Colossians 2:6-19 (NRSV)
6 As you therefore have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and
built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive
through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to
the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ.
9 For
in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have
come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In
him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the
body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were
buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the
power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were
dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive
together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing
the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside,
nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities
and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn
you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or
sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the
substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you,
insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed
up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast
to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its
ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
Year C
July 24-30
July 24, 2016
Cross~Wind
Title: What Does It Mean to Be …
This
passage has made me think about our beliefs. Some of our beliefs may correspond
quite well to Scripture. Some might be myths. Some myths are harmless….some
things we choose to believe are downright dangerous:
Victoria
Wilburn’s mother told her that using sunscreen would give her cancer. Wishard
in Indianapolis had UVB Free baby kits that educate families about skin cancer
awareness that arose from this myth.
This
passage also makes me think about the whole notion of identity.[1] What does it mean to be
Christian? It might involve how well we listen to, follow, and sometimes hold
on to, Christ Jesus our Lord.[2]
Myths
can be dangerous when it comes to spiritual life.
Consider
the persistent myth that it does not matter what you believe, so long as you
believe it sincerely. Every spiritual path leads to God. Really?[3]
Your
beliefs are the lens through which you view the world and yourself, and
therefore will influence what you do with your life.
What
do you really believe about God? How
passionately do you believe it? If we
probed inside that compartment in your brain labeled “What I believe about God”
what would we find? Critical in such questions, though, is how this belief
influences the way you live. If it does not, then we rightly question whether
you truly believe what you think you do.
Application
The
question I hope to ponder with for you a few moments is what it means to be
Christian. We may have to expose some dangerous myths. Our baptism and our
participation in the Lord’s Supper say that we want to identify our lives with
Christ. In what way does Christ define who we are?
Paul
is exploring two important theological questions.
First,
what do you believe about Jesus?
Christians
would continue to reflect upon this question down to the present. The earliest
debates within the church focus on Jesus. At least six major councils of church
leaders from 325 A.D. – 680 A.D. debated Christology ….what we believe about
Jesus.
Many
groups have thought about this along with us. They have come to varying
conclusions.
Judaism
historically has thought of Jesus as one of many false messiahs.
Islam
thinks of Jesus as a prophet of Allah, who never really died. In fact, he had a
family and Allah will bring him back at the end of time to wage a war against
non-Muslims in Jerusalem. God does not have a Son, says the Quran.
Hinduism
accepts Jesus as one of many manifestations of the divine that they call
Brahman. He is like a god or guru for the Christians.
Mormonism
rejects the Trinity, but does think the risen Jesus appeared in America in the
600’s AD.
Jehovah’s
Witness say he is better than angels are, but has no intimate connection to
God.
Some
people keep making the case that Jesus is political and is on one side of the
political divide or the other. As much as I used to like politics – this
election season has soured me a bit – I find it disconcerting that so many
preachers and teachers in the church want to identify Jesus with a particular
political agenda. If such a person showed up, could you see the spiritual con
here?
When
I attended Indiana Wesleyan, I had a summer in which I worked at a little factory.
Eventually, one of the co-workers started talking about the church he attended.
He talked of “Jesus only.” It started out sounding good. I eventually learned
that it was a brand of Pentecostalism that denied the Trinity, called “oneness”
Pentecostalism or “Apostolic” Pentecostalism.[4]
If
he showed up in your life, could you be spiritually conned?
Let
us get back to the passage. Do you believe this?
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in
bodily form,
When people try to tell us
that we have many sources for knowledge of God, do we have courage to say No?
You see, Paul summarizes right Christology in this short phrase. If God exists,
it makes sense God would clarify who God is by revelation. God does not leave
us groping in the dark.
Then,
we learn something else about Jesus. Do you believe this?
who is the head of every ruler and authority (v. 10)
He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a
public example of them, triumphing over them in it. (v. 15)
Many
forces spiritual, cultural, economic, and political seek authority in your life
and mine. Jesus rules over all, and seeks your liberation.
The
second theological theme Paul unpacks relates to salvation.
Salvation
refers to liberation, health, healing, and wholeness. What is keeping your life
sick and weighted down? To the one wandering around lost, saving is guidance.
To the one living in bondage, saving is liberation. For the one guilty, saving is
forgiveness. To the sick of soul, saving is depths of emotional and spiritual
healing.
