: Just an interesting observation - in verse 8 Luke joins Paul and Timothy at Troas. How do we know? Note the pronoun change in verse 10: up until this point, the writing is all "they did....". In verse 10 Luke writes, "...we sought to go on..." Not especially significant, but I think it's interesting.
Timothy and Luke
Two things dealing with people today -
Timothy: He joins Paul in our reading today, and a strange thing happens: Paul circumcises him. After the huge fight that Paul put up against the people who wanted Gentiles to get circumcised in Acts 15, you wouldn't expect him to do that, would you? But I don't think Paul is being inconsistent: he is removing a stumbling block. Paul knows and affirms (as certainly Timothy does too) that it is not NECESSARY for Gentile Christians to be circumcised, but they also want an audience that is willing to listen and so it is USEFUL for Timothy to do so. If Timothy were not circumcised, they would immediately lose any opportunity of addressing Jews. And so, for the good of the Good News, Timothy submits so that they might reach Jews.
Luke: Just an interesting observation - in verse 8 Luke joins Paul and Timothy at Troas. How do we know? Note the pronoun change in verse 10: up until this point, the writing is all "they did....". In verse 10 Luke writes, "...we sought to go on..." Not especially significant, but I think it's interesting.
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