Tychicus does not get much mention today, but we can see from the New Testament references to him that he engaged in important roles. He was a Christian whom Paul could rely on wholeheartedly. And congregations always received crucial and useful information from him.
We are told three things about him. First, he was a beloved brother. He belonged to the family of God. We might be so used to this description that we fail to see the striking claim by Paul. Tychicus was a Gentile whereas Paul was a Jew, but here is the apostle recognising that both of them were equally brothers in the divine family. And that is who all Christians are. It is a crucial way of thinking about one another.
Second, Tychicus was a faithful minister in the Lord. The term translated minister is the word from which we get the word ‘deacon’, which is a reminder that Tychicus was willing to do difficult tasks in order to help others. He was prepared to walk the long distance from Rome to Ephesus to deliver Paul’s letter. Of course, Tychicus was from Ephesus and he is first mentioned as being willing to travel from there to Jerusalem with the collection that Paul had put together for the needy saints in Jerusalem.
The third detail that Paul mentions is that he knew that Tychicus would encourage the hearts of the Ephesians as well as provide them with accurate information about Paul and his circumstances. It would be good if others could say of us, as an epitaph, that we are beloved brothers regarding who we are, faithful servants by what we do, and encouragers by what we say.
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