Paul does not lay aside his apostolic authority, but he uses it to make his greeting more sweet and strong. What had he been made an apostle by? The will of God. What had he been made an apostle for? To make known the promise of the life which is in Christ. Thus clothed with authority, and bearing the great gift of life, he takes Timothy to his heart as his beloved child. The captain stoops to embrace the private. Christ's apostle pours his love and benediction over the young servant, and when such lips wish grace, mercy, and peace,' the wish is a prophecy as much as a prayer.
The flow of Paul's love outstrips that of his words, and there is some verbal obscurity in 2 Tim. 1:3-5, but the meaning is plain. Paul's thankfulness was for Timothy's unfeigned faith,' but when he is about to say that, other tender thoughts start up, and insist on being uttered. The language of love in absence is the same all the world over. It comes across all the intervening centuries like the speech of to-day: I never forget you.' But love should be sublimed by religion, and find its best expression in supplications.' Think of the prisoner in Rome, expecting a near death by violence, and yet telling his young friend that he was always thinking about him, Timothy, and wearying for him with a great yearning.
How beautiful is that touch, too, that the remembrance of Timothy's tears, when he had had to part from Paul, fed the Apostle's desire to see him again! And how graceful, and evidently more than graceful, is the contrast between the tears of Timothy at parting and the hoped-for joy of Paul at meeting! No wonder that such a leader kindled passionate enthusiasm.
One can fancy the throb of pleasure with which Timothy would read the recognition of his unfeigned faith.' It is always a memorable moment to a young beginner when a veteran lays his hand on his shoulder and acknowledges his devotion. Nor less fitted to warm Timothy's heart was the praise of his grandmother and mother. It would not only do that, but would make him feel that his descent added force to the exhortation which followed. Whoever might become careless, one who had such blood in his veins was called on to be true to his ancestral faith. One can well understand how such a beginning prepared Timothy for the succeeding counsels. But this was not art or rhetorical advice on Paul's part, but deep affection. The soil thus watered by love was ready for the seed.
