2 Timothy 2.8-13 (ESV) 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. I love this passage! You can almost picture Paul’s emotions soaring as he writes. At this moment, he is so focused on Jesus. Do you get a sense of what he is talking about here? He is talking about Jesus, but I don’t want you to get confused. Paul is not talking about a system of belief or a message. He is talking about the person of Jesus, and he is drawing deep from the well of the Old Testament.
I wonder if Paul is thinking about Isaiah in this passage. In Isaiah chapters 40 and 55, there are these great verses that focus on the Word of God enduring forever and that it does not come back empty, rather, the Word of God accomplishes its purpose and promise. That purpose and promise are all about the coming Messiah.
In John’s Gospel, John describes Jesus as the Word become flesh who made His dwelling among us, who was with God and is God from the very beginning. Jesus, the Word of God, is totally unbound, even death could not hold Him.
Paul’s desire is that everyone may come to know Jesus and gain salvation by placing their trust and hope in Christ alone: not a system of belief, not special knowledge, or even a message—it’s about the person of Jesus. Paul wants Timothy to always remember that - even if it becomes costly for him, or for us for that matter.
The part that blows me away is in verses 12-13. Verse 12 is hard to hear, and I can’t imagine anything more devastating and horrible than to hear Jesus say “I don’t know you.”
But there is an amazing promise in verse 13 that we must understand correctly. Faithless here isn’t about us denying Jesus. It’s about those times when we’re at the end of our rope. Those times when we’re under immense pressure from cultural, moral, political, emotional, or physical issues that have left us completely dry and we’re struggling deeply with our faith. Times like these can be for folks with lingering health concerns. Times like these can be for those who are struggling under persistent financial pressures. Times like these can be for those who are facing food challenges, who have no place to lay their head, or who are feeling utterly hopeless, helpless, lost, and without community or connection.
But Jesus! Even in these dry and at times persistent dark periods, we still have that foundation of trust in Christ alone. So we cry out like the father who was at the end of his rope when it came to his son’s condition, “I believe; help my unbelief!” (Mark 9.24) and at that moment the faithfulness of Christ remains.
I like how N.T. Wright put it. He said,
“There is a world of difference between being blown off the ship’s deck by a hurricane and voluntarily diving into the sea to avoid having to stay at the helm.” Our hope and trust is in Christ alone, unbound, eternal, and personal. We don’t hope in a message. We don’t trust in a system of belief. We have a deeply personal relationship with Jesus, the Son of God, who alone is worthy of our entire life, even if we suffer and are chained for our relationship with Him.
God bless you and know that I am praying for you this morning.
Scott