What
do you believe about salvation?
In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off
of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with
the circumcision done by Christ,(v.
11)
Paul uses the analogy with
Old Testament circumcision, only now Christ is doing it, stressing that a human
being cannot put off our sinful nature. You cannot do it yourself. Do you
believe this about salvation?
having been buried with him in baptism and raised with
him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When
you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God
made you alive with Christ. (v.
12-13)
God has already buried you
and raised you. New life has already begun in you.[5] Do you believe this about
salvation?
He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the
written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed
to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (v. 13-14)
You are no longer under the
accusation of the Law. You are in the hands of the gracious God who showed up
in Jesus and gave his life for you.
In
the incredibly diverse nation America has become, the Christian community needs
to gain deeper insight into who it is. Do not let such deception make you go
through a period of wasting your life spiritually on that which cannot satisfy.
One,
an authoritative charismatic leader
can lead people astray.
Devotion
to one person or teacher, no matter how good he or she might be, will not
satisfy.
Therefore
do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing
festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. (v. 16)
Someone had taken them
captive.[6]
In
the 1980s, a woman happened to attend church when I was leading a Sunday school
class on United Methodist beliefs. After a few classes, she said something
like, “You mean, I do not have to believe everything you say?” Well, you can
imagine, longtime United Methodists laughed, but she was serious. You could see
the liberation she felt on her face and in the way she kept growing as a
disciple.[7]
Two,
people can turn to forms of legalism
to try to make themselves better.
Legalism
will not satisfy your spiritual hunger. The legalist wants to shame people. God
will not love you unless… God will not love you until… Paul puts legalism in
perspective.
These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ. (v. 17)
The danger of legalism is
that it can all sound quite spiritual and even like a radical disciple. Yet,
these things did not have real substance…they were just faint images of
reality.
Three,
people can look for experiences to
validate their faith.
Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on
self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without
cause by a human way of thinking. (v.
18)
High spiritual experiences
can all sound good. They may satisfy for a moment. Of course, experience is
common in religious life.
· Wave of emotion in worship
· Passionate end-of-camp pledge moment
· Commitments at a Great Banquet or Emmaus weekend
· Deep surge of joy in prayer
Yet, if it leads to their claim of being spiritually
superior over others, or to persuading others to imitate it, it becomes a wrong
a path.[8]
Conclusion
What
you believe matters. It will shape the way you live your life. We need to be
alert to the myths that are out there. Some of the myths creep into the church.
We are entering into a time when pressure from the culture and even the
government will seek to shame the church into compliance. Will you have eyes to
see and ears to hear the truth?
In
particular, grow in your grasp of who Christ Jesus the Lord is and your grasp
of salvation. If you do, you will not open the door for another person or group
to con you regarding your spiritual journey.
Honestly,
your life depends on it.
Going deeper
Paul has been clearing away a space in the first part
of this letter that allows him to express the concerns that give rise to this
letter. He stated part of that concern in 1:23. Paul says “provided that you
continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from
the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to
every creature under heaven.”
He
has offered his prayer of thanksgiving for their faith, hope, and love. He has
commented upon a hymn popular in that area that magnifies Christ as the one who
holds together and reconciles creation itself. He reminds them of the suffering
he has experienced due to his faithfulness to Christ. This fact should show his
genuineness as an apostle. This Christ-centered opening clears a space for him
to discuss the issue he sees arising in this congregation.
He has a concern about false teaching in verses 6-8. They
received Christ Jesus the Lord when they received the gospel. This receiving is
to affect the way they lead their lives. They are to grow in the faith as
Epaphras and others from his team taught them. They are to do so with
thanksgiving or gratitude for what God has done to save them. Christ has
liberated them. Therefore, and here comes his concern, he does want human
philosophies and empty deceit make them captive again. We need some care here. Paul
used philosophy to express his thoughts. So does the Gospel of John. Paul
obviously had great respect for learning and knowledge. His concern is when
people use it to steer people away from Christ.
