8.27.2009

Alexander the Coppersmith - who knew?


Today's Photo: "Green in the Rocks" (taken this morning)

Yikes! I was just perusing through the biblical book of 2 Timothy working on a little devotional for a meeting tonight at church.
2 Timothy is a letter written for a young fellow named Timothy. The author of the letter is said to be Paul. Paul writes the letter as he is on the last leg of his exciting and tumultuous journey as an early Christian leader. Timothy, on the other hand, is at the beginning of his journey.

I noticed a very strange couple of verses at the end of the letter!


When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will pay him back for his deeds. You also must beware of him, for he strongly opposed our message” (2 Timothy 4:13-15).


I never noticed that before! The Bible always surprises me. It’s so silly and strange sometimes.


Alexander the Coppersmith! Whoa! What’s the story there? We’ll probably never know. I wonder what happened to him. Maybe he had a conversion. Paul had such a huge conversion going from Christian killer to Christian leader, you think he’d give people the benefit of the doubt. Instead, in this particular instance – he says God will pay Alexander back for being such an awful, harmful coppersmith. Yikes Paul! Tone it down. Where’s the grace?


I wonder if Timothy did watch out for Alexander. Or I wonder if instead of heeding Paul’s advice to “beware” of the coppersmith, Timothy decided to seek him out and set him down for a good heart-to-heart.

I don’t have a very pastoral response to this text. Mostly, I just think it’s really interesting for a few reasons. #1 - What on earth was on those precious parchments that Paul wants back so badly? And #2 - I find Paul’s words to Timothy to be quite telling of the fact that there have been personality conflicts and controversies since the beginning of time.

Alexander – I hope things worked out for you and your coppersmithing. And I hope you stopped being so crabby.

4 comments:

  1. When ever Paul or the bible itself mentions a name it's to warn. Alexander was probably an idol maker. The lesson in naming individuals is 1. if they are hurting the body of Christ, let others know and be aware of their heresy. Also, this is evidence that it is our Christian duty to call the names of anyone who is teaching contrary to what the bible says. Remember Paul also confronted Peter in front of others. Public error or teaching requires public rebuking also. That individual can cause others to fall, stumble, etc. For Paul to mention him meant is was very serious what he was causing to the body of Christ. Thanks

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    1. I'm also aware that this was from years ago and maybe the lesson from this scripture had been made clear. So no disrespect, I was doing some referencing for my Sunday school lesson and saw you page in the search.

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  2. how many lashes she got up to 50 or less for punishement

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