He goes on to name three other believers, Gentile by birth. Epaphras, as we have

already seen, was the human link between Paul and the Colossian church, and chapter 1:

stresses his faithfulness and zeal for the Christians at Colossae. His effective life of

intercession for them is summed up in verse 12 (R.V.):

This was vital intercession, complementary to the Apostle's as chapter 1: makes clear.

Both were `striving for them in prayer', which clearly shows that real prayer or

intercession is not something that is just pleasant and easy. It is an exacting work that

costs, but how rewarding it can be! All those who profess to rejoice in the fact that they

are `complete, or filled full in Christ' (2: 10) should know something of this in

experience and service for others.

Luke and Demas complete the list of those sending greetings. Here we are told that

Luke was `the beloved physician'. The Lord gave Paul a faithful friend who stayed and

assisted him right through to the end of his course (II Tim. 4: 11), looking after his

physical needs as well as his spiritual and temporal ones. Luke is probably a shortened

form of Lucius, a very common Gentile name throughout the Roman Empire. We do not

see any point in trying to establish, as some have tried to do, that Luke was a Jew. A Jew

was not likely to have a Gentile name!

Lastly we come to Demas and note that Paul makes no comment regarding him.

Later on he is evidently pained to record that Demas had left him `having loved this

present world' (II Tim. 4: 10). Could he see the traces of this already appearing in

Demas when the Colossian epistle was being written? If so, it would explain his silence

concerning him. What a powerful effect love can have, either for good or evil! It is

obvious we should take great care concerning the things and the persons we profess to

love as these can alter the whole course of our lives one way or the other.

In closing the epistle the Apostle Paul directs that it should be passed on to the church

at Laodicea after the Colossians had read it at a church meeting. Not only this, but the

Colossians should publicly read an epistle of his from Laodicea. There has been a great

deal of discussion about this letter, but we cannot be certain as to its contents. Some

suggest that it has been lost. If this is true then it did not form part of inspired Scripture,

for who can question the ability of the Lord to preserve parts of His own Word and

superintend their gathering together in one volume? We do know that Paul wrote letters

which do not form part of Holy Writ (e.g. to the church at Corinth, additional to the ones

we already have).

On the other hand, some scholars suggest that the Laodicean letter is our epistle to the

Ephesians, which, as we have seen, was not addressed to one church, but was for wider

circulation. If Colossians was written before Ephesians, as some think, this would be a

difficulty. However, it may be the other way round and J. B. Lightfoot and A. Harnack

and others uphold the Ephesian letter theory mentioned above. The fact is we do not