In verses 9-15, will focus upon the two errors he sees. One
is theological. You see, the fullness of deity dwells in Christ. Yet, some are
not satisfied with Christ alone. He wants us to understand that Christ,
properly followed, will bring us to the spiritual maturity we need. Two is
practical. He will talk about a spiritual circumcision that deals with our
natural rebellion. Baptism is the sign, as we think of it as burial with Christ
when we go under the water and resurrection as we come out of the water. Think
about this for a moment. We already experience this resurrected life through
the power of God and in the Holy Spirit, even as we await the future fullness
of salvation when Christ returns. God has cancelled the debt we owed to God due
to our sin. We knew about this debt because of the Law, the supreme expression
of which is the Mosaic Law. Yet, God nailed these legal demands to the cross,
so that now, everything is about our connection or identity with Christ. Christ
already has victory over every spiritual authority we might think is out there.
Here is the paradox of the cross. The helplessness of the cross is triumph and
victory.
In
verses 16-17, if all this is true, Paul seems puzzled that they have allowed
people to come into their community and tell them they must obey certain
rituals and extreme demands upon diet in order to follow Jesus. The problem he
sees is that while such practices might be helpful in our discipleship, and
they might even sound like “radical” discipleship, the reality is that we can
focus upon them rather than Christ.
In
verses 18-19, Paul sees a threat of angelic mediators. His concern is that
someone or a group is going to disqualify them from receiving the prize Christ
wants to give them. They urge strict physical discipline, worship of angelic
beings, and they even dwell upon visions they claim to have had. Such persons
are not holding on to Christ. If they did, they would connect at a deeper level
to the church as the body of Christ. That is how they will grow.
Colossians 2:6-8 contain a
warning against false teachings.
Paul cannot take for granted the continuance of the faith, so he gives advice
in v. 6-7 and warning in v. 8.
6 As
you therefore [refers back to 2:5b and their grounding in the faith] have received implies transmission from
one to another, a technical term in
early Christianity for transmitting tradition] Christ Jesus the Lord, [Paul
uses "Christ" rather than "gospel" here, because the
problem is the subversion of the truth concerning Christ. He also stresses the historical person in
referring to Jesus and the acceptance of him as Lord. Followers of Christ cannot fill up “Christ”
with any meaning they wish. It always has a connection to the Jewish
apocalyptic preacher, Jesus of Nazareth.] continue to live your lives in him,[the reception of Christ as Lord
is to affect the way they live their lives]
7 rooted and built up in him and established [a legal term,
suggesting a ratified and binding contract]
in the faith, just as you were taught, [contrasts with the “human
tradition” he will mention in verse 8. The
appropriate response to Christ's lordship is obedience to Paul's teaching.]
abounding in thanksgiving. [Thanksgiving is the end of all human
conduct, whether exhibited in words or works.
Pannenberg notes that in Paul, gratitude for the saving action of God in
Jesus Christ forms the starting point and context of all Christian prayer.
Therefore, with special emphasis, Paul here calls on believers to thank God the
Father through the Lord Jesus Christ.[9]] 8 See
to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according
to human tradition, according to the elemental [stoicheia suggests the letters of the alphabet] spirits of the universe, and not according
to Christ. [We find the first reference to false teaching. Christ won liberty for them, but now, they
are going back on Christ. The passage
shows the imminence of the peril, the danger is very real, all suggested by blapetema. We should note the danger
that they who have been delivered from darkness could fall from into a slavery
worse than their former condition. This passage disparages
"Philosophy" in this context, though it may extend to the ethical
issues involved. In Paul's day,
philosophy tended to mean subtle dialectics and profitless speculation. The
philosophy or false teaching has its source in the traditions of people and as
subject-matter it is the rudiments of the world. Barth, as one would expect, warns of the
danger of philosophy to scriptural exegesis, using this passage as an example.[10] A word of caution is in order. Paul uses
philosophy. His letters follow the general pattern of rhetoric, which was a
branch of philosophy. One can read the rhetoric of Aristotle to see this. One
can also read Aristotle on ethics to see the basic notion of the virtuous life,
which compares well with the virtues and vices Paul lists later in this letter
as well as his contrast of the works of the flesh and the fruit of the Spirit.
What Paul is opposing, however, is to fill up the revelation of God in Christ
Jesus with philosophical meaning in a way that dismisses the apostolic witness.
The Anchor Bible commentary on Colossians argues that
when Paul says “philosophies,” he is not talking about philosophical schools
that existed in his day. It argues that combined with the specific warnings
about festivals, angel worship, etc., that “’philosophy’ means that which for
us expresses the idea of ‘religion.’”[11] This would
be an important distinction. It steers us away from a sense that Paul wants
people to steer away from knowledge or learning. Rather, Paul wants to steer us
away from those things that prevent the proper worship of Christ, and which
twist the message of the gospel to include regulations and actions that would
stifle the freedom Paul wants the church to have.]
