Colossians 4.11-Aristarchus, Mark and Justus Were Jewish Believers and Paul's Co-Workers and Encouraged Him
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday April 30, 2017
Colossians: Colossians 4:11-Aristarchus, Mark and Justus Were Jewish Believers and Paul’s Co-Workers and Encouraged Him
Lesson # 115
Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings; and also Barnabas’s cousin Mark (about whom you received instructions; if he comes to you, welcome him) 11 and also Jesus who is called Justus; these are the only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are from the circumcision, and they have proved to be an encouragement to me. (NASB95)
“And also Jesus who is called Justus” is another individual who was a companion of Paul’s in Rome in addition to Aristarchus and Mark who was giving his regards to the Colossian Christian community.
“These are the only fellow workers” is referring to Aristarchus, Mark and Justus.
“Who are from the circumcision” is composed of the following: (1) verb eimi (εἰμί), “who are” (2) preposition ek (ἐκ), “from” (3) noun peritomē (περιτομή), “the circumcision.”
The noun peritomē means “circumcision” and is a designation for those members of the human race who are descendants racially of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who have received circumcision as a sign of the covenant relationship between themselves and the God of Israel.
It refers to those individuals who have received the surgical and ritual act of cutting the foreskin of the male’s penis as prescribed by the Mosaic covenant.
Therefore, the word is another designation for the biological descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob but with emphasis upon the religion of Israel or in other words with emphasis upon the fact that these individuals who circumcised themselves were under the Mosaic covenant and thus practiced the law of Moses.
The noun peritomē is the object of the preposition ek which is a partitive preposition indicating that this word is the whole of which the head noun is a part indicating that Aristarchus, Mark and Justus are members of or part of the Jewish race.
The verb eimi means “to belong to a particular class or group of individuals” which is identified this time by the prepositional phrase ek peritomēs (ἐκ περιτομῆς), “from the circumcision.”
Therefore, this verb expresses the idea that Aristarchus, Mark and Justus belong to a group of individuals who originated from the circumcision and were thus Jewish.
The demonstrative pronoun houtos, “these” is also modified by the adjective monos which means “only, alone” since it pertains to being the only entity in a class.
Here the class is the Jewish people and thus, this word indicates that Aristarchus, Mark and Justus were the only Jewish people with him in Rome who were his co-workers for the kingdom of God.
“For the kingdom of God” is composed of the following: (1) preposition eis (εἰς), “for” (2) noun basileia (βασιλεία), “the kingdom” (3) noun theos (θεός), “of God.”
The noun basileia means “kingdom” and refers to the kingdom of Jesus Christ which was given to Him by the Father.
The noun theos refers to the Father which is indicated by the word’s articular construction which in the New Testament commonly signifies the first member of the Trinity unless otherwise indicated by the context.
The noun basileia is the object of the preposition eis which means “for” since the word is functioning as a marker of advantage meaning that the kingdom of God benefits from the work of Aristarchus, Mark and Justus.
“And they have proved to be an encouragement to me” is composed of the following: (1) qualitative relative pronoun hostis (ὅστις), “they” (2) verb ginomai (γίνομαι), “have proved to be” (3) possessive personal pronoun egō (ἐγώ), “to me” (4) noun parēgoria (παρηγορία), “encouragement.”
The qualitative relative pronoun hostis refers to Aristarchus, Mark and Justus since the word’s antecedent of demonstrative pronoun houtos agrees with it in gender (masculine) and number (plural).
This qualitative relative pronoun is used to emphasize that these three Jewish men are of a certain type of character, which from the context is that they were an encouragement to Paul.
The noun parēgoria means “a source of comfort, a source of encouragement” since the word pertains to being a source of comfort or encouraging for someone during times of disappointment or adversity.
The personal pronoun egō means “me” referring of course to the apostle Paul and functions as a dative of advantage indicating it was for the benefit of Paul that Aristarchus, Mark and Justus were an encouragement.
The verb ginomai means “to demonstrate a particular characteristic,” and which characteristic is identified by the noun parēgoria (παρηγορία), “encouragement.”
Therefore, this verb expresses the idea that Aristarchus, Mark and Justus demonstrated to Paul that they possessed the characteristic of being encouraging to him while he was under house arrest in Rome awaiting his appeal before Caesar.
Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow-prisoner, gives his regards as well as Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (about whom, all of you are receiving instructions: if he enters into your company, all of you must welcome him. 11 Also, Jesus, who is called Justus, gives his regards. These are the only co-workers for God’s kingdom who are from the circumcision who are of such character having proven to be a source of encouragement for me. (My translation)
In Colossians 4:11, the apostle informs the Colossian Christian community that in addition to Aristarchus and Mark giving their regards to them, Jesus who was also called Justus was giving his as well.
Paul then makes two assertions about these three men.
First, he informs the Colossians that they were the only Jewish believers in Rome with him who were his co-workers for the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God refers to the kingdom of Jesus Christ which was given to Him by the Father in contrast to Satan’s kingdom and refers to the authority the Father delegated to His Son Jesus Christ.
It also speaks of the subjects of Jesus Christ who are regenerated through faith in Him.
Lastly, it expresses the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ exercises royal authority in a realm over which He has sovereign right to rule as the Son of God.
That realm is not only in the first heaven (abode of God, throne of God) and the second heaven (the stellar universe) but also on planet earth.
Therefore, the kingdom of God refers to an organized community of regenerate human beings and elect angels who reside in a major territorial unit who are under a monarchical form of government headed by Jesus Christ.
The kingdom of God also refers to the proclamation or teaching about Jesus Christ’s First and Second Advents and His future millennial kingdom as well as the communication of His teaching.
In Colossians 4:11, Paul describes Aristarchus, Mark and Justus as not only as Jewish but also his co-workers.
In fact, he says that they are the only Jews in Rome with him who are his co-workers for the kingdom of God.
This means that they helped to propagate the gospel throughout the Roman Empire and it describes them as joint-partners with Paul in the advancement of the communication of the Word of God throughout the Roman Empire (cf. Phlp. 1:7).
It also means that they contributed their time, talent, treasure and truth for the advancement of the communication of the Word of God and for the care of the body of Christ.
Paul’s second assertion about these three men is that they proved to be a source of encouragement to him while he was under house arrest in Rome while awaiting his appeal trial before Caesar.
Like Paul, these three men along with other Jewish believers helped to form the remnant of Israel.
These regenerate Jews during the church age are called “the Israel of God” in Galatians 6:16 and the “olive tree” in Romans 11:17.
The doctrine of the remnant of Israel asserts that within the Jewish nation, God will always set aside a certain amount of Jews who will believe in Him in every dispensation and in every generation of human history.
It is based upon the unconditional promises contained in the Abrahamic, Palestinian, Davidic and New covenants and all of which were given directly to the nation of Israel and not the church.
A member of the remnant must meet two requirements.
First, they must be Jewish meaning that biologically or racially, they are descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob whose name was changed to “Israel” by God.
It is not enough to be a descendant of Abraham because two other branches of Arabs descended from this man and not just the Jews.
One branch of Arabs came from Abraham through Hagar and the other came from Abraham through Keturah who was Abraham’s wife after the death of Sarah.
The second requirement which must be met is that of trusting in the Lord.
During the dispensation of Israel under the Mosaic Law, in order to become a member of the remnant of Israel, a biological or racial descendant of Jacob must place their trust in the God of Israel who the New Testament identifies as being the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
During the First Advent of Jesus Christ, a biological or racial descendant of Jacob must trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior.
This holds true during the dispensations of the church, the seventieth week of Daniel and the millennial reign of Christ.