Demas

Demas was a co-worker of Paul mentioned three times in the Pauline epistles. In Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24, he is listed among Paul's fellow workers alongside Luke, indicating he was a trusted member of the Pauline mission team. However, in 2 Timothy 4:10, Paul reports with evident sadness: 'Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica.' He thus became a type of the disciple who falls away when commitment to the gospel proves costly—a concrete example of the parable of the sower's seed that fell among thorns, choked by 'the cares and riches and pleasures of life' (Luke 8:14). Nothing further is known of Demas from the New Testament or reliable early church sources.