2 Timothy 4:11, 12 Fellow Workers

2 Timothy 4:12 Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.  I sent Tychicus to Ephesus.

These verse mention three of Paul's fellow workers, two of them famous as Gospel writers and the third much less well known. Luke is the author of the third Gospel and also of Acts. He was a companion of Paul and evidently a medical doctor. There are various ideas about Luke's background but it seems he was a Gentile, perhaps from Antioch and converted under Paul's early ministry there with Barnabas. Clearly he travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys and there is evidence to connect him closely with the church at Philippi in the early days. Here it is Luke's loyalty that is emphasised. Paul is greatly encouraged by Luke's presence at this difficult time. Mark, of course, is another Gospel writer and another missionary companion to Paul, although we know that initial experience turned out rather badly at the end. Here that early disappointment is forgotten and although Mark is not with Paul at the moment Paul desires it because he feels Mark is helpful to me in my ministry. Paul feels in contrast that he can spare Tychicus, who he has sent to Timothy in Ephesus. Tychicus is another companion of Paul mentioned five times altogether in the New Testament. He went from his native Asia (probably Ephesus) to Macedonia with Paul (Acts 20:4) and is mentioned in the Ephesian and Colossian letters as a dear brother ... a faithful minister and ... a faithful servant in the Lord (Ephesians 6:21; Colossians 4:7). He is also mentioned in Titus 3:12 and may have travelled to Crete on Paul's behalf. He is another of the unsung heroes of the New Testament, faithfully serving wherever needed. Loyalty, helpfulness and service are such needed virtues in churches to this day.