<p>4:14 <em>Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas greet you</em>- Luke's loyalty to Paul had led him to accompany Paul on the journey to Rome, including the shipwreck; and perhaps he remained in Rome as Paul's personal physician. Luke was with Paul at the very end of his life (2 Tim. 4:11). We could therefore conclude that Colossians was written at around that same time. I have argued the same for Philippians (see on Phil. 1:1). In this case, Paul ended his days with desperate appealing to others to see the reality of the great hope he had; his focus was outward, not upon himself, but upon the spiritual welfare of others. However, 2 Tim. 4:10 contrasts the faithful Luke with the less faithful Demas, who left Paul, &quot;having loved this present world&quot;. Colossians would therefore have been written slightly earlier than 2 Timothy. But the fact both Luke and Demas are mentioned together suggests the time gap was not that great.</p>