Colossians
2:9-15 has the theme of an antidote the Colossian error. Paul will condemn the
theological error in verses 9-10 in replacing inferior beings with Christ as
the head, and the practical error in verses 11-15 of insisting on ritual and
ascetic observances as the foundation of their moral teaching.
9
For in him the whole fullness of
deity dwells bodily, [Paul substantiates the charge he made
in verse 8. The fullness of divinity dwells in Christ, not other powers, as the
false teachers suggested. Paul’s warnings against being taken captive
(“robbed”) by religions (philosophies) are paired with a positive defense. Paul
reminds the church of whom they have already been filled, that is Christ. As
Barth points out, the New Testament
tells of the full, genuine, and individual humanity of the Man Jesus, but in
that man has entered One who is qualitatively different from all other people.
He is not simply a better man, a more gifted, a more wise or noble or pious, in
short a greater man. The New Testament lives and acts in the knowledge and on
the presupposition of what Paul says here. He refers to this passage as the
demonstration and exercise of divine omnipresence. The eternity in which God is
time and the creator of time is revealed in the fact that God can enter it, be
temporal in it, without ceasing to be eternal. God is Eternal in time.[12] With
this passage, Pannenberg notes the
difficulty of maintaining the transcendence and immanence of God in a coherent
way. He thinks the doctrine of the Trinity clarifies the question of union and
tension between transcendence and immanence. Here, it arises with even greater
sharpness, for Paul writes of the dwelling of deity in Jesus Christ.[13]] 10 and you have come to fullness
in him [true life is union with
Christ, Paul is relating to
“fullness” in a way that reflects the polemic. Christ embodies the divine plaroma and as a part of Christ's body,
they participate in it. John Calvin
takes Paul to mean, “As to God’s dwelling wholly in Christ, it is in order that
we, having obtained him, may possess in him an entire perfection.” He then
reflects on those “who do not rest
satisfied with Christ alone,” for they injure God in two ways. They detract
from the glory of God by desiring something above the perfection of God. They
are ungrateful, seeking elsewhere what they already have in Christ. Christ has the resources from which God
will bring us to fullness, completeness, or maturity. who is the head [suggests the vital energy or source] of every ruler and authority. [In
apocalyptic literature, the end of the present age overthrows evil forces. Here, Paul announces that the end has already
happened. In moving to this announcement, Paul affirms Christ's present
lordship over every hostile spirit-power.
Pannenberg sees an ecumenical
point here for his position that the Roman pontiff has historically caused
division by making extravagant claims for authority in the church. He refers to
this verse as an argument against the notion of referring to any human being as
“head” of the church, for the New Testament uses such a term exclusively for
Jesus Christ. To him, the use of such a term for the Roman bishop has always
been an occasion for justifiable offense.[14]
[In
verses 11-15, Paul elaborates on the theme of "fullness of life in
him." Paul turns to the practical
errors. The key phrase is "putting
off ..." clearly referring to baptism.
Getting rid of old clothes and re-clothing after baptism is suggestive,
as we also find in Galatians 3:27, “As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed
yourselves with Christ.”] 11
In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, [A
circumcision exists that is wholly the work of God. It is through faith and in baptism that the
new life begins. "Circumcision" is aorist, referring to their
baptism. Paul chooses the words to
express the completeness of the spiritual change.] by
putting off the body of the flesh [unregenerate nature that would hold the
believer in bondage] in the circumcision
of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were
also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the
dead. [Baptism is the grave of the old nature, and the birth of the
new. Beneath baptismal waters, the
believer buries past sin. Emerging, the
believer rises to a new hope and new life.
It is the seal of God's adoption and the earnest of the Spirit. Baptism is a symbol of identifying with
Christ in his death and resurrection.
One should also note that only by belief in the resurrection does one
obtain the benefits of the resurrection.
The reference to circumcision here is not to suggest, according to
Andrew Lincoln, that the philosophy opposed involved the Jewish practice.
