ministry

Finishing the course

The Apostle Paul’s ministry has been estimated to have lasted about 25-30 years. Paul’s dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-10) set the course for his remarkable career of preaching the gospel to thousands of people across Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia, and Rome. When Paul was in Thessalonica, he was accused of having turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). Paul’s presence in Ephesus created a riot (Acts 19:28-34) and he had to escape to Greece where he raised a youth from the dead after the young man fell from an upstairs window (Acts 20:10).

During his last recorded trip to Jerusalem, Paul stopped in Miletus to meet with the Ephesian elders so he could say goodbye to them. Paul told the Ephesian elders, “And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, now knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and affliction await me” (Acts 20:22-23). Paul knew what he was getting himself into when he headed back to Jerusalem and yet, he didn’t hesitate to carry out God’s plan for him.

Paul told the Ephesian elders:

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24).

Paul’s goal was to finish his course, no matter what that might entail.

The Greek word that is translated finish my course, teleioo (tel-i-oˊ-o) is derived from the word teleios (telˊ-i-os) which means “to complete, make perfect by reaching the intended goal” (G5048). Teleios comes from the word telos (telˊ-os) which is usually translated as “the end,” particularly with respect to time (G5056). When Jesus’ disciples asked him when he would return, he told them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:4-6).

When Paul said he wanted to finish his course, he wasn’t talking specifically about completing his ministry because he said, “if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus” (Acts 20:24). Paul seemed to be talking about reaching a state of perfection, what the word teleios describes as being made perfect by reaching the intended goal (G5048). Hebrews 10:14 tells us that Jesus, by a single offering, “perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” It also says in Hebrews 5:9 that Jesus was being made perfect when, “he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.”

James discussion of the testing of a believer’s faith may come the closest to describing what Paul was talking about when he said he wanted to finish his course. James said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (James 1:2-4). James said faith produces steadfastness and when steadfastness reaches its full effect, the believer is perfect and complete. The word translated perfect in this verse is teleios.

James association of steadfastness with being perfect and complete makes sense from the standpoint that Paul endured a great deal of persecution after he became a Christian. Paul continued preaching the gospel in spite of the many trials he went through (2 Corinthians 11:22-28) and never gave up, even after he was imprisoned unjustly (Acts 21:33) and held captive for more than two years (Acts 24:27). Peter said perseverance requires an effort on our part and also identified love as the ultimate outcome of growing in our knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ (James 1:5-8).

Paul concluded his conversation with the Ephesian elders by telling them that he knew he would never see them again (Acts 20:25) and then, he said, “I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32). The phrase all who are sanctified is a reference to Christians in general. The Christian life primarily consists of continually being built up by God’s word. Like Paul, every Christian must do their part to be built up in this way and to finish the course. “By exerting effort to turn from self-dependence to Spirit-dependence, our sinful behaviors diminish and the fruit of the Spirit increases (Gal 5:16-25; Eph 4:22-24). God uses his Word (2 Tim 3:16), his Spirit (Rom 8:5-11), his people (Eph 4:11-12), and circumstances (Jas 1:2-4) along with our effort (Phil 2:12-13) to transform us” (Making Spiritual Progress, The Spiritual Growth Bible, p. 499).

Ambition

James and John were one of two sets of brothers that were included in Jesus’ twelve member exclusive team of evangelists. Jesus told these men, “in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matthew 19:28). James and John were often singled out and given special privileges such as witnessing Jesus’ transfiguration (Matthew 17:1) and the raising of Jairus’ daughter from the dead (Mark 5:37). In his list of the twelve apostles, Mark said of these two men, “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; (and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:). The name Boanerges could also be translated sons of commotion (G993), but in its original form, the word Jesus used stood for violent anger or rage (H7266). It is likely that James and John had a reputation for losing their tempers and may have been raised in a home where violence was used to discipline them.

One of the few incidents of conflict among Jesus’ twelve apostles is recorded in Mark 9:33-34 where it says, “And he came to Capernaum: and being in the house he asked them, What was it that ye disputed among yourselves by the way? But they held their peace: for by the way they had disputed among themselves, who should be the greatest.” James and John took this conflict one step farther when they approached Jesus and asked him to give them the seats next to his in his throne room (Mark 10:37). James and John’s ambition appeared to be driven by a desire to be equal with Jesus (Mark 10:38-39). Jesus told them, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup. and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, in not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared by my Father” (Matthew 20:23). The Greek word translated prepared, hetoimazo (het-oy-mad´-zo) means to prepare or make ready (G2090). Hetoimazo refers to those things which are ordained by God, such as future positions of authority.

Jesus told his disciples, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). The word Jesus used that is translated prepare in this verse is also hetoimazo. The Greek word translated place, topos suggests that Jesus is building his kingdom based on our prayers or requests for occupancy in a particular spot that might be available (G5117). In this sense, you could say that Jesus is currently taking reservations and assigning spots to believers inside his Father’s house. James and John’s request may not have been all that unreasonable, but it was determined that their ambition to be seated next to Jesus was not at his discretion. Jesus revealed that the top spots in his kingdom were reserved for God’s elect and said, “whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28).

The Greek word translated minister in the phrase “let him be your minister” (Matthew 20:26) is diakonos (dee-ak´-on-os). Diakonos refers to “an attendant that is (generally) a waiter (at a table or in other menial duties)” (G1249). This term is used specifically in reference to a Christian teacher or pastor who is technically supposed to be a deacon or deaconess. Jesus identified himself as a minister and stated the purpose of his service was to “give his life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). In other words, the job Jesus was assigned by his Father was to die for the sins of the world. This was the position God prepared for him and the reason Jesus would be located at the head of the table or in the top spot in God’s eternal kingdom. When Jesus asked James and John, “Are ye able to drink of the cup that I drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Matthew 20:22), he may have been asking them if they were willing to make the same kind of sacrifice that he was expected to. When they responded, “We are able” (Matthew 20:22) James and John were basically volunteering to become martyrs.