Colossians 4:7–15 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here. My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 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. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.

Paul sends greetings from many of those who are working with him for Jesus.

Tychicus
This is the man who would deliver the letter to the believers in Colosse. He is mentioned five times in Scripture, all references to him working with Paul. Not only would he bring the epistle, but he would also tell them how Paul was doing personally, the kind of news that he would not write down in the letter, because it was not about him, but about Jesus.

Onesimus
This fellow was a runaway slave from Colossae who would become a faithful helper of Paul in his ministry. Paul calls him “our faithful and dear brother.” The book of Philemon gives the story on this guy. Most likely both Colossians and Philemon were delivered at the same time by Tychicus and Onesimus.

Aristarchus
While he is mentioned five times in Scripture as well as a traveling companion of Paul, we do not know a lot about him. He was from Macedonia, and was one of the men seized by the mob during the riot at Ephesus. We see Paul’s affection for him because he calls him a “fellow prisoner” here and “fellow worker” in Philemon.

Mark
This one is also known as John Mark, the one who accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the first missionary journey. He left early and was the reason Paul and Barnabas did not make another missionary trip together. The mention of him here is encouraging because it shows that he and Paul had reconciled.

Jesus (Justus)
The reason Scripture often refers to our Lord as “Jesus of Nazareth” is that it was a very popular Jewish name, a form of the name “Joshua.” The man mentioned here as going by the name Justus is not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible, so we know nothing else about him.

Epaphras
Epaphras in only mentioned three times in Scripture, and they are all in Paul’s writings. He must have been from Colosse because Paul wrote “who is one of you.” Paul’s fondness comes out when he describes him with the same language he used for the first three on this list. And Paul makes sure to mention that Epaohras is a prayer warrior for the saints in Colosse.

Luke
Luke wrote the Gospel that bears his name as well as the book of Acts. We know he traveled with Paul on some of his journeys, because he wrote part of the book of Acts in the first person, saying “we” instead of “they.”

Demas
Paul speaks fondly of Demas here and in Philemon, but later in 2 Timothy things changed. He says Demas “loved this world, has deserted me.” Paul was imprisoned in Rome and facing death when Demas left him in his time of need. The language seems to indicate that he loved the world more than Jesus and fell away from the faith. We don’t know if he was restored or not.

 By mentioning these people and others in this letters, Paul shows us that the community of believers, the members of the body of Christ, were important to him, even if we don’t know who they were. They all mattered. They were all saved by the same grace of God that saves us. And we want more people to join us in this fellowship.