Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: TITUS #3 - 3:12-15)
D. 3:12-14 NEWS AND FINAL EXHORTATION
a. 3:12 TITUS
HOtan PEMpso [3992] Ar-teMAN PROS se, eTu-chiKON,
When I shall send Artemas unto you, or Tychicus,
SPOUda-son [4704] elTHEIN PROS me eis NiKOpo-lin: eKEI gar KEkri-ka [2919] pa-ra-cheiMAsai [3914].
give diligence to come unto me to Nicopolis: for I have determined to winter there.
b. 3:13 Set forward Zenas the lawyer and Apollos diligently,that nothing be wanting to them.
ZeNAN ton noMIkos [3944]kai A-polLON spouDAIos PROpem-pson [4311], HIna meDEN auTOIS LEIpe.
c. 3:14 GOOD WORKS
man-thaNEto-san [3129]de kai hoi heMEte-roi kaLON ERgon proIstas-thai [4291]
And let :our people also learn to maintain good works
eis tas a-nagKAIas [316] CHREIas [5532], HIna meOsin Akar-poi [175].
for necessary uses, that they be not unfruitful.
E. 3:15a-b SALUTATIONS
a. 3:15a All those with me greet you. AsPAzonTAI [782] se hoi met' eMOU PANtes.
b. 3:15b Greet them that love us in faith.
Aspa-sai tous phiLOUNtas [5368] heMAS en PIstei.
F. 3:15c The grace bewith you all. HeCHAris [5485]meTA PANton huMON.
NOTE: These last 4 verses represent the last 3 paragraphs of this letter to Titus. The Holy Spirit through Paul does not address Titus in 3 chapters, but in 6 closely knit paragraphs, making a compact unity of these thoughts. Paragraph A & B of our Titus Chapter one - could represent as it were - the head of the pig or hog. Paragraph C, 2:1-3:11 - the body; and D through F, the tail or squeal. Yet, that is not accurate either, for no portion of Scripture is unimportant. What can you see here that from God's point of view is a fitting conclusion to this letter? For one thing we see the strong human interest for individuals on the part of the Apostle Paul, and that his needs also be met. Then too, he is concerned that all saints not be mere professors of the faith, but possessors that lead to action. And lastly, he has a concern for good human protocol in both receiving and giving greetings. The Christian faith, though in the world, is yet not of the world. But it at the same time works out the highest of good human relationships.
If one did a “word study” on these last few verses, I would choose the profession of Zenas as a “lawyer” - noMIkon - to look at. An interesting email came this week on the contrast between Democrats and Republicans, as they relate to the “lawyer” profession. See what you think of the following few excerpts.
“Today in the US we are drowning in laws; we are contorted by judicial decisions; we are driven to distraction by omnipresent lawyers in all parts of our once private lives. America has a place for laws and lawyers, but that place is modest and reasonable, not vast and unchecked. When the most important decision for our president is whom he will appoint to the Supreme Court, the role of lawyers and the law in America is too big. When house Democrats sue America in order to hamstring our efforts to learn what our enemies are planning to do to us, then the role of litigation in America has become crushing.
“We cannot expect the Lawyers' Party to provide real change, real reform or real hope in America. Most Americans know that a republic in which every major government action must be blessed by nine unelected judges, is not what Washington intended in 1789. Most Americans grasp that we cannot fight a war when ACLU lawsuits snap at the heels of our defenders. Most Americans intuit that more lawyers and judges will not restore declining moral values or spark the spirit of enterprise in our economy.
“Perhaps Americans will understand that change cannot be brought to our nation by those lawyers who already largely dictate American society and business. Perhaps Americans will see that hope does not come from the mouths of lawyers but from personal dreams nourished by hard work. Perhaps Americans will embrace the truth the more lawyers with more power will only make our problems worse.
“The United States has 5% of the world's population and 66% of the world's lawyers!Tort (Legal) reform legislation has been introduced in congress several times in the last several years to limit punitive damages in ridiculous lawsuits such as “spilling hot coffee on yourself and suing the establishment that sold it to you,” and also to limit punitive damages in huge medical malpractice lawsuits. The legislation has continually been blocked from even being voted on by the Democrat Party. When you see that 97% of the political contributions from the American Trial Lawyers Association goes to the Democrat Party, then you realize who is responsible for our medical and product costs being so high!”
We of course have many excellent lawyers who are “straight arrows”, and live up to walking in the spirit of our Constitution as given to us by our Founding Fathers. Our son-in-law is one of these. But it does behoove us to look at our situation in America as it is, and to see that not all American lawyers walk in this spirit. I dare say that Zenas the lawyer of Paul's day was of this better caliber. - J.A.W.