Pannenberg discusses the notion in Paul of the already and the Not Yet of
salvation. In this passage, he notes that Paul is bold enough to describe the
resurrection of the baptized as a reality that is present already. Yet, the
tension with the future of salvation is still present when Colossians 3:3-4
still says that that God still hides the new life of believers with Christ in
God, to whom he has been exalted.[15]
Pannenberg says that an exchange of place takes place between the innocent
Jesus and sinner whom Christ represents before the Father. This exchange takes
place only if, for their part, the sinners for whom Jesus died let their lives,
having fallen victim to death, link to the death of Jesus, which this verse
suggests takes place in baptism. Only then does the expiation that the death of
Jesus makes possible actually come into force for individuals.[16]]
[In verses 13-15, some scholars
suggest Paul quotes a fragment of an early Christian hymn.] 13 And when you were dead in
trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive [The
"life" referred to could be regeneration or the future life of
immortality. God’s saving plan, the divine mystery that God now reveals,
consists of the fact that “Christ is in you, the hope of glory.” The Messiah of
the people of God is also the Savior of the world of nations. Therefore, Christ
is not only the hope for this or that individual, but also the riches of the
glory of the divine plan of salvation among the peoples. In this passage, only
by union with the Messiah Jesus as this takes place in baptism gives
individuals a part in this glory.] together
with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, [suggests a debt owed to
God that God has cancelled.] 14 erasing
the record [we find technical terms implying the debtor or contractor. It seems to suggest Gentiles and Jews signed
a contract] that stood against us with
its legal demands. [Dogma is
decree or ordinance, esp. the Mosaic Law.
Greek commentators refer the word to the Gospel. Paul refers to the validity of the bond and
active hostility of the bond.] He set this aside, nailing it to
the cross. God nailed the law to the cross and destroyed it with his
body. Here is another example.
Galatians
6:14
May I never boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
Only the aspect of the law that was against us is what God
nailed to the cross. It refers to false
ritualistic prescriptions that were gaining ground. In the OT and Jewish literature, especially
in apocalyptic literature, there was a widely accepted teaching that God had a
book recording everyone's deeds. As an
aside, some would suggest that Christians repeat the action of Christ on the
cross in a sacramental way.] 15 He disarmed the rulers and
authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
[Pannenberg discusses the notion that Christian hope is not just individual
hope in God but hope for the world, for the kingdom of God, and only in this
context hope for one’s own salvation.[17] We
need to note the triumph of Christ over all His enemies. Barth labeled one of
his major discussions “Jesus is Victor” based on passages like this. For him,
the statement is a challenge, a sign under which the presentation of the
prophetic work of Jesus must always stand.[18] God has stripped away the powers
of evil. God has publicly displayed them as captive. We see here the paradox of
the cross. The helplessness of the cross is its triumph; the shame of the cross
is its glory. He continues the message of Christ's triumph. Christ has defeated the spirit-forces that
accused them Christ. Christ repelled the
assault of the enemies. Paul refutes the
idea that they are the helpless victims of false teachers.]
Paul presents the practical error of ritualism and
asceticism in verses 16-17. 16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you
in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths.
[Mosaic regulations were only with meats.
False teachers went beyond legal regulations. He refers to annual festivals, monthly
festivals, and the Sabbath laws. Andrew
Lincoln says the regulations are clearly part of Judaism that this “philosophy”
has taken over in order to deal with its notion of the cosmic powers. The issue
of food and drink is likely part of strict asceticism. We see this in the
reference to calendar observances as well, all of which have parallels in the
Old Testament, but the point is not to obey Torah and maintain Jewish identity.
Rather, the effort is to please the cosmic powers in verse 8 and in verse
20. We find a later usage of this theme
in a respected document of the second century AD.
As for Jewish taboos with respect to food, along with their superstition
about the Sabbath, their bragging about circumcision, and their hypocrisy about
fast days and new moons, I hardly think that you need to be told by me that all
these things are ridiculous, and not worth arguing about. 2How can it be
anything but godlessness that makes men accept some of the things made by God
for man's use as created good, and reject other things as useless and
superfluous? 3And is it not impious to pretend that God forbids a good deed on
the Sabbath Day? 4And are they not asking for ridicule when they boast of the
mutilation of the flesh as a sign of their choice by God, as if for this reason
they were especially beloved by him? 5Again, when they constantly gaze at the
stars and watch the moon, in order to observe months and days with scrupulous
care and to distinguish the changes of the seasons which God has ordained, in
order to cater to their own whims, making some into festivals, and others into
times of mourning, who could call this evidence of devotion rather than of
folly? 6All this being so, I think that you have learned enough to see that
Christians are right in holding themselves aloof from the aimlessness and
trickery of Greeks and Jews alike, and from the officiousness and noisy conceit
of the Jews. But as far as the mystery of the Christians’ own religion is
concerned, you cannot expect to learn that from man.[19]
Observance of sacred times was part of the old
dispensation. The point Paul seems to
make is that of attributing significance beyond what the new covenant would
allow. These holy days can express our
own weakness. The prescriptions are part
of the ascetic way of life. Many viewed
fasting as prelude to receiving a revelation from the gods. Paul seems to reject the festival days
because of their connection with angel worship.
