4:12-16
Epaphras is mentioned again (Col 1:7), he is the one who established the church in Colossae. He was a servant of Christ, and sent his greetings. He was in prison with Paul and wrestled in prayer for them. This implies that sometimes prayer is a struggle. He prayed that they would stand firm in the will of God, and be mature and fully assured. We should seek to see our church members as mature and fully assured. Paul personally commends Epaphras. Luke is mentioned, Luke who wrote the gospel with his name, and Acts. As in other letters, there is mention of a woman, Nympha, in whose house a church met. It is clear from the gospels, and the letters, especially Paul’s letters, that women played a significant role in the life of the early church.
4:17,18
We know nothing about Archippus, though he may be mentioned in Philemon 2. He is urged to complete the ministry that God gave to him. God gives all of us tasks and it is important that we complete these tasks. Various things will come in our way to distract us from doing that. We need to be aware of that, and to overcome these obstacles or distractions.
Paul closes the letter by writing the final greeting in his own handwriting, probably having used an amanuensis or secretary to write most of the letter. By the way, verses like this make something of a nonsense of the various claims that the letter was not written by Paul.
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