RR Demas by David Harwood

Shalom,

In Philemon 24 he is numbered with Paul's apostolic fellow workers.

We next read of him in Colossians 4:14. There, Paul mentions six co-laborers, one after the other. Five of them he describes warmly, and then he mentions — almost as an afterthought — Demas.  

Why?

I read this as the cooling of a relationship.

Then comes the dread description for which he is most remembered. For Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica (2 Timothy 4:10). Paul is facing a death sentence, and a man upon whom he relied abandoned him.

Demas did not drift away in an easier day. He coldly left when Paul needed him most. I think it broke Paul's heart.

What caused Demas to desert? Paul wrote that he loved this present age. I've read that Demas had been living a double life, that he flattered Paul and nobody knew that he was a hypocrite. I've read that Demas was filled with sensual lusts and the love of money.

But what did Paul write?

This: Demas loved this present age, this life. We're warned about this illicit agape in John's litany of lusts, and the first lust John listed was the lust of the flesh (1 John 2:15-16).

I think the primal manifestation of the lust of the flesh is self-preservation. Before we want pleasure, or possessions, or popularity, we want to live. Even mosquitos share that instinct.


Wanting to live is not a sin. Loving this age more than longing for the age-to-come? Let's simply say that although it is a common temptation, we're called to be faithful to the point of death. Demas wasn't.

We know how Demas ended up, but how did he end up there? What was he like?

First of all, he was devoted to Yeshua and well thought of. Paul wouldn't have chosen him if he didn't have a good reputation. Paul praised him. He called him a synergos, a co-worker, the same word Paul gave Timothy and Titus.

In Colossians and Philemon, we find that he had steadfastly stood with Paul when the Apostle was imprisoned. Demas was no stranger to hardship, and he was in committed fellowship with men who had suffered.

And this man deserted Paul. Let's take to heart this exhortation. Therefore let the one who thinks he stands watch out that he does not fall (1 Corinthians 10:12).

So, what happened?

Personally, I think that Demas was offended and that the offense, having grown, bore poisonous fruit. Was he bitter? Did that bitterness wear him down so that in a time of intense stress he coldly decided to desert Paul?

The Scriptures teach:

See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. (Hebrews 12:15)

In the Parable of the Sower Yeshua taught that there is a person who, when trouble or persecution comes, immediately falls away (Matthew 13:21). "Falls away" in Greek is skandalizetai. As a result, I think, of the cooling of their relationship, as a result of unresolved offenses, Demas calculated the cost and came to this conclusion: 

Die for this man? I don't think so.

Tradition has been harsh. Legend says he became a priest in an idol's temple. Yet Paul did not call him an apostate. Perhaps a more likely portrayal is that he was a wounded man who could not face execution for the sake of loyalty to Paul.

Friends, this is a disconcerting portrait. After all, an offended man may be one of us. He might be us.

We've read these words. Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life (Proverbs 4:23). Let's take them to heart.

If there is an offense, seek to clear it up. Keep short accounts. Resolve things while they're small. Let's not give the devil any ground, any topos, among us (Ephesians 4:26-27). Unlike Demas, we want to finish well.

Content and teaching by David Harwood; prose drafted with Claude (Anthropic) from his sermon outline and edited by him. Scripture quotations are from the New American Standard Bible.

Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
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