Contemplative Bible Reading

2 Timothy 2:16 (New Living Translation)

May the Lord show special kindness to Onesiphorus and all his family because he often visited and encouraged me. He was never ashamed of me because I was in chains.

Paul is writing about the love of a friend Onesiphorus. Paul was in prison, but his friend visited him regardless of his situation.

Consider the shame of Paul being in prison. First, Jews didn’t have prisons. Consider the laws and penalties given to the Jews in the Old Testament law. There were no jails or prisons. If you wronged another person, you paid that person money to correct the wrong. If you didn’t have money, you worked for them as an equivalent payment. Being in a prison was a shame to a Jew.

Second, Paul is in a Gentile jail. The Gentiles had been despised by the Jews before the appearance of the Christ. To be in a despised place operated by a despised people was just about as bad as you could be.

Paul’s friend, however, didn’t let all the shamefulness of his situation deter him. He went through all the social conventions of the day because of the love of Christ. This short mention of that in this verse can go past our notice.

What is keeping me from going to a person? Am I embarrassed? Is it “just the kind of thing you don’t do?” Shame on me for not living the love of Christ. God, please help me in my unbelief.