Colossians ~ Part 7 

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 Concluding Thoughts

Call for Prayer

 ² Keep persisting in prayer, staying alert in it and being thankful. ³ Include prayer for us, too, that God may open a door for us to proclaim the message about the secret of the Messiah—for that is why I am in prison. ⁴ And pray that I may speak, as I should, in a way that makes the message clear.

Staying alert refers to the mental attitude of expectancy and watchfulness.  An open door was a common expression for an opportunity for someone to do something (Acts 14:27; 1 Corinthians 16:9; 2 Corinthians 2:12). Sha’ul asked Believers to intercede for him so he could continue to spread the gospel.

Words of Caution

 ⁵ Behave wisely toward outsiders, making full use of every opportunity—⁶ let your conversation always be gracious and interesting, so that you will know how to respond to any particular individual.

 Compare 1 Kefa 3:15–17. The Good News of Yeshua should be communicated with prudence, tact, consideration, and kindness; yet pointedly, not insipidly—the words rendered interesting means, literally, “seasoned with salt” (compare Mattityahu 5:13). Some people have the impression that believing in God and/or Yeshua is not so much un-Jewish as simply tedious, boring, dull. And there are Believers who do their part to confirm this attitude by being tedious, boring, and dull, seasoned with nothing. Caught up in their small world of Kehilah, Bible, and fellowship, they fail to make full use of every opportunity to reach people who desperately need the Messiah in their lives. Instead, their own lives seem dead. They seem unable to make their conversation gracious and interesting and do not know how to respond to any particular individual, because they, unlike Sha’ul (1 Corinthians 9:19-23), do not try to understand people outside their own circle, whose background and experience are different. Communicating the Gospel involves listening as much as talking and praying (Colossians 4:2–4) more than either.

Tychicus Will Share A Report About Sha’ul

 ⁷ Our dear brother Tychicus, who is a faithful worker and fellow-slave in the Lord, will give you all the news about me. ⁸ I have sent him to you for this very reason—so that you might know how we are, and so that he might encourage you. ⁹ I have sent him with Onesimus, the dear and faithful brother, who is one of you; they will tell you everything that has happened here.

Tychicus, a native of Asia, first joined Paul in Acts 20:4 and continued to serve alongside him (Ephesians 6:21; 2 Timothy 4:12; Titus 3:12). He may also have been the person who delivered this letter to the Colossians as well as the letter to the Laodiceans. Onesimus, a native of Colossae, was a runaway slave (Philemon 10). His name means “useful.”

Greetings Among Brethren

 ¹⁰ Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends greetings, as does Mark, Bar-Nabba’s cousin, concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him. ¹¹ Yeshua, the one called Justus, also sends greetings. These three are among the Circumcised, and among my fellow workers for the Kingdom of God, only they have turned out to be a comfort to me.

 Aristarchus accompanied Sha’ul on his third journey through the province of Asia; he is mentioned at Acts 19:29, 20:4, 27:2, and Philemon 24.

Mark (Ac 12:12&N) started out with Sha’ul on his first journey (Ac 12:25) but his premature and unauthorized departure (Ac 13:13) became the occasion for Sha’ul and Bar-Nabba’s later split (Ac 15:39&N). However, the Lord can heal such breaches of trust. Mark is here seen as Sha’ul’s fellow-prisoner (Pm 24) and fellow-worker (this verse); later he worked closely with Kefa (1 Ke 5:13) and may have written the Gospel of Mark on the basis of material gleaned from him.

Yeshua. Greek Iêsous (see Mt 1:1N) appears in the New Testament as the name of two people besides the Messiah. One is the biblical Y’hoshua bin-Nun (Joshua son of Nun; Ac 7:45, MJ 4:8); the other is this man. Just as Sha’ul had the Gentile name Paul (Ac 13:9&N) and Yochanan the name Mark (v. 10, Ac 12:12&N), so this Diaspora Jew also had a Gentile name, Justus. Among the Circumcision only these three turned out to be a comfort to Sha’ul in prison, as did the three Gentiles named in vv. 12–14. There is speculation that other Messianic Jews were unable to grasp and subscribe to Sha’ul’s understanding of the Torah and therefore turned against him; this is but speculation. Gentile believers too turned against him (see two examples in 1 Ti 1:20).

 ¹² Epaphras sends greetings; he is one of you, a slave of the Messiah Yeshua who always agonizes in his prayer on your behalf, praying that you may stand firm, mature and fully confident, as you devote yourselves completely to God’s will. ¹³ For I can testify to him that he works hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis. ¹⁴ Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send you greetings.

Luke, a fellow-prisoner who stuck with Sha’ul after Demas later fell away (Philemon 24, 2 Timothy 4:11).

¹⁵ Give my greetings to the brothers in Laodicea, also to Nympha and the congregation that meets in her home. ¹⁶ After this letter has been read to you, have it read also in the congregation of the Laodiceans; and you, in turn, are to read the letter that will come from Laodicea.

On the basis of this verse, a search has gone on for a presumably lost “Letter of Sha’ul to the Laodiceans.”

¹⁷ And tell Archippus, “See that you complete the task you were given in the Lord.”

Archippus may have been the interim shepherd of the Colossian congregation while Epaphras was with Sha’ul.

Benediction

¹⁸ This greeting I, Sha’ul, write with my own hand. Remember my imprisonment! Grace be with you!  ^[1]

In our next post, we examine Sha’ul’s Letters to the Saints, next in Philemon.

^[1]  Colossians 4:2-18