Colossians 4:14-18 14Luke, the beloved physician, sends you his greetings, and Demas. 15Greet the brothers in Laodicea and Nympha and the church that is in her house. 16When this letter is read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans; and you, for your part read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. 17And say to Archippus, “Watch the ministry which you received from the Lord, that you may complete it.” 18I, Paul, am greeting with my own hand. Remember my bonds. Grace be with you.
These verses give the final greetings and instructions from Paul to the Colossians. We find out several important clues about other parts of the New Testament in these few verses. First, Luke is described as the beloved physician. He was highly educated and medical doctor. He wrote the third Gospel and the Book of Acts, a quarter of the New Testament. Both of these books have sophisticated Greek and rhetorical development. He was a key travel companion of Paul. Paul mentions him by name here and in 2 Timothy 4:11, where we find out he was with Paul in his Roman imprisonment, and Philemon 24. Luke never gives his name in his two New Testament documents. Scholars have determined that Luke wrote the Gospel and Acts by the so-called references to “we” where Luke joined Paul in his travels (16:10–17; 20:5–15; 21:1–8; 27:1–28:16). Luke was one of the most influential early Christians through his care for Paul, effort in extending the gospel through travel and evangelism, and his writing.
Paul also sends greetings from Demas, who is mentioned in Philemon 24 along with others who were with Paul at the time of the writing of these two letters. Paul mentions Demas in 2 Timothy 4:10. Evidently, 2 Timothy was written after Colossians because Demas “deserted” Paul because he “loved the world” and went on to Thessolonica at some point. Nothing more is said about this situation. Perhaps he could not take the stress of the Roman situation and sought the comforts of the world. He chose immediate comfort over struggle for greater reward. Something happened in Demas’ thinking between the writing of Colossians and 2 Timothy. That Paul would send Luke’s greetings along with Demas indicates that the Colossians knew who these two were.
Paul next sends greetings to the believers in the town of Laodicea. This church is mentioned as one of the seven churches of Revelation 1:11 and 3:14. Nympha hosted a church in her house in that town. There is no way to know if this is the same church as mentioned in Revelation because there was likely quite some time between the writing of Colossians (early 60s) and the writing of Revelation, although it is certainly a possibility. That Nympha is a woman implies that women were leaders in the early Church.
Verse 16 indicates that this letter was mean to be circular and passed on to the church in Laodicea. The mystery part of this verse is the mention of a letter sent to Laodicea. Since there is no such known letter, the letter did not survive unless it was perhaps the letter to Philemon. It is even possible that the canonical letter to the Ephesians could be this lost letter since “to the Ephesians” in Ephesians 1:1 is not found in the earliest manuscripts.
In verse 17, Paul sends specific instructions to Archippus. This person is mentioned in Philemon 1:2 as “our fellow soldier.” This does not necessarily mean that he was a Roman soldier but possibly involved in the mission of Christ along with Paul and other co-workers. Paul sends the reminder for him to complete the ministry to which he had been called. There is no indicator that Archippus was about the forsake his calling or was tempted towards laziness. But this reminder would put some social pressure on him to work even harder and carry through with what the Lord Jesus wanted him to do.
The letter ends with a personal greetings from Paul written in his own hand writing. The rest of the letter was probably dictated to someone else, possibly Tychicus who would deliver this letter. Paul’s last appeal to the Colossian believers is for them to remember his bonds, chains, or imprisonment (desmōn). It is impossible to know the conditions of Paul’s imprisonment at this time, whether he had physical chains on his wrists and ankles or whether he was under the house arrest of Acts 28. Whatever the case, he was stuck with no way out. It may not have been an easy situation for him and the others with him. The word remember is an invitation for the Colossians to pray for Paul and the others. When they thought of him, they could pray for him. Pray is what he needed most because through it, he could find spiritual strength and be connected to those far away.
The letter to the Colossians is a powerful reminder of the importance of knowing the truth of the gospel. The Colossians were facing challenges from the false teachings. They needed to be aware of the creep and deception of worthless humanism. We have this same issue today. Humanism can take many forms. It can be cloaked in religiosity or atheism. At the basis of humanism is the effort to replace God with created things. The Colossians needed to keep their focus on Jesus Christ. They needed to grow in their knowledge, understanding, and experience of Christ. They had been redeemed from their old life and were experiencing a new life. This new life was to be characterized by holiness and love. This is the same message we need today.
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