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Colossians, part 15, Final Greetings

Having finished the main body of his letter, Paul writes in Colossians 4:7, 8,

⁷ As to all my affairs, Tychicus, our beloved brother and faithful servant and fellow bond-servant in the Lord, will bring you information. ⁸ For I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts.

Paul had many companions and co-workers. Tychicus was one of them (Acts 20:4). We do not know if he was the only one conveying Paul’s letter to the Colossian church or if he was part of a group. The roads could be dangerous in those days, so most of the time people traveled in groups. Tychicus had been one of the group conveying Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, as we read in Ephesians 6:21, 22,

²¹ But that you also may know about my circumstances, how I am doing, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make everything known to you. ²² I have sent him to you for this very purpose, so that you may know about us, and that he may comfort your hearts.

Tychicus is mentioned again in Titus 3:12 and 2 Timothy 4:12 as Paul’s liaison.

Onesimus

Colossians 4:9 says,

⁹ and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of your number. They will inform you about the whole situation here.

This suggests that Onesimus had already been given his freedom from slavery. His former master, Philemon, apparently took Paul’s advice set forth in his letter, and it appears that Onesimus had returned to Rome to assist Paul during his imprisonment. Hence, Onesimus was again sent to his hometown, Colossae, as Paul’s “faithful and beloved brother,” essentially the same wording used to describe Tychicus. They were now equals as freemen.

Aristarchus

Colossians 4:10 says,

¹⁰ Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’ cousin (anepsios) Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him);

Aristarchus remained with Paul in Rome, but he sent his greetings to the Colossian believers. Aristarchus was a Macedonian from Thessalonica (Acts 20:4). In Ephesus, he had suffered a beating, along with Paul (Acts 19:29). Paul calls him “my fellow prisoner,” as if Aristarchus too were a prisoner in Rome, or perhaps, like Paul, was under house arrest.

John Mark

Paul also mentions John Mark, who was Barnabas’ cousin. Mark, or Marcus, was the Latin name he used while traveling in the Roman Empire. The word ἀνεψιός (anepsios) always means “cousin” in Greek. It does not mean nephew; that would be anepsios paidion or another construction, or more commonly ἀδελφιδοῦς (adelphidous) for nephew.

Earlier English translations (before deeper lexical study) sometimes implied a nephew relationship. But the Greek text is clear and unambiguous: Mark was Barnabas’s cousin. Barnabas and Mark belonged to an extended Levite family from Cyprus (Acts 4:36). They were trained scribes, entrusted with the canonical version of the four gospels. I wrote about this in chapter 24 of my book, Lessons from Church History.

https://godskingdom.org/studies/books/lessons-from-church-history-volume-1/chapter-24-the-new-testament-canon/

In Paul’s first missionary journey, he was accompanied by Barnabas and John. However, John was unable to endure the hardships and returned to Antioch in the middle of the trip (Acts 13:13). Paul did not want Mark to accompany them on any further missionary journeys, but Barnabas disagreed. They decided to part ways, creating two separate missionary journeys (Acts 15:36-41).

Nonetheless, Mark was later restored to Paul’s ministry (2 Timothy 4:11), probably after Mark had proven himself in his journeys with Barnabas and Peter. Mark was to Peter what Luke was to Paul. Hence, the gospel of Mark reflected Peter’s teachings, while the gospel of Luke reflected Paul’s teachings.

Jesus Justus

Colossians 4:11 says,

¹¹ and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me.

No doubt this man was named Yeshua, and Iesus is its Greek equivalent, long established by the Septuagint and in other records. He also took the Latin (Roman) name Justus when traveling west. Others had taken the name Justus as well. Joseph called Barsabbas, surnamed Justus, was a candidate to replace Judas in Acts 1:23. Titius Justus, a Greek convert, associated with Paul in Acts 18:7. His full Roman name suggests he was not Jewish.

Jesus Justus remained in Rome to assist Paul, but he too sent greetings to the Colossian believers.

Epaphras

Colossians 4:12, 13 says,

¹² Epaphras, who is one of your number, a bondslave of Jesus Christ, sends you his greetings, always laboring earnestly for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God. ¹³ For I testify for him that he has a deep concern for you and for those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Epaphras also remained with Paul. He was a Greek believer whose home church was in Colossae. For this reason, he had a keen interest in the Colossians and in nearby Laodicea and Hierapolis.

Luke and Demas

Luke, of course, was Paul’s scribe who wrote at Paul’s dictation all of his epistles. They had first met in Troas (the old city of Troy), during Paul’s second missionary journey. So we read in Acts 16:8-10,

⁸ and passing by Mysia, THEY came down to Troas. ⁹ A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, sand saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” ¹⁰ When he had seen the vision, immediately WE sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called US to preach the gospel to them.

Up to Acts 16:7, the narrative is written in the third person (“they”). Suddenly, in Acts 16:10, the author switches to first-person plural (“we”). This abrupt shift indicates that the writer (Luke) has now joined Paul personally. So the meeting is inferred to have happened at Troas, just before Paul received the vision of the “man of Macedonia.”

Luke was “the beloved physician,” who probably had been a health practitioner in Troas before joining Paul’s band of missionaries as their personal doctor. As a trained writer whose native language was Greek, Luke was also very helpful as Paul wrote his epistles.

As for Demas, he began well as a co-worker alongside Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24), but did not persevere. When Paul was on death row after his fourth missionary journey, Demas left him and returned to Thessalonica, “having loved this present world” (2 Timothy 4:10). We know nothing more of him, because he fell into obscurity and is not mentioned again in early church writings.

Nympha’s House Church

Colossians 4:15, 16 says,

¹⁵ Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house. ¹⁶ When this letter is read among you [in Colossae], have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part, read my letter that is coming from Laodicea.

It appears that the church in Laodicea met in the home of Nympha. Paul expected his Colossian letter to be read also in Laodicea, and he expected the Colossians also to read the Laodicean letter written to Paul.

Archippus

Colossians 4:17 says cryptically,

¹⁷ Say to Archippus, “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.”

He was from Colossae, as we see in Philemon 1, 2,

¹ To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, ² and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house…

Because Philemon, Apphia, and Archippus are grouped together, many scholars believe that Philemon was the husband, Apphia was his wife, and Archippus was their adult son. This would make Archippus a young minister raised in a Christian household where the church met. Later church writings, such as The Apostolic Constitutions, Book VII, tell us that he became a bishop of Laodicea.

Conclusion

In Colossians 4:15 Paul ends his letter:

¹⁵ All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.