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Here are nine things we wouldn’t know about Paul and his missionary team if Colossians 4 wasn’t in our Bibles. I’ll list them in the order they appear in Colossians 4.

Colossians and Philemon were sent by Paul at the same time (4:9)

The key link between the two is Onesimus, a runaway slave who met Paul in Rome — and who is the subject matter of Paul’s letter to Philemon. Paul writes in 4:9 that he is sending Tychicus to the Colossians “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.” The two letters (Colossians and Philemon) also link together by greetings from Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke. Still, without Onesimus connecting the two, I’m unsure that we would be confident that these two letters were sent at the same time.

Aristarchus was a “co-prisoner” with Paul (4:10)

Paul writes, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you.” Have you ever heard of Aristarchus? He’s more important in Paul’s story than you might realize. Aristarchus was one of the two Christian men who got dragged into the stadium instead of Paul during that dramatic riot in Ephesus (Acts 19:29-30). Aristarchus later travelled with Paul to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4), and (surprisingly) appeared as a passenger on a prisoner ship with Paul after Paul’s appeal to Caesar (Acts 27:2). If he continued with him all the way to Rome, Aristarchus also was shipwrecked with Paul (Acts 27:39-28:1). But without Colossians 4:10, we wouldn’t know that Aristarchus was a prisoner with Paul in Rome.

Barnabas had a cousin (4:10)

Colossians 4:10 reads, “Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas…” Barnabas was one of the most significant characters in the early church (Acts 4:36-37; 9:22-30; 11:22-26; all of Acts 13-15; Gal. 2:1-14). Mark — or John Mark, as he is sometimes called (Acts 12:12; 15:37), also plays an important role in Acts (Acts 12:12, 25; 13:5, 13; 15:37-39; cf. 1 Pet. 5:13) and was likely the author of the Gospel of Mark. But without Colossians 4:10, we wouldn’t know that Barnabas and Mark were cousins. By the way, the fact that they were relatives may partially explain why Barnabas and Mark went to Cyprus (Acts 15:39) after the sharp disagreement that split the dynamic duo of Paul and Barnabas (all linked to Mark — see Acts 15:36-41). Barnabas was a Cypriot (Acts 4:36); so it’s likely that he and Cousin Mark headed toward familiar territory (as on Barnabas’s first missionary journey with Paul, Acts 13:4-12).

Paul had a co-worker named Jesus (4:11)

No, not that Jesus, though Paul certainly was a co-worker with Him! Paul sends greeting to the Colossians from “Jesus who is called Justus.” I wonder if they called him “Justus” because of the other Jesus! The only thing we know about Jesus-Justus is that he was Jewish. Paul writes about Mark, Aristarchus and Jesus-Justus that “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.” I detect some sadness in Paul’s words as he comments about only having three Jewish co-workers laboring alongside him in his gospel work, though he obviously really appreciated the encouragement that these three had been to him.

Colossae’s pastor was Epaphras (4:12-13)

At least in the past, Epaphras had been the Colossian church’s pastor. In addition to pastoring the church in Colossae, Epaphras apparently also had pastored the church in Laodicea (later made famous for “having lost their first love” Rev. 2:4) and the church in Hierapolis (later known for Philip’s daughters as well as Papias, one of the “”). These three house churches were situated in the three primary cities of the Lycus River Valley: Laodicea, Hierapolis and Colossae. You can tell that Epaphras did pastoral work among all three churches from Paul’s words in Colossians 4:12-13, “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. For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and in Hierapolis.” Note further that Colossians 1:7-8 may be evidence that Epaphras was the founding pastor: “just as you learned it [the gospel] from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf.”

Luke was a doctor (4:14)

If we didn’t have Colossians 4, we wouldn’t know that Luke was a doctor. Paul writes in 4:14, “Luke the beloved physician greets you.” People have tried to mine Luke-Acts for evidence that a doctor wrote those two books, but I’m pretty sure that without this one verse, we would never have seriously considered that those books were written by a doctor. Luke travelled all over the place with Paul. Considering all of Paul’s sufferings (both physical abuse against him and his ), it’s a good thing Paul sometimes had a physician around to help him.

Demas used to be a valued co-worker of Paul (4:14)

A few years later, at the end of Paul’s life, Demas will become famous for deserting Paul (note Paul’s painful words in 2 Timothy 4:10: “For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica”). But without Colossians 4:14 where Paul sends greetings from Luke and Demas (combined with verse 23 of the letter to Philemon where Paul communicates greetings from Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke), we wouldn’t know that Paul had counted Demas a valued co-worker on the same level as Mark, Luke and Aristarchus. How painful to know that Demas will soon desert him!

Paul also sent a letter to the Laodiceans (4:16)

Paul actually dispatches three letters with Tychicus and Onesimus, not only the two sent to Colossae and to Philemon. Paul writes about the third in 4:16, “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.” Laodicea was only twelve walking miles from Colossae. My hunch (and the position of some other scholars before me) is that the letter to the Laodiceans could have been one copy of Ephesians, which I think was a circular letter to be shared in various churches in the broader environs of Ephesus, including Ephesus itself. But about that, I’m not certain. (And I have close colleagues who would disagree with me on this.) What we know for sure from Colossians 4 is that the church in Laodicea received a letter from Paul at the same time the church in Colossae received its letter, and that Paul wanted each church to read the letter he had written to the other church.

Archippus had a ministry in the church in Colossae (4:17)

Paul writes in 4:17, “And say to Archippus, ‘See that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord.’” Who was Archippus? Archippus was probably a member of Philemon’s household. Why? (…you might ask…) It’s because Archippus was greeted by Paul at the beginning of the letter to Philemon along with a woman named Apphia, all in the same sentence as he greets “the church that is in your (plural) house.” The mention of the church in their house implies that Paul is greeting a family: that is, most likely Philemon, his wife, and Philemon’s son named Archippus — or some other male member of Philemon’s household. Here in Colossians 4:17 we learn that Archippus had received a ministry from the Lord, so was serving somehow the church in Colossae. We also learn that a ministry is something that a Christian can .

There you have it: nine things we wouldn’t know about Paul and his ministry team if Colossians 4 was absent from our Bibles.

Bonus Observations

Tychicus (4:7)

He’s mentioned in four of Paul’s letters — more than almost any other individual — and once in Acts (Eph. 6:21; Col. 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:12; Tit. 3:12; Acts 20:4), but we still know little about him — except that he travelled a lot (Jerusalem, Rome, Ephesus, Colossae, Crete). Paul describes Tychicus as “a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord” (Col. 4:7). I wish we knew more about Tychicus!

Nympha (4:15)

Does a woman named Nympha have a church in her house (per many recent translations)? Or did Paul greet, perhaps, a man named Nymphas who has a church in his house? Or is the church neither in her or his house, but in their house? There is some disagreement among the Greek manuscripts about which of these is correct. This is a fascinating question which my former teacher, and now colleague, Clint Arnold, has recently reopened. But you’ll have to wait until next month when Dr. Arnold’s comes out to see what he thinks. Better yet, you can pre-order it now!

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