Colossians 4:14 – Luke, the Beloved Physician

14 Greeting you is Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas.

Luke occupies a special place among Paul’s coworkers. He was a physician, and Paul does not call him merely that here, but “the beloved physician.” The context also tells us something about his background. Just before this, Paul named Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus Justus and added that these were the only ones “who are of the Circumcision” (4:11). Luke, who is mentioned afterward, therefore did not belong to that group.

At the very least, this means that Luke was not a Jew by birth who had been circumcised. Beyond that, we cannot say with certainty. He may have been familiar with Judaism from his upbringing or may have belonged to the so-called God-fearers: people from the nations who identified themselves with Israel’s God and the synagogue without having become proselytes. Scripture tells us nothing about this. The only certainty is that Paul does not count him among “the Circumcision.”

We know Luke primarily as the writer of the Gospel that bears his name and Acts. From the “we” sections it is evident that he accompanied Paul on various journeys. Here beside him stands Demas, likewise a coworker of Paul. Years later, the contrast is striking. “Demas, loving the current eon, forsook me,” Paul writes, immediately followed by: “Luke only is with me” (2 Tim. 4:10, 11). Two names that still stand side by side here, but whose paths would later diverge. “The beloved physician” remained with Paul.

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