{"id":3538,"date":"2012-04-11T03:30:05","date_gmt":"2012-04-11T10:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ministryofgrace.org\/blog\/?p=3538"},"modified":"2012-04-10T21:59:04","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T04:59:04","slug":"ephesians-621-the-beloved-waiter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/ephesians-621-the-beloved-waiter\/","title":{"rendered":"Ephesians 6:21 – The Beloved Waiter"},"content":{"rendered":"

But that you also may know my affairs <\/strong><\/span>and<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Truth to Learn<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

God gives recognition to those who serve humbly.<\/p>\n

Behind the Words<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The words “that you may know<\/span>” are translated from the verb eid\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which technically means “to see.” However, as in English, it is used in the sense of seeing with the mind, or knowing something. It is expressed here in the subjunctive mood indicating the possibility or probability of knowing.<\/p>\n

“My affairs<\/span>” in translated from ta kat eme<\/em><\/span>, which literally means “the things concerning me.”<\/p>\n

The word “doing<\/span>” is from prass\u014d<\/em><\/span>, which refers to “something done repeatedly or continually.” It is sometimes translated as “practice,” but here it refers to the general activities of daily living.<\/p>\n

“Beloved<\/span>” is translated from agap\u0113tos<\/em><\/span>. This is based on the verb agape<\/em><\/span>, which refers to “a self-sacrificing love.” It is a stronger expression than phile\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning “brotherly love.” Paul expressed it here with the definite article, so it could be translated as “the beloved.”<\/p>\n

“Minister<\/span>” is from the Greek word diakonos<\/em><\/span>. This is derived from the verb diak\u014d<\/em><\/span>, meaning “to run errands.” It is the word used to describe someone who serves others while they are eating, what we would call “a waiter.”<\/p>\n

Meaning Explained<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The Apostle Paul has finished his teaching in this letter to the Christians in the church at Ephesus. He now concludes with a very brief salutation. Paul has a singularity of purpose in his letters to the various churches, that of proclaiming the doctrines of the Christian faith. He spends almost no time at all telling about himself. Instead, he suggests that his dear friends talk to Tychicus about what is happening to him.<\/p>\n

What do we know about Tychicus? He is first mentioned in Acts 20:4<\/strong><\/span> where we learn two things about him. The first is that he was from Asia (modern day Turkey) of which Ephesus was the capitol city. The second thing we learn about him is that he was faithful to the Apostle, having accompanied him during part of his travels. It is possible that he became a Christian as a result of Paul’s two year ministry in Ephesus, although we are not told that anywhere.<\/p>\n

Another thing that we learn about this man, based on today’s verse, is that he has spent much time with Paul in the Roman prison. Because of this, he is able to tell the brothers and sisters in Ephesus all about what has been happening with Paul. The Apostle refers to Tychicus as “the beloved brother<\/span>.” This indicates that not only was he a very special friend to Paul, but he was well known among the Ephesians. Finally, we learn that this man was a faithful minister; in other words, he was not hung-up on how great he was. Rather, he was a humble servant, willing to do whatever the Apostle needed him to do.<\/p>\n

Application<\/u><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Most often, those who are called out as special are those who have accomplished some great feat. Not so with Tychicus. He was special because he was a humble servant. What would your pastor say about you? Does he even know who you are?<\/p>\n

In God's service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright © 2012 Will Krause. All rights reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; Truth to Learn God gives recognition to those who serve humbly. Behind the Words The words “that you may know” are translated from the verb […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1365,413,1517,487,735,589,133,839],"class_list":["post-3538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-agapetos","tag-beloved","tag-diakonos","tag-doing","tag-eido","tag-know","tag-minister","tag-prasso"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-V4","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3538"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3540,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3538\/revisions\/3540"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}