Prayer
Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing. 22 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
Paul was not a robot or an automaton. He was very warm and personable and very interested and concerned about people. He realizes people are anxious about him as he awaits trial. He tries to alleviate that concern by sending Tychicus “for this very purpose, that you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.”
We wish we knew more about Tychicus, who earns the high praise of being “the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord.” He is mentioned in four other New Testament passages. Three of them are only passing references (Acts 20:4; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12). The fourth, Colossians 4:7-9, deserves a little closer look.
There the apostle writes: “Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.” The first thing that strikes us here is the marked similarity to the Ephesian passage. That, of course, is true of many passages in Colossians. The specific point of overlap here is that Tychicus is to explain Paul’s circumstances to both the Ephesians and the Colossians.
Note also another interesting fact. In Colossians, Onesimus is said to be accompanying Tychicus. Recall our earlier discussion of Onesimus, the runaway slave turned Christian whom Paul was sending back to his Christian master, Philemon. Paul says of Onesimus that he is “one of you [Colossians].”
Thus the following scenario emerges: The main “transaction” at this point is Paul’s sending Onesimus back to his master, Philemon, who lives in Colosse. Tychicus is carrying a cover letter (our New Testament Philemon) to smooth the delicate matter of a repentant Onesimus being received back into the household of Philemon. This matter may also have repercussions in the local congregation in Colosse, so Paul sends the congregation a letter too, our New Testament Colossians.
Incidentally, note the large section on slaves in that letter’s table of duties (Colossians 3:22-25). Tychicus is carrying both letters to the city of Colosse. To get there, he will have to travel right through Ephesus. Paul seems to be taking the opportunity to write a parallel letter to his beloved Ephesians, among whom he had worked for three years (Acts 20:31). Thus Tychicus, in fact, seems to be carrying three letters, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, as he escorts Onesimus back home to Colosse.
23 Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.
To the section on taking up the whole armor of God, Paul added a reminder regarding the importance of prayer. “Be alert,” he told the Ephesians, “and always keep on praying for all the saints.” Paul practiced what he preached.
The parting thought in his letter is in reality an intercessory prayer. He prays for the Ephesians and all believers in Christ, whom the Spirit has united into that great unity, the holy Christian church. Paul’s prayer for them all is that they may receive “peace . . . and love with faith.”
Those are not earned or deserved rewards. They are gifts from a loving God, who in Christ is moved to give “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (3:20). Included among those immeasurable and unimaginable gifts is nothing less than heaven itself. Such love from our Redeemer-God calls forth but one response, that we love him who loved us first. Paul has in mind all who respond in that way when he closes his prayer and his letter with this petition: “Grace to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”