Final greetings and conclusion
Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13 I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.
Next follow greetings from three of Paul’s companions of gentile origin: Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. We have heard of Epaphras in the introduction to Colossians and in 1:7, where Paul speaks warmly of the man and his work of proclaiming the gospel in Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis. Epaphras had apparently founded all three of these congregations in the Lycus Valley. This faithful servant of Christ, out of genuine concern for the Colossians’ spiritual welfare, brought Paul the report that prompted him to write this epistle. Epaphras sends his regards to the Colossians.
Paul also wanted the Colossians to know that Epaphras was praying for them. As a regular part of his daily routine, Epaphras, who was perhaps the one person most aware of the spiritual dangers facing the Colossians, wrestled in prayer with the Lord on the Colossians’ behalf. Daily he prayed that the Lord would give them strength to grow and mature in their faith and help them give expression to that faith in their lives. Daily he prayed that the Colossians would be able to meet and successfully combat all the spiritual dangers they were facing.
The fact that Epaphras sent his greetings, while Tychicus was returning to Colosse with Paul’s letter, seems to imply that Epaphras was not planning to return to Colosse at once but would remain for a while with the apostle in Rome. Perhaps he wished to study with Paul or to lend assistance to Paul’s ministry in chains. Paul’s warm commendation of Epaphras for a second time in this brief epistle reminded the Colossians that despite the attempts of the gospel’s enemies to demean him, Epaphras had been a faithful servant of the Lord in Colosse. The Colossians should be loyal to Epaphras and the gospel he proclaimed, not to the learned new teachers.
Most of us are familiar with Luke. A gentile Christian who traveled extensively with Paul, Luke too was noted for his faithfulness. He was an educated man, a “beloved physician” (KJV), universally loved and admired by the Christians of his day. He was the inspired author of both the gospel that bears his name and the book of Acts. The New Testament sketches we have of him portray him as a remarkable person: always near the apostle Paul and the gospel, always faithful to both. Among the apostle’s last recorded remarks in 2 Timothy is the telling observation, “Only Luke is with me” (4:11). Luke and Paul were kindred spirits. Both were educated, sympathetic, committed, and faithful to the gospel’s cause.
The last of Paul’s associates to greet the Colossians has a less honorable history. Demas would one day prove to be a great disappointment to Paul. During his second and last imprisonment, the apostle would write, “Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me” (2 Timothy 4:10). Did Paul already see signs of that fatal weakness when he wrote these words to the Colossians? We don’t know. But the fact that in the close circle of Paul’s associates there was someone who proved to be unfaithful, just as there was one traitor among Jesus’ 12 disciples, is certainly a warning against overconfidence for every Christian.