other · 61 · Rome
Philippi was the one church that sent Paul money, and Epaphroditus is the man who brought it. He then fell ill in Rome — near to death, Paul says — and what the passage is actually doing is managing the awkwardness of sending him back early. Paul calls him brother, fellow worker, fellow soldier, your messenger and minister to my need; says he risked his life to make up what was lacking in their service; instructs them to honour such men. He also says, in a sentence with no theology in it at all, that God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. It is one of the few places the New Testament describes a serious illness and simply records recovery rather than a healing, and one of very few where Paul admits he would have found something unbearable.
To carry Philippi's money to Paul in prison, and to stay and serve him there.
The letter to the Philippians, written to send him home without it looking like failure.