Paul writes from the floor of his prison cell; his body likely lowered through a hole in the street into the cold, dark, dungeon where he is chained to the stone wall, surrounded by the stench of the sewage system that
ran parallel to it. This is the final lodging
for God’s faithful servant… the *Mamertine Prison, and the only thing awaiting
him here was his certain execution. This
cuts me to the heart… both his willingness to suffer for the gospel and my inability
to comprehend it.
Then I wonder, on those sleepless nights, if his mind replayed the many times he had others put in jail… others who proclaimed Jesus as Lord, as he stormed their homes, “breathing threats and murder" (Acts 9:1). Was he forgiven?... Absolutely. Was it forgotten?.. Probably not. Perhaps that is what made him so obsessed with God's grace and mercy.
2 Timothy 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, in keeping with the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus....
I am sure Paul probably had a life goal in mind, but God had one too... apostleship… not by the suggestion of others, not by his choice but by “the will of God”. Not a position of social prominence but of service. Not a calling to a life of comfort and prestige, but of sacrifice and suffering. He wouldn’t go out in a blaze of glory, but huddled in a stone cold prison awaiting his public decapitation. That's just so hard for me to wrap my head around. I sit here in my warm home, with a nice hot cup of Hazelnut coffee, on a cozy chair (so many prepositions) and shake my head. This scenario is so far from what my life looks like.
“In keeping with the promise of life”.. Never will those words “the promise of life” hold such weight as now when all he can see is the "promise of death". Paul holds fast to this hope in grave circumstances.
Today, we have the 'promise of life' here. Some people didn't get a 'today'. Let's make the most of it. And when our end is near, we too can cling to 'the promise of life' that is eternal and beyond our imagination, in the presence of our Savior. That hope is what sustained our beloved apostle... may it sustain us when we struggle.
This is Paul's final letter that we have. They say you can learn a lot about someone by their final words... I already have and there's so much more ahead.
*Mamertine Prison
https://www.insight.org/resources/article-library/individual/historical-background-of-paul-s-final-imprisonment
and https://www.gty.org/library/Print/articles/a311