Philippians 2:28
I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful. I sent him therefore the more carefully, that, when ye see him again, ye may rejoice, and that I may be the less sorrowful.
Paul sent Epaphroditus back to Philippi from his own imprisonment at Rome promptly and eagerly. Epaphroditus had come to Rome as the bearer of the Philippians' gifts to supply Paul's wants in his confinement. While there he fell sick nearly to death, but God had mercy on him in restoring him, and had mercy on Paul as well by sparing him sorrow upon sorrow.
Word of that sickness had reached Philippi and filled the believers there with anxiety for him. Epaphroditus himself longed after them and was full of heaviness because they had heard of his illness, and he decided to return to them. Paul therefore sent him so that seeing him again in person would turn their anxiety into rejoicing, while Paul himself would be left the less sorrowful.