A comfort to me

Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, with Mark the cousin of Barnabas (about whom you received instructions: if he comes to you, welcome him), and Jesus who is called Justus. These are my only fellow workers for the kingdom of God who are of the circumcision; they have proved to be a comfort to me. – Colossians 4.10-11

I’m not sure whether or not I have mentioned Aristarchus before. He is not a person we hear a lot about in scripture.  He may only be mentioned here and one other time in scripture. Aristarchus was arrested with Paul and was now imprisoned with him.  

On the other hand we have ‘Mark, the cousin of Barnabas’ whom we know a lot about.

There really real diversity here. One man worked with Paul and travelled with him and even went to prison with him.

The other man Paul had once said was not fit for the ministry. Somewhere along the way the fellowship is restored between Paul and Mark so that Paul writes of him, 'he is profitable to me for the ministry.'

And we have a man named Justus. 

And now we learn that  these man had done something special for Paul who said 'they have proved to be a comfort to me.'

I find my self challenged by the testimonies of Aristarchus; Justus, and John Mark. I think it interesting that they make a connection here with Barnabas, who was know as the 'son of consolation.' We also know that one of the names of God's Holy Spirit is 'the Comforter.'

My mom died in November of 1992. We had just started raising our support to move to Ireland. One of the couples we had met along the way was Joe and Kathy Valerio. We became good friends with them and their family. I will never forget the simple words Joe spoke when he phoned me after hearing that my mom had died. He is a big, burly, rugged looking Italian. But he phoned me and I could hear the tears in his eyes as he said ‘I wish I was there to give you a hug.’

That is what comfort is all about. That is the kind of things that Aristarchus, John Mark, and Justus would have done for Paul. We all need a comforting team at times. 

I certainly need to be more aware of diligent about the ministry of being a comfort to others.