Saint Timothy was a close companion of the Apostle Paul and the first Bishop of Ephesus. The Eastern Orthodox church considers him an apostle. He is mentioned several times in the New Testament, and in particular two books of the New Testament are letters that Paul wrote to Timothy. He worked together with Saint Paul in his missionary journeys, and later became Bishop of Ephesus, where he was martyred by the pagans there.
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Saint Timothy was a close companion of the Apostle Paul and the first Bishop of Ephesus. The Eastern Orthodox church considers him an apostle. He is mentioned several times in the New Testament, and in particular two books of the New Testament are letters that Paul wrote to Timothy. He worked together with Saint Paul in his missionary journeys, and later became Bishop of Ephesus, where he was martyred by the pagans there.
The Christian Saints Podcast is a joint production of Generative sounds & Paradosis Pavilion with oversight from Fr Symeon Kees
Paradosis Pavilion - https://youtube.com/@paradosispavilion9555
https://www.instagram.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://twitter.com/podcast_saints
https://www.facebook.com/christiansaintspodcast
https://www.threads.net/@christiansaintspodcast
Iconographic images used by kind permission of Nicholas Papas, who controls distribution rights of these images
Prints of all of Nick’s work can be found at Saint Demetrius Press - http://www.saintdemetriuspress.com
All music in these episodes is a production of Generative Sounds
https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com
Distribution rights of this episode & all music contained in it are controlled by Generative Sounds
Copyright 2021 - 2023
God is glorious in his saints!
Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today, we will celebrate St Timothy, the first Bishop of Ephesus, and disciple of the Apostle Paul. He is known as the Apostle Timothy in the Eastern church, but the western church does not give him that title.
Church tradition states that Timothy was one of the 70 or 72 missionaries Jesus sends out in Luke chapter 10.
Luke 10
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.
“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.
“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted to the heavens? No, you will go down to Hades.
“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The collect for St Timothy’s feast day in the Anglican church (which he shares with St Titus on January 26) emphasises his role as evangelist and as teacher:
Almighty God, who called Timothy and Titus to be evangelists and teachers, and made them strong to endure hardship: Strengthen us to stand fast in adversity, and to live godly and righteous lives in this present time, that with sure confidence we may look for our blessed hope, the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Timothy is mentioned explicitly several times in the New Testament, and two books of the Bible are letters written by Paul to him (these are now known as the first and second epistles to Timothy). Timothy was from Lystra, a city where Paul preaches the gospel twice in the book of Acts. In the second visit, accounted in Acts 16:1-5 is when we first hear Timothy mentioned by name. We learn here that he is half Jewish and half Greek. Paul mentions the faith of his Jewish mother Eunice and grandmother Lois, who were also Christians. Paul decided to have him circumcised, as to be more acceptable to the Jews they would preach to.
***
Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.
***
Timothy became one of St Paul’s closets companions in his many missionary journeys around the Roman world. St Paul mentions Timothy frequently in his many letters to the various new churches, and always in absolutely glowing terms. In Phil 2:19-23:
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare. For everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel. I hope, therefore, to send him as soon as I see how things go with me.
***
Paul also mentions Timothy in his first epistle to the Corinthians, a church which was facing all sorts of problem. Paul mentions that he will send Timothy to them as some sort of troubleshooter.
1 Cor 4:15-17
Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. 16 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. 17 For this reason I have sent 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.
***
St Timothy likely remained by Paul’s side to the end. In his second letter to Timothy, Paul asks him to bring his cloak to him in prison, as he was awaiting his martyrdom.
And Saint Timothy himself ended his life as a martyr. He is eventually appointed the first Bishop of the city of Ephesus, and meets his end in the hands of the pagans there. This account is from the apocryphal “Acts of Timothy”. I would like to express my warmest thanks to Dr. Cavan Concannon of the University of Southern California for letting me use his translation.
12After these things happened among them, the bishopric was being managed
piously and well by the oft-mentioned, most-holy Timothy. At that time the me-
tropolis of the Ephesians held the remains of a bygone idolatry among those
who lived there. At the festival of the Katagogia, as they then called it, which
was celebrated on certain days, they put around themselves unseemly costumes
and they covered their faces with masks so that they might not be known. They
carried around clubs and images of idols,b disparaged with songs, and set upon
free men and respectable women in an uncivilized fashion. They performed
slaughters in no ordinary manner and poured out an abundance of blood on
the distinguished places of the city. They did not stop acting as if what they were
doing was profitable for the soul. 13As a result, the most holy Timothy, who was at that time the archbishop,
bewailed these things often, but his effort was not strong enough to repulse such
madness of theirs through his petitions. On the day of their abominable festival,
he put himself forth in the midst of the “Embolos” quarterc o exhort them say-
ing, “Men of Ephesus,d do not be mad for idols, but acknowledge the one who
truly is God.” 14The agents of the devil were angry at his teaching and, making use of the
clubs and stones that they carried with them, they killed the just one. But the
servants of God took him while he was yet breathing and brought him to rest
at the boundary of this splendid metropolis, which is situated on the opposite
side of the harbor. There, when his spirit was returned in peace to God, they
took his body and placed it in the place called Pion. It is there that his most holy
martyrium is located.
Timothy and Paul’s close relationship is evident in the two letters that Paul writes to him, preserved in the Biblical canon today as the first and second epistles to Timothy. For instance, in 1 Tim 4:
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. That is why we labour and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Saviour of all people, and especially of those who believe.
Command and teach these things. Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
Paul mentions Timothy’s youth, encourages him, and urges him to not let others look down on him because of it. Paul also sees it as Timothy’s responsibility to be a steward of the Christian teaching handed to him (what we would know call, tradition, that which is handed over). When writing these letters, Paul is clearly aware that his time is coming to an end, and that it is time to pass the torch to the younger Timothy. In
1 Tim 6
But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time – God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honour and might for ever. Amen.
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
20 Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed
***
A similar exhortation occurs in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Where Paul again tells Timothy to pass on the teaching he received from Paul, and also to imitate his willingness to suffer for the Gospel. We should strive in our churches to have this sense of responsibility. For the elders, to find ways to mentor younger Christians, and make sure to pass on the teachings and traditions, and to model a true Christian life. For the younger Christians, we should not disdain our elders, but rather seek to learn as much as we can in humility and love. Timothy carried on legacy of his mentor Saint Paul, his mother Eunice, and his grandmother Lois, and so we too should respect and honour our elders in the Christian faith, and carry on the traditions passed on to us.
2 Timothy 1
2 To Timothy, my dear son:
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13 What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you – guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian saints podcast. Look for the Christian Saints podcast page on Facebook or Instagram, or look for us on Twitter at podcast_saints. All music in this episode was composed by my good friend, James John Marks of Generative sounds. Please check out his music at https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com/
To end this episode, let us read the Eastern Orthodox troparion for St Timothy, which alludes to how Timothy made good use to St Paul’s mentorship and teaching.
Having learned goodness and maintaining continence in all things, / you were arrayed with a good conscience as befits a priest. / From the chosen Vessel you drew ineffable mysteries; / you kept the faith, and finished a course equal to His. / Bishop martyr Timothy, entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved.