One preacher put it helpfully; he said, “Where there is genuine love, there is genuine longing to be with the object of that love.” Is that your experience? Does the delight you profess to have in your brothers and sisters in Christ find expression in the desire for them when you aren’t together?

Therefore, my beloved brethren whom I long to see, my joy and crown, in this way stand firm in the Lord, my beloved.
– Philippians 4:1 –

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been examining each term of endearment that Paul lists in Philippians 4:1, by which he describes his relationship to the believers in the church of Philippi. By looking at this example, we are enriching our understanding of the true nature of the fellowship which fellow believers enjoy with one another. We’ve seen that we are brothers and sisters—marked by a unique, objective, familial bond as a result of our union with Christ. And we’ve seen that we are not merely to tolerate our brothers and sisters, but to love them.

A third term of endearment that teaches us much about the nature of Christian fellowship is best translated as a longer phrase: those whom I long for.

The Greek word, here, is epipóthetoi, a very strong word that is found nowhere else in the New Testament in this precise form. It derives from the verb epipothéo, which speaks of intense longing or yearning, of sincere affection. Commentator John Eadie wrote that the word “describes a strong desire, an intense craving of possession, a great affection for, a deep desire, an earnest yearning for something with implication of need. Here it describes the natural yearning of personal affection. Paul loved the saints at Philippi and had a longing for the joy of renewed fellowship with them face to face.”

That this sort of intense affection and desire to be reunited existed between Paul and the Philippians is so evident throughout this letter. Back in chapter 1, Paul says, “For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Phil 1:8). This great desire and delight in their company was so strong that Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, could describe it as the affection of Christ Jesus—nothing less than the visceral yearning of Christ’s own love expressing itself through Paul.

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