Was the main influence on these false teachers Jewish or pagan? It appears reasonable to think of a “pagan”
religion that is syncretistic, using some Jewish practices for their own
purposes.]
17 These are only a shadow of what is to
come, but the substance belongs to Christ. [We might
note the contrast between the ordinances of the Law and the teaching of the
Gospel. We can see the conception of the
shadow in relation to the new covenant.
Such reasoning suggests why Paul offered the attack he offers here.
Observance of the regulation of v. 20 shows a misunderstanding of God's
purpose. It is living in the shadows
where fear and inhibition abound. The
reality is Christ. The imagery of a “shadow” was part of the Hellenistic world
ever since the powerful allegory by Plato in The Republic concerning the cave. Paul uses the imagery, not to
refer to the philosophical Idea or world of Forms in Plato, but to the
“reality” of Christ. The “shadow” is this world of appearances. The use of soma in this context refers to the
invisible realm of true ideas or true being. Lohse in his commentary and R. J.
Karris in his Hermenia commentary,
and R. P. Martin in his commentary suggest that Paul is using the terminology
of the philosophy to his own ends. The “reality” or “substance” is also a
philosophic term, suggesting that which is beyond what the five senses can
deliver. Paul also introduces an eschatological element, for such things are a
“shadow” of “what is to come.” Christ has already initiated “what is to come.”
His point is that the true reality of Christ, the image of the invisible God in
1:15 and the one in whom the fullness of deity dwells in 1:19 and 2:10, means
that the “shadow” no longer has any grounds for continued existence. The
practices of this philosophy are superfluous.]
Verses 18-19 present the threat Paul sees in angelic mediators. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you [Andrew Lincoln says the word evokes the image of an umpire ruling against
a contestant in a game and thereby depriving that person of any prize. Paul warns
them that false teachers could cheat them out of their prize. They have
detached themselves from Christ. The career of the Christian, so to speak, is
that of the contest in the stadium.
Christ is the one who dispenses the rewards. Eternal life is the wreath. False teachers
have attempted to trip them up in their race.
They are persons frustrating those who otherwise would have won the race.]
insisting on [suggests a group trying to force its opinion.] self-abasement
[or humility may refer to fasting. We
should note that the Greek world considered "humility" a vice. Here, it has become self-conscious. His point is that by appealing to
intermediary beings there was the appearance of humility as over against going
to God. Their profession of humility was a cloak for excessive pride.] and
worship of angels, [suggests
their veneration as part of the cult. The worship of angels is a substitution
of the inferior for the superior worship of the head, which is the source of
spiritual life. The Essene community
within Judaism venerated angels as well. These speculative mystics are
"balancing in the air" and "treading the void" by their
ideas, expressing pride and emptiness of teaching.] dwelling
on visions, [He also uses in 2:18 a hapax
legomenon (a word used only one time in the New Testament, and therefore whose
meaning is dubious), which translates to mean something such as “goes on about
a vision.” Clearly, Paul has something very specific in mind when he is warning
his church, and yet he neglects to name explicitly what that the thing is. Paul
would assume, a typical pattern of his, that the church would be clear
concerning his meaning. Andrew Lincoln, after a study of the combination of
worship of angels and visions, suggests the meaning is that the opponents
insists on fasting and worship of angels which they see when entering the
heavenly realm through such visionary experiences. Fasting would be the
required preparation for visions.] puffed up without cause by a human way
of thinking, [referring to the
"Flesh," a “human” way of thinking unenlightened by Spirit. These
opponents claim great spiritual experiences, while in reality trip people up in
their spiritual journey through the arrogance of their claims.] 19 and not holding fast to the head, from
whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews,
grows with a growth that is from God. [The human
body provides Paul with his analogy.
