Title: People with Paul 8 Titus
Contents People with Paul 8 Titus
There were a lot of people around Paul. But one of the most important of them is Dido.
Titus is from Antioch. not Jewish. He is a person who is immersed in Greek culture.
Titus was the person Paul preached to and accepted Jesus. That is why Paul calls Titus the true son. A true son is not a physical son, but a spiritual son. Because the physical son ends on this earth, but the spiritual son is eternal.
(Titus 1:4)
(1 Timothy 2:1)
I am going to study the figure of Titus, Paul's true son, well.
1. Titus went up to Jerusalem
Paul and Barnabas went up to Jerusalem on a missionary trip. At that time, they set out from Antioch, and they took Titus from Antioch and went up.
(Galatians 2:1)
Then why did you bring Dido up there? Two reasons can be considered.
The first reason must have been that he went up to discuss how far the Gentile missionary field would go. Then it would have been nice to have Titus who knew the area well. It is an opinion that it was necessary to discuss the mission field and brought it up.
The second reason may have been to show the Jerusalem leaders that the Gentile mission was going well. He must have taken the spirituality of the Gentiles and the systems of the Gentiles to the Jerusalem leaders as a reference.
I don't know which one would be more correct. But one thing is clear. It is clear that Titus is already a person who has been placed in contact with Christian leaders.
2. Circumcision and Titus
At that time, Jews were circumcised to prove that they were descendants of Abraham.
Circumcision is as important as a wedding to the Jews. It is a ceremony to cut off the epidermis of a boy's genitals on the 8th day after birth. By doing so, you can make your children clearly aware of the gender of men and women from an early age.
The circumcision ceremony is performed as follows.
On the eighth day after the baby is born, the father calls his siblings, as well as his neighbors and relatives, and first fills his mouth with alcohol and spits alcohol onto a piece of cotton while they are watching. And wet the baby's mouth with it.
This is anesthetized with alcohol so that the baby does not feel pain. In fact, even if you don't, you won't feel any pain because your nerves are still underdeveloped.
A person who performs the circumcision ceremony is called . Mohel cuts off the boy's epidermis with his special knife.
At the end of the ceremony, those gathered there celebrate with dancing and singing. At this time, the mother of the child usually avoids the place.
A boy who is not circumcised is not considered a Jew. This is because he did not perform the circumcision ceremony to become one family with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jews.
And if the baby born is a woman, a naming ceremony is held at the church instead of the circumcision ceremony. They don't celebrate like they did when they were boys.
In the Old Testament, it is written that God said to Abraham about circumcision:
Circumcision is a purely religious ritual, but in recent years, non-Jewish people have often undergone this type of surgery right after birth for hygiene reasons. By removing the epidermis at a young age, there is no need to suffer from phimosis after the child grows up. And because it is effective, such as being able to maintain cleanliness.
But the Bible says about Titus' circumcision.
(Galatians 2:3-5)
Among these verses, (Galatians 2:3) is the problem. This verse can be interpreted in two ways.
1. Circumcision is for Jews only, and Greek Christians do not need to undergo it. So it can be interpreted as
2. However, it can also be interpreted the other way around. It can also be interpreted that Titus was circumcised and received it with joy, voluntarily and without compulsion.
This verse of the Bible allows for both interpretations. It was a matter of debate whether Gentile Christians should or should not follow the laws of Jewish Christians.
There are still different interpretations as to which interpretation is correct.
However, it is clear that Titus became a servant of Jesus Christ.
3. Titus, Paul's Messenger
The relationship between Paul and the church in Corinth was not very smooth. The Apollos were born and the Paulines were born. There were many things that didn't fit. So Paul rebuked the church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians. So, he confesses that he is writing with tears because his heart aches.
(2 Corinthians 2:4)
After that, Paul sent Titus to the Corinthian church to find out the reaction of the Corinthian church. And after a while I got a report. We have received a very satisfactory report. It was a report that the members of the Corinthian church had taken Paul's advice well. So Paul said he regretted having been anxious and worried during that time.
(2 Corinthians 7:6-11)
So Titus was a man who made Paul happy and strengthened the church by running Paul's errands in his later years.
Legend
Dido has a legend.
In Roman times, the capital of Crete was Gotyn. Titus was martyred there while preaching the gospel there. The Dido Memorial Church is now built over Dido's tomb. Titus was the first missionary to bring the gospel to Crete. Even now, the Cretans are saying this.
I want to know more about Dido, but I have no way of knowing. No more data. However, we have to thank God for giving us this kind of data.
Titus was with Paul. He was a person with a strong sense of responsibility and service. An example of a good errand man.