Useful Bible Studies > Philippians Commentary > chapter 4

Greetings for Philippi’s Christians

Philippians 4:21-22

Near the end of his letter, Paul includes some greetings. They remind us of the love that the first Christians had for each other (1 John 4:7-11). They might be in different towns and countries, they might never meet in this world. Still, they loved each other; they prayed for each other and they cared about each other. They knew that they would meet in heaven (1:23). Then, together, they will be with Christ always.

So, Paul sends his greeting to every Christian in Philippi. Some Bible translations say ‘saints’, which means God’s holy people. That does not just mean a few special Christians. Every true Christian belongs to God’s holy nation, the people whom he has chosen for himself (1 Peter 2:9-10).

Then Paul sends greetings from ‘the brothers’. He probably means his companions, those men like Mark and Luke who worked closely with him (see Colossians 4:10-14).

The next greetings come from ‘all the saints’; in other words, all the Christians who were in the same town as Paul. They all wanted to send their greetings to the Christians at Philippi. However, some of them were especially eager to send their greetings. They were the ones who belonged to the house of Caesar, the ruler of Rome. Possibly, this verse refers to slaves who worked in the royal palace. Perhaps even there, people had heard the gospel, the good news about Christ. They had turned from their evil deeds to trust Christ, and they had now become Christians. Even there, in the royal palace, they were eager to serve God. However, other meanings of ‘the members of Caesar’s house’ are possible, so we cannot be sure about this.

Next part: The blessing of Christ's grace (Philippians 4:23)

 

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© 2020, Keith Simons.