Colossians 4:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"Luke, the beloved physician, greets you." This is the Evangelist. He places him after Epaphras, not degrading him by this, but only exalting Epaphras. Of course, there were others who bore the same name. "And Demas." After saying, "Luke, the physician, greets you," he added, "beloved." This is no small praise. On the contrary, it is very great to be beloved by Paul.

"Luke, the beloved physician, greets you." This Luke is the Evangelist, for whom it is no small praise to be beloved by Paul. He speaks of him after Epaphras, not because he belittles him, but because he wished to exalt Epaphras before his fellow citizens. Undoubtedly others also were called by this name. "And Demas." Demas, as is clear, had not yet abandoned the teacher.

This Luke wrote both the divine Gospel and the history of Acts. From this it is also clear that the last of all the Epistles written by Paul was the Second Epistle to Timothy. For there he says concerning Demas: "Demas has forsaken me, having loved the present age" (2 Tim 4:10).

"Luke, the beloved physician." Ancient tradition considers him an Antiochian by birth, a Gentile, and a painter by trade. He became the Apostle's companion from the time when Paul intended to cross from Troas into Europe (Acts 16:10). He described the life of the Savior in the Gospel and the labors of the Apostles in the book of Acts, for a certain Theophilus. Demas, at first a zealous disciple of the Apostle, later abandoned him and, having loved the present age, went to Thessalonica (2 Tim 4:10).

At the conclusion there first come the notices which the Apostle entrusts Tychicus and Onesimus to convey to the Colossians (Col 4:7-9). Then come greetings or salutations from Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica; Mark, the nephew of Barnabas, not the evangelist; Jesus called Justus, who had once been chosen as a candidate for the number of the twelve Apostles in place of the fallen Judas; Epaphras, the head of the Phrygian churches; Luke the physician, the evangelist; Demas, who later left Paul (2 Tim 4:10). A greeting is also sent to the brethren in Laodicea and to Nymphas the presbyter, with the church in his house (Col 4:10-15).

Among the Apostle's other fellow workers he mentions Luke the Evangelist and Demas. St. Luke was from Antioch. Having been converted to the faith by Jesus Christ Himself, and having been counted worthy to see Him on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus, he gave himself with all zeal to the work of Christianity. He served it with all his rich gifts, as writer of the Gospel and the book of Acts, as physician, and as iconographer. Having met Paul in his homeland, he was then never separated from him until death, and he described many of his labors.

Then the Apostle greets the Colossians in the name of Aristarchus, his companion in imprisonment, who was from Thessalonica (Acts 20:4). He also greets them in the name of Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. The Colossians had received certain instructions about Mark from the Apostle. These probably forbade this preacher of the Gospel, who had not been firm in his work, to engage in public ecclesiastical activity; see Acts 15:37-38. But now the Apostle commands them to receive him. Then follow greetings from Jesus Justus, probably a Roman Jew; from Epaphras, known to the Colossians as their enlightener; from Luke, the evangelist and the Apostle's closest friend; and from a certain Demas; see verses 10-14.

Luke. This is Luke the evangelist, who, blessed Theodoret says, wrote both the divine Gospel and the history of Acts. The Apostle places him after Epaphras, not to diminish him, but because he wished to exalt and honor Epaphras before the face of his flock, according to its needs. He added beloved, which is no small praise, for to be beloved by Paul is a very great honor, says St. Chrysostom. Ambrosiaster says, Luke was beloved by St. Paul because, having left everything, he always followed this Apostle. During the voyage to Rome, St. Luke was inseparable from him.

St. Luke later founded the Church in Thebes of Boeotia, where he reposed at more than eighty years of age. Under Constantius, in the year 360, his relics were transferred to Constantinople. His memory is on October 18.