Titus 3:12, 13 When I shall send Artemas to you, or Tychicus, be diligent to come to me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter.… The connection of Titus with the Cretan Church was to be but temporary; therefore the apostle gives him two commands. I. A COMMAND FOR TITUS TO JOIN THE APOSTLE AT NICOPOLIS. 1. The apostle needed his services, either at this city in Epirus, where he determined to spend the winter - no doubt in apostolic labors - or to ascertain from him the exact condition of the Church at Crete, or to send him forth on an errand to some of the other Churches. 2. But the place of Titus was not to be left unsupplied. Two brethren, Artemas and Tychicus, were to go to Crete - one altogether unknown by us, but, as he is first mentioned, probably a minister of high distinction and zeal; the other, Tychicus, one of the most esteemed of the apostle's friends (Acts 20:4; Colossians 4:7; 2 Timothy 4:12). II. A COMMAND FOR TITUS TO HASTEN THE DEPARTURE OF ZENAS AND APOLLOS FROM CRETE. These brethren had been laboring in the Church there, probably, before Titus was left behind by the apostle. Zenas, the lawyer, was probably a Jewish scribe converted to Christianity, who had been acting as an evangelist in Crete. Apollos was the eloquent preacher of Alexandria, and now as always in perfect sympathy with the apostle, though there seemed a rivalry between them at Corinth. The apostle implies that the Cretan Christians were to provide the necessary help for such a journey. - T.C. Parallel Verses KJV: When I shall send Artemas unto thee, or Tychicus, be diligent to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined there to winter. |
    |