Today’s passage is part of the closing remarks by Paul in his letter. In it, he names and says something about several people who are working with him. Tychicus, Onesimus (the same as you’ll see in Philemon) Aristarchus, Mark, Jesus (the one called Justus), Epaphras, Luke, and Demas. For us 2,000 years later these are just names we may breeze over, but for Paul and the Church of Colossae, they were real people with real stories. For instance, Onesimus is an enslaved man that we’ll see again in Philemon. These names are important not because they may have done something grand that everyone will remember, but because they are what makes up the body of Christ, the Church. In this, Paul takes care to not only mention them but to tell the Colossians about them. For me, this was a reminder that while we care for the collective body, for the letter to the Colossians was written to a collective body, it’s important not to forget and to care about the individuals who make up the body and their stories.

Zach Sarver