Eunice & Timothy
Ever since I was a child myself, I have held a very strong conviction that my reason for being here on this earth is to be a mother; to raise my children as disciples for the glory and kingdom of God. I’ve been planning and preparing for my “one-day children” for as long as I can remember, even so far as choosing my degree so that I could better understand their development, and praying for them before they were ever conceived. I even named them and made them an email address, years before they were conceived so that I could start sharing my hopes and prayers for them, stories and photos from my pregnancy and their early years.
There are many examples of wonderful women and mothers in the Bible, but one who seems to share my passionate convictions about the responsibility of motherhood is Eunice. You would be forgiven for needing a reminder of who Eunice is. She, along with her own mother, Lois, was only named once in the whole Bible; the mother of Timothy in the New Testament. “I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.” - 2 Timothy 1:5
Another parallel I am able to draw between myself and Eunice is that we are both believing mothers with an unbelieving husband, “Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.” (Acts 16:1). Just like my own three children, Timothy is the product of a believing mother and an unbelieving father. Just as my own children receive their biblical instruction from me, so Timothy is said to have learned scriptures from his mother: “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” - 2 Timothy 3:14-15.
In his New Testament Notes, Albert Barnes said about Eunice that she, “The mother of Timothy was a pious Hebrewess, and regarded it as one of the duties of her religion to train her son in the careful knowledge of the word of God.” (From "The Second Epistle of Paul To Timothy” - Chapter 3 - Verse 15). She was obviously well versed in the Jewish scriptures and took to heart the instructions found in Deuteronomy 6:6-7 and Proverbs 22:6, instilling the ways of the Lord in the heart and mind of her young child, that he might know and walk in them all the days of his life. This is a wise instruction for parents of any era, and something I try to remember in the upbringing of my children, with the hope that they too will go on to walk in the Lord’s will even as they grow into adulthood and, the Lord willing, become parents themselves.
Eunice’s hard work seems to have paid off; Timothy went on to lead the church and make his mark on history as the first Christian bishop in Ephesus. This leads us to consider not only the effects that our obedience to these scriptures can have on our own offspring, but also the greater effects as they cascade throughout the future generations, the so-called “ripple effect”. Sometimes I worry that my meagre teaching isn’t enough. I humbly offer Bible stories and praise songs to my children in the hope that they will be interested and that a seed might plant itself in their hearts. I so desperately want them to choose the narrow path, but it is a daunting task alone.
I often wonder if Eunice’s unbelieving husband was supportive of her faith, perhaps he just didn’t accept it at the time but later came to salvation through observing the effects on his family (1 Corinthians 7:12-16 is my prayer!) I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for her if she had to contend with and battle him on every decision. We know that Timothy was uncircumcised, which is strange considering that the tradition was for children to be brought up in their mother’s faith, so I wonder how that discussion must have gone. I am grateful that my own husband supports, even if he does not share, my beliefs, but with that said, I do find myself envying those families who have both a believing mother and father; who can share the burden of responsibility and spend time enjoying the word of God together, but then I am reminded of Eunice, and I think that if the Lord blessed her with the task of raising up one of the most prominent men in early church history, even in spite of her circumstances, then with the Lord as my strength and my song (Exodus 15:2), I can walk this path, too!
