“But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life” (1Tim 1:16).
Think back to when you were a kid. Yeah, I know that’s a little harder for some of us who are more, shall we say, “chronologically challenged.” But crank up the WABAC machine, Sherman, and head back to your childhood. Who provided the examples for you to follow? If you’re like me, my parents loved to suggest candidates. “Why can’t you be more like (fill in the blank)?” You know the qualities I’m talking about. Good behavior. Good grades. Good looking. Well, good luck!
This brings us to something Paul wrote in his first letter to Timothy. He tells Tim how his Savior came to his rescue because the man from Tarsus was an example. “But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life” (v16). At first, we might think that the apostle’s status as the “foremost” means he’s the good example all the kids should follow. Not so much. Paul provides us with a bad example. Believe it or not, that’s not just good but GREAT! It allows Jesus to show at just how incredibly awesome He is. That’s what happens when our bad examples meet His Good News.
The apostle begins by telling Pastor Tim, “But I received mercy for this reason” (v16). Earlier Paul mentioned how God extended him His “mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief” (1Tim 1:13). His blindness to who Jesus is and what He had done was the context for this specific mission of mercy. Now Paul gives him the purpose and reason for it. Don’t miss the fact that he’s “received mercy” (Gr. ele’eo). For you grammar freaks out there, this verb is passive. Paul didn’t go out and get mercy from God. He didn’t earn it. He didn’t work for it. He is simply on the receiving end of God’s goodness through Jesus.
Same goes for us. There’s not a single thing we can do to impress God that results in our getting His mercy. In a letter to the Roman church, the apostle recalls a little chat Almighty God had with His man Moses. “I will have mercy on (Gr. ele’eo) whom I have mercy (Gr. ele’eo)…So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy (Gr. ele’eo)” (Rom 9:15, 16). We need to remember that God showers His compassion on those He chooses. We don’t earn it. We can’t earn it.
Paul is on the business end of divine mercy because “in me, as the foremost” (v16). In the previous verse, Paul claims the title of the G.O.A.T. of sinners (1Tim 1:15). The greatest sinner of all time. The first of the worst. We see an interesting progression in the man from Tarsus’ life. In his letter to the Philippians, the apostle says that before Jesus came to his rescue, he was a Hebrew superstar (Phil 3:5-6). A first round draft pick who knew he was hot stuff. But a funny thing happens once he starts following Christ. He begins by acknowledging how he would be ranked last in any list of the apostles (1Cor 15:9). A little later, he says he’s bringing up the rear as “the very least of all the saints” (Eph 3:8). Finally in this first letter to Timothy, he keeps falling until he’s at rock bottom as the “foremost” of every list of God’s law breakers.
Growing in Jesus doesn’t mean that we get stronger and stronger and need Him less and less. Just the opposite. Instead of thinking we’ve outgrown the Gospel and have our stuff in one bag with a twist, we realize our desperate and daily need for His grace. A few hundred years ago, a member of Martin Luther’s church complained how the great reformer’s messages were basically all the same. Every single one came back to the Good News of who Jesus is and what He’s done. Isn’t it time to move on to something else? Something deeper? You’ve gotta love Luther’s response. He was going to preach the Gospel to them every week because they forgot it every week. He knew that because he had to preach the Gospel to HIMSELF everyday because he forgot it everyday.
Here’s the dirty little secret. Paul is NOT alone as the “foremost” (v15, 16). We’re tied with him in last place. We just don’t realize it yet. Once we do, we’ll understand our desperate need to hear the Good News every single stinking day. You need to hear it. I need to hear it. Every. Single. Day. Why do you think Jeremiah wanted everyone to know that God’s mercies “are new every morning” (Lam 3:22)? Like the sign at Krispy Kreme that shines “Hot Donuts Now!”, His mercy is warm and fresh every morning. Why? Because we need it every morning.
Paul is the first of the worst so “that Jesus Christ might display His perfect patience as an example” (v16). In “patience,” he uses the Greek word makrothumia, which can mean endurance, steadfastness, or perseverance. It’s a compound word that literally describes something that’s “long (makro-) burning (-thumia).” Think of a long fuse. A REEEEEEALLY long fuse. It’s a reminder that no one has a longer fuse than God. He will eventually get angry but it just takes a long, LONG time. Paul says he was a true test of just how long God’s fuse was. His buddy Peter paints a picture of our God “is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2Pet 3:8). He was perfectly patient with Paul. He was perfectly patient with you and me. His fuse is still burning. Let’s not waste anymore time. The world needs to know the Good News!!
Not only does Paul see himself as the first of the worst, he understands that he provides an example to others. It’s always good to have an example to follow. But remember, there are both good and bad examples. The apostle is saying that in this case the only example he provides is so that the Lord’s amazing patience can shine. In other words, the only thing he brings to the table as an example is his desperate need for a Savior. He travels the Roman Empire telling everyone what the resurrected Rabbi/Carpenter has done for him. He wants the world to see what Good News can do through his bad example.
Some like to point to Christ as the example of how we are to live. There’s no doubt that God calls us to imitate Him (Eph 5:1). To love sacrificially (Jn 13:34-35). To serve selflessly (Jn 13:15; Phil 2:5-8). But Jesus is SO much more than our good example. He’s our Savior. He’s our Hero. He’s our Lord. He’s our God. I’m not saying to throw away your WWJD bracelet. But we need to realize that we can’t dream of following in His divine footsteps apart from His intervention. If anything, Paul is our example of what it means to be a bad example. We can’t do it on our own. We can’t obey God’s rules. We break His Law by commission. We break His Law by omission. It reminds me of Jonathan Edwards words. “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” We’re only a good example because His good work as a result of the Good News.
Paul’s bad example of Jesus’ good work is “to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life” (v16). Christ would use the former Pharisee’s life as a display case of His incredible mercy and grace. If God could come to the rescue of killer of Christians then no one is beyond His reach. No one is too far gone. I don’t care how long your rap sheet is. As a result, Jesus sent the apostle on his lifelong mission of telling everyone who would listen the incredibly Good News. The bad news is that we’re rebels and terrorists against God’s kingdom and can’t save ourselves. We’ve broken God’s Law. We deserve punishment. Not just to be put in time out. Not just taking away our screen time. Not just being grounded for the weekend. We deserve death.
That’s where our Hero comes in. Instead, Jesus does for us what we could never dream of doing for ourselves. He lived the perfect life of obedience to His Father that we fail to live. He died the brutal death for our sin and disobedience that we should have died. He rose to a spectacular new life that we in no way deserve. We trust in Jesus. We trust in what He’s done for us. That’s what it means to “believe in Him for eternal life” (v16). See, I told you this is VERY Good News for some VERY bad examples!
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