“What’s In a Name?” (Some lesser known Biblical people.)
(continued...)
“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. I vouch for him that he is
working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. Our dear friend
Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.”
We have already met Epaphras in the opening
verses of this scripture. He was the evangelist who first began the church at
Colossae. He had probably carried the gospel to Colossae, Laodicea and
Hierapolis, when Paul was living in Ephesus, teaching the word of God. Epaphras
also had a pastor's heart. He labored in teaching and in prayer to bring these
Colossian Christians to maturity. It is
interesting to remember that in the letter to Philemon, Epaphras is called a
"fellow prisoner" of the apostle. That may indicate that he too was
arrested by the Romans when he came to visit Paul and was chained as well as
the apostle. This would explain why he was unable to return to Colossae. With Epaphras is linked the most faithful of all of Paul's associates, Doctor Luke. In Second Timothy, the apostle's last letter, Paul writes, "Only Luke is with me." All the others had left, but Luke remained faithful to the end. To this beloved, faithful brother we owe both the gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. Only eternity will reveal the enormous debt the church owes to Luke for his faithful labors to the end.
By contrast, the name Demas is mentioned here without comment in a kind of eloquent silence. He too was from Thessalonica and probably was part of that original band of interns who traveled with Paul. Evidently he labored well for awhile for Paul seems to have taken him to several places. But now, when Paul is in prison and all his associates are in danger of being arrested themselves, it is apparent that Demas is beginning to drift. Paul says nothing good or bad about him at this point, but later, in his letter to Timothy, he writes, "Demas has forsaken me having loved this present age, and has gone back to Thessalonica." This young man has become famous (or infamous) in Christian history as the one close associate of Paul who would not hang in there. He left because he loved the attractions of the world and abandoned his faith as a result.
The theme of home churches is introduced in verses 15 and 16. "Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house. After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea." It is likely, that this person was a woman who owned her own home. Perhaps she was a businesswoman, or a wealthy widow. In Philippi, we are told Paul and Silas stayed in the home of Lydia, a wealthy widow who was a "seller of purple."
We do not find any church buildings described until the third century, so that for at least 250 years Christians met in homes, and when they met they read the Scriptures. That is what Paul exhorts them to do here. His letters were already widely shared, as we see from this note. He himself makes the claim in I Thessalonians (one of his earliest letters) that what he preached was not his own ideas but it was "the word of God" which came to them. Thus they read and studied these letters; analyzed and applied them. This reading formed a great part of their worship service, just as it does in our churches today. You can imagine how this letter to the Colossians was discussed in the church at Colossae, It must have opened many long hours of discussion!
Paul now sends a message to an individual in the church. Tell Archippus: "See to it that you complete the work [or, the ministry] you have received in the Lord." In the letter to Philemon we learn that Archippus was most likely the son of Philemon. He had a certain ministry given to him which he was neglecting, so Paul reminds him to "complete the work." No one knows what that ministry was, but the important thing was that he had a ministry, as do all Christians! If not a specific ministry, scripture says that we all have been given the “ministry of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:18)
Paul closes with this word in verse 18, when he takes the pen in his own hand: “I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.” That word, "Remember my chains," was written two thousand years ago to people who have long since gone. Paul himself has been in glory all these centuries, and yet these words still have meaning for us. It is well for us too to remember his chains, to think of this mighty apostle who was hounded, persecuted and oppressed everywhere he went. He was resisted and thrown into jail in many places. He was beaten with rods and stoned on occasion. Even as he writes these letters he does not find it easy to do so. He does not sit down in a comfortable room with his word processor. He must dictate them to an educated slave, and then painfully, because he suffered from poor eyesight, write with large letters his name at the close, lest the letter be treated as a forgery. Down through the centuries this letter, along with others, has transformed the history of the world. It is a tremendously important document. Yet it is well for us to remember the cost of having these scriptures in our own hands. "Remember my chains." We ought always give thanks for this apostle who kept the Lord always at the center of his thoughts and his ministry.
(Taken from notes on personal study of Colossians.)
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