Ephesians 6:21 Commentary and Bible Study

Paul moves to these concluding remarks. Remember that he has spoken of prayer. Prayer needs information and Paul supplies it. Tychicus brought the letter to Ephesus, but he was not just a postman, nor simply an elder or deacon, but he was a prominent pastor, because he brought much other communication from Paul with the letter. Perhaps he was already known to them. Probably he took other letters at the same time. Some letters of Paul contain personal information, but most are about doctrine, defence of the faith. However people were praying and needed to know the specifics of what to pray about. They were earnest and concerned about Paul. Here is my letter, but Tychicus will give you additional detail. This is not vital for us in the 21^s century, but they needed to know, so no less a person than Tychicus will carry the letter. He had been Paul’s companion on the third missionary journey and on the famine relief visit to Jerusalem. Our prayers are meant to be intelligent, and well-informed. It is terrible when prayer degenerates into, ‘Bless this, bless that.’ We want to know the outcome. Should we stop praying for that situation? Has God blessed? Are there other issues we should pray for? We, of course, face a completely different situation in our day, so we do not need to know these details of Paul’s situation, but they needed to know, so he does not just give closing greetings. ‘Ye also’ – they were not the only church praying for him. Rome and the Galatian churches had to be informed. This is the standard for all the churches. They needed to know his affairs and how the work of the gospel was prospering. Tychicus will give details: how imminent was his trial? Was he under home arrest or in a dungeon now? Had he experienced an early death? What were his threats, his opportunities? Had doors been opened for him in prison? Who came to visit him? Who was now converted? What companions did he have? All this information was to fuel their prayer.‘How I do’ – his eyes were diseased. We don’t know what exactly what the cause was. He had a thorn in the flesh – perhaps it was this eye problem. He also had received serious wounds in the past. He had been left for dead; he was now an elderly man as measured by the times. These were concerns for prayer, closely associated with the advance of the gospel.Tychicus ‘shall make known all things.’ This is a different point in Greek. Where are the Judaizers at the moment? Which churches are the Gnostics attacking? What about the apostle deniers? You have to know your enemy. Which new churches had been founded? Where is the gospel moving forward?