Tychicus will tell you all about my activities. He is a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I have sent him to you for this very purpose, that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts, 9 and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here. 10 Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him), 11 and Jesus who is called Justus. These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me. 12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God. 13 For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis. 14 Luke the beloved physician greets you, as does Demas. 15 Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. 16 And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea. 17 And say to Archippus, “See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.” 18 I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
– Colossians 4:7-181

The final section of Paul’s letter is one we could easily bypass. We might call it final greetings, concluding comments, or something similar. Herein Paul mentions places and people whose names are somewhat unfamiliar. The section of the letter contains nothing of any significance for our theological reflection, no statement on which church doctrine stands. Still, a little attention is due to these closing remarks. We find here a few dots we can connect to other scriptures, which we will observe below. But perhaps the favor we receive from this text is the reminder that Kingdom ministry is always personal.

Speaking of the “dots,” lets connect a few. Immediately we find the name Tychicus (v. 7). What we know about him is that he was a fellow missionary who traveled either with Paul or under Paul’s direction2. He is first mentioned in Acts 20 among a group of people traveling with Paul. We don’t know much about him from the pages of the Bible, but we can conclude that he was dear to Paul’s heart and instrumental in the work. In verse 9 we find the name Onesimus. If it sounds familiar, it is because he is the subject of the short letter Paul writes to Philemon. Verse 10 brings the name Aristarchus, another fellow missionary with Paul.3 Justus (v. 11) may be the one who hosted Paul in Corinth.4 Epaphras (v. 12) was identified at the beginning of the letter (1:7), and was clearly an active missionary across the Roman provinces. Luke and Demas (v. 14) were travelers with Paul, though it seems that Demas eventually struggled with worldly cares that pulled him away from the mission.5 Lastly we have Nympha (v. 15) who is only mentioned here, and Archippus (v. 17) whose only other reference, like others here, is a mention in the letter of Philemon.

Two other names mentioned deserve their own paragraph. In verse 10 Paul mentions Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. These names are more recognizable because they are part of a pivotal transition in the Acts narrative. Barnabas was responsible for connecting a newly-converted Saul (Paul) to the apostles,6 and proceeded to become a fellow worker with Paul in the mission of Christ. Mark (a.k.a. John Mark) also went with Paul and Barnabas for the initial missionary work (see Acts 13-15). The work saw much success, although not without struggles and threats. Apparently it was too much for Mark at the time, and he left Paul and Barnabas in mid-journey. Later, when Paul was preparing to depart on his second journey, he invited Barnabas to go also. Barnabas wanted to take Mark, but Paul strongly opposed it (Acts 15:36-39). It was enough for Paul and Barnabas to go their separate ways. We don’t know details of how the hard feelings lingered or were eventually resolved. We do know that reconciliation was in the works. Here in Colossians, Paul goes so far as to endorse Mark’s welcome among the believers. Writing to Timothy at a later date, Paul even asks to have Mark brought to him.7 It is a reminder to us all that disagreements happen, and relationships suffer setbacks. Even so, God’s people are people of grace and reconciliation. We are given a tiny glimpse of how that was working in Paul’s relationship with Mark.

Lastly, the locations mentioned here are in close proximity to each other. Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis were all located in the Lycus Valley region of the province of Phrygia. As such there would have been a fair degree of interrelationship between the cities. Hierapolis is not mentioned in the Bible other than here, but Laodicea is familiar as one of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation.8 The list of books in the Bible does not contain Laodiceans, but we discover here that Paul must have written a letter to them. Again we observe the importance of relationships. Paul encourages the believers in Colossae to share their letter with the believers in Laodicea, and vice versa.

The names listed here belong to people we’ve never met. As we observed at the beginning of Colossians, it is possible that Paul had never been there. Still, that doesn’t change the relational element of Kingdom ministry. In our modern day we frequently observe strife and debate over Christian teaching. As one prominent pastor and teacher says, doctrine is important. Even so, Paul never loses sight of relationships, even when making some of the most profound theological observations to be found in the New Testament. A look at Jesus points us in the same direction. As the most powerful teacher this world has ever known, his teaching was always pointed toward serving the ultimate good of humanity.

  1. Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ↩︎
  2. Acts 20:4; Ephesians 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12 ↩︎
  3. Acts 19:29; 20:4; 27:2; Philemon 1:24 ↩︎
  4. Acts 18:7 ↩︎
  5. 2 Timothy 4:10 ↩︎
  6. Acts 9:27 ↩︎
  7. 2 Timothy 4:11 ↩︎
  8. Revelation 1:11; 3:14 ↩︎
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Published by David Cartwright

I am a husband, father, church pastor who enjoys the simple blessings of life. My favorite hobbies include being hugged by my girls, having day dates with my wife, and being around friends who make me smile.

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