Paul joins Christ and body. The
opponents of Paul are among those whom one could expect to adhere to Christ,
but they are not. The false teachers have excluded themselves from the
church. They have become detrimental to
the will-being and growth of the body of all followers of Christ. Nevertheless,
the channels of that life are the different members of his body, in relation to
one another. The result is growth. Such
growth assumes the specific action of Christians in bringing this growth.
Christ is the head, both in the sense of source and the authority. Christ is
the one from whom growth of the body comes. Yet, other agents for the growth of
the community are the members of the body who make mutual contributions.]
[1] Let me
approach this idea through a contemporary question. What does it mean to be
French? With the rise of Arab Muslim population centers in particular, the
issue has heated up. President Sarkozy claimed that one should be French first,
secular second, and religious a distant third. To be French is to unite around
the blue, white, and red. Liberté, égalité and fraternité would become the
unifying factors.
[2] Most of you know I like technology. An
article recently made me think about one part of the technology journey. It
started with Hi-Fi, High Fidelity records on which I played my music. Yes,
vinyl records were important to me. I have noticed that they are making a
comeback, at least if my visits to Half-Priced Books is any indication. We now
have digital music we transmit over another type of technology we call “Wi-Fi,”
a Wireless technology still concerned with the “fidelity” of the image to its
original production. In fact, the article suggests that another type of
fidelity is out there in technology, already called Li-Fi. It will transmit
information over pulsating LED lights that will pulsate so fast that the human
eye cannot detect it. It will be 100 times faster than Wi-Fi. Yet, we do not
have the information transmitted in this way to decline in its quality. The
ultimate standard is what the listener hears.
So, too, with Christian witness. Fidelity involves
how closely we listen to, follow, and sometimes even hold onto, Jesus Christ.
[3] Consider the myth that being a Christian involves
aligning yourself with a certain side of the political divide. Consider the
myth that being a Christian means you conform to what is “politically correct”
in your circle.
[4] But as he got into it, it started sounding
strange. Based on the story of the Mount of Transfiguration in Mark 9, He
referred to the passage in Mark 9, the Mount of Transfiguration, where three
disciples saw vision of the risen Lord, but also Moses and Elijah. A cloud
appears and they hear a voice saying they are to listen to Jesus, and when the
cloud lifts, in the KJV, the disciples saw no one, “save Jesus only.” Out of
that text arose the belief by this group that neither Father nor Spirit exists.
Therefore, they believe in “Jesus only.”
I discovered that certain brands of Pentecostalism, such as Apostolic,
developed this notion of “oneness” Pentecostalism.
[5] You can’t cannonball your way to salvation
You can’t just turn over a
new leaf and get your life together!
Jesus must bury you and raise
you
That is where new life
starts!
[6] It can
all sound good. They sound sure of what they are saying and may intimidate you
into thinking about things the way they do.
[7] In the same decade, I visited one of the
sweetest elderly women of the church who had recently battled a disease. She
unfolded a story of listening to a television preacher regularly. One of his
promotions was to sell a handkerchief. When she received it in the mail, she
prayed and placed it where the disease was. Of course, now, many years later,
she was still battling the disease. Here comment, in tears, was that she must
not have enough faith. I was angry with the television preacher. What I felt
was the injustice and the spiritual hurt he had caused this elderly woman.
[8] At camp meetings on the frontier, a
phenomenon known as “barking” became a sign that God had touched you. Be wary
of people who claim to have found the “secret” to something and give you the
feeling you are missing out. Do not become addicted to an experience. As Paul
will clarify, true worship glorifies Christ, not the experience one has.
[9]
Systematic
Theology Volume 3, 207
[10]
(Church
Dogmatics I.2 [21.2] 731)
[11]
(Barth, Markus and Helmut Blanke, “Colossians: A New Translation With
Introduction and Commentary” [The Anchor Bible [New York: Doubleday, 1994], 308).
[12]
(Church
Dogmatics IV.1 [59.1] 160, 187)
[13]
(Systematic
Theology, Volume 1, 415)
[14]
(Systematic
Theology Volume 3, 430)
[15]
(Systematic
Theology, Volume 3, 605)
[16]
(Systematic
Theology, Volume 2, 428)
[17]
(Systematic
Theology, Volume 3, 179)
[18]
(Church
Dogmatics IV.3 [69.3]
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