Seeds for 04/11/2023 - Colossians 4:10-11
Scripture: 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 co-workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
Observation: First of all, may I say I don’t find it surprising that someone whose given name was Jesus might have started going by a different name by the AD 40s-50s?
Jesus: “Yeah, call me ‘Justus’ now.”
Others: “But that’s your middle name. You’ve never liked it.”
Jesus: “A fella can change his mind.”
That’s conjecture, but I still chuckle a little at the thought.
Ok, what else is here?
Paul lists three men: Aristarchus, Mark (Barnabas’s cousin), and Justus. He shares that “these are the only Jews among my co-workers for the kingdom of God.” Paul wanted all peoples to come to faith in Christ. He preached to Jew and Greek alike. But he was Jewish by birth, with the finest Jewish education. The connection goes beyond a common ethnic ancestry. These three men shared a common understanding of and commitment to Jesus as the Jewish Messiah they and their people had been hoping for. Therefore, coming to faith in Christ was both and intellectual and emotional journey, and a significant one at that.
We tend to bond strongly through shared experiences, whether we made the journey together at the same time, or travelled a similar road and, once we hear another’s story, can authentically and credibly say, “Yep, I know where you’re coming from.”
You can’t make old friends, as Dolly and Kenny sang, and Paul speaks to a similar kind of bond—a common history and shared perspective on what it has meant for him and these three “co-workers for the kingdom” to follow Christ and serve the mission of the Gospel as they have.
No wonder they “have proved a comfort” to Paul while he’s been imprisoned. There’s something special about knowing someone “gets” you and you “get” them.
Application:
With whom do you share a common story in how you came to follow Jesus?
How does that common ground help you support one another?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, thank you for the people in my life with a faith story that is similar to mine and the special connection that comes with that. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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