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third person who joined in the sending of greetings to the church was Jesus, who is called
"Justus". We can quite understand that the name Jesus, common enough among the
Jews, would appear too sacred a name to be put to common use among believers, and so
Jesus was also called by the Latin name Justus:--
"Of the circumcision, these only are my fellow-labourers for the Kingdom of God,
who have been a comfort to me."
It appears that very few Hebrew Christians associated themselves with the great
ministry of the apostle. Those who did thus serve together with the apostle, are
mentioned with joy, but we must remember that the dispensation of the mystery and the
imprisonment of Paul were "for the Gentiles". While, therefore, the first section,
Col. 1: 23-28, speaks of the revelation of the mystery by God, and the exclusive
dispensation received by the apostle, the second section, Col. 4: 2-11, shews that this
exclusiveness did not render the apostle in the wrong sense independent. Most gladly he
welcomed the intercession of the saints, and prized even the fellowship of a runaway
slave, or of a re-instated Marcus. There is here a wonderful blending of deep doctrine
and simple-hearted living, the mystery of God with its riches and glory, and "all my
state" and the "comfort of hearts".
We must now return to the fist chapter and take up the thread of the epistle at verse 28,
to find, as the structure of the epistle indicates, that we must turn back to Col. 4: once
more to discover the sequel.
#16.
Preaching and prayer that presents perfect
(1: 28 - 2: 1 and 4: 12, 13).
pp. 212 - 217
We have now considered the two members of the epistle that deal with the ministry
and manifestation of the mystery, viz., Col. 1: 23-28 and 4: 2-11. In the first case,
the mystery was manifested by God to Paul, and in the second it was manifested by Paul
to all who had, and have, ears to hear.
As a sequel, we have, as indicated in the structure, both preaching and praying, with
the perfecting of the believer in view. The two members stand thus in the structure of the
epistle as a whole, which is set out in Volume XX, page 57:--
E | 1: 28 - 2: 1. Preaching to present perfect.
E | 4: 12, 13. Prayer to stand perfect.
In order that this new section shall be seen from the Word itself, and not merely from
our disposition of the matter, we will quote the two passages from the A.V.:--