GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
COLOSSIANS INTRODUCTION
Colosse was a fallen city with little hope of rising again. At one time, it had boasted huge statues of the Greek gods. Its very name (Κολοσσαί) means “City of the Colossal Statues.” Now, in the middle of the first century AD, commerce and trade continued, but the city once known for gigantic pagan statues was now little more than a small town on a seldom-used byway; a used-to-be kind of a town.
Colosse lay about three-quarters of the way from Tarsus to Ephesus, not far (12 miles) from Laodicea, one of the cities mentioned in Revelation (Rev. 3:14-22). For comparison, all of Asia Minor (Turkey) would fit inside the state of Texas.
Looking north from the city you would see the white-capped Taurus Mountains; to the south, a broad green plain studded with white flocks of grazing sheep. Colosse had a thriving wool trade and was known for producing dyes from the chalky deposits of the nearby Lycus River. Not very long after Paul wrote this letter, however, an earthquake leveled Colosse. It is still a very small town today.
But there were Christians in Colosse. Epaphras, instructed by Paul in Ephesus, had begun to preach the gospel in Colosse, Laodicea, Hierapolis, and perhaps several smaller villages and hamlets in the Lycus valley. Here in Colosse, Philemon and his wife had been converted and were now active and probably prominent members of the Colossian church.
Epaphras had a good reason to ask Paul for help—and in doing so, he reminds us of Martin Luther in the fall of 1517. Just as Luther became alarmed at the false teachings of Tetzel, selling the forgiveness of sins as a fund-raiser, Epaphras was alarmed at a growing set of false teachings making their way through Colosse. They were made by Judaizers, Jews or Jewish Christians who wanted to twist the gospel of Christ into something legalistic. And yet, these were not the same sort of Judaizers encountered by Paul in Galatia and also by Titus on Crete, the circumcision group (Gal. 2:12; Titus 1:10). These in Colosse errors would all need to be addressed by Paul. There were both pagan, Jewish and super-Christian elements:
Jewish heresies:
1) Circumcision was held up as superior (to be preferred), but it was not insisted upon.
2) Dietary laws.
3) Holy days.
Pagan heresies:
4) Esoteric knowledge (“higher wisdom”). A preference for a natural and human philosophy
5) Salvation by ‘knowledge,’ not faith. This knowledge was open only to the few who were initiated into the ‘knowing’ system (a very early form of Gnosticism? 1:28, 2:3)
6) Matter is evil, the spirit alone is good (asceticism, 2:20-23)
7) Conversely, a libertinism was also advocated (3:5 ff.)
Super-Christianity heresies:
8) Fasting and refraining (“touch not, taste not, handle not!”) were thought to supplement and complete the work of Christ by bringing a kind of excellence in man.
9) Speculation about Creation: “aeons,” “emanations,” angel worship?
10) Denied Jesus’ incarnation (his deity).
Paul’s exhortation (3:1–4:6, the “table of duties”) is best explained in this light. Paul does not deny that there is great danger and temptation in earthly things, but Paul sets aside everything apart from Christ. Only Christ counts for the salvation of our souls: “You have been raised by Christ” (3:1), “Your life is now hidden with Christ” (3:2), “Christ is all, and Christ is in all” (3:11). “Let the peace of Christ…” (3:15), “Let the word of Christ…” (3:16). Our response to Christ, Paul says, is in each life, doing whatever we have to do: Wives, submit. Husbands, love. Children, obey. Fathers, do not embitter. Slaves, obey. Work as for the Lord. Masters, provide, because you have a Master (3:18-4:1).
The author: Paul. This hasn’t been disputed by anyone with any convincing reason. Pastor Frederick William Wenzel says: “The few feeble attempts of recent critics—mainly Baur and his followers—to deny the genuineness of our letter have proved abortive. In our day nobody takes Baur and consorts seriously. The chief trouble in our day is that so many preachers deny the inspiration of Scripture, and hence also that of our letter. For all Modernists it is nothing more than a personal opinion of Paul, worth no more than their own. That they deprive themselves of the great assurance of the Christian faith and its comfort, is unknown to them. They prefer to dabble ‘in philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ,’ against which this letter warns, 2:8.” (Commentary, Book II, p. 106).
The date and place: Rome, during Paul’s first imprisonment (62 AD).
Outline:
1, Introduction (1:1-14)
A, Greetings (1:1-2)
B, Thanksgiving (1:3-8)
C, Prayer (1:9-14)
2, The Supremacy of Christ (1:15-23)
3, Paul’s Labor for the Church (1:24-2:7)
A, A ministry for the sake of the church (1:24-29)
B, A concern for the spiritual welfare of the church (2:1-7)
4, Freedom from Human Regulations through Life with Christ (2:8-23)
A, Warning to guard against the false teachers (2:8-15)
B, Pleas to reject the false teachers (2:16-19)
C, An analysis of the heresy (2:20-23)
5. Rules for Holy Living (3:1-4:6)
A, The old self and the new self (3:1-17)
B, Rules for Christian households (3:18-4:1)
C, Further instructions (4:2-6)
6, Final Greetings (4:7-18)
Theme: The Glorious Christ, who is Head of the Church
For our devotions on Colossians, we will use my own translation of the Epistle. My plan is to visit this book four times (Christmas and Holy Week) during the next two years, more or less according to this schedule:
Christmastime 2017 – Colossians 1:1-17
Holy Week 2018 – Colossians 1:18-26, with Psalm 31 and 101
Christmastime 2018 – Colossians 1:27-2:23
Holy Wee and after, 2019 – Colossians 3 and 3, with Psalm 114
May God bless our study of this letter.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Archives by Wisconsin Lutheran Chapel: http://www.wlchapel.org/worship/daily-devotion/
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota