Revised by Elisabeth Johnson, 12/23
Intercession
The prayer of intercession in Colossians 1:9-12 calls forth words significant to various cults and religious practices of the time and within the context of life in Colossae. PaulThe Apostle Paul, originally known as Saul of Tarsus, was the author of several New Testament letters and the founder of many Christian communities. takes this language and uses these words to proclaim the lordship of Christ, who alone is the source of “the knowledge of God,” the true source of “spiritual wisdomWisdom encompasses the qualities of experience, knowledge, and good judgment. The Old Testament book of Proverbs, which sometimes invokes a Woman as the personification of Wisdom, is a collection of aphorisms and moral teachings. Along with other biblical passages, it teaches, “The fear of the… and understanding,” the one in whom is “the strength that comes from his [God’s] glorious power,” (1:9-11), and the one in whom the Colossians “share in the inheritance of the saints in light” (1:12).
Knowledge
The letter contains language that reflects philosophical and religious thought of its day, especially ideas about acquiring special knowledge that leads to salvationSalvation can mean saved from something (deliverance) or for something (redemption). Paul preached that salvation comes through the death of Christ on the cross which redeemed sinners from death and for a grace-filled life.. Paul takes the language of the time and transforms its understanding so that it serves the proclamation that Christ is the source of all knowledge, spiritual wisdom, and understanding (1:9-10). Christ is the one in whom God’s mysteryA mystery is something secret, hidden and not perceived by ordinary means. In the book of Daniel a significant mystery is revealed through divine revelation (Daniel 2); Paul speaks of a mystery of God in Romans 11 and again in Ephesians 3. In speaking of… has been revealed (1:26, 27; 2:2; 4:3) and the one in whom “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily” (2:9).
Thanksgiving
Typical of Paul’s letters, Colossians expresses thanksgiving for the relationship in Christ that Paul and Timothy share with the readers (1:3-8). The relationship for which Paul gives thanks is based in the familiar triad of faith, love, and hope: “for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven” (1:4-5). This is the gospel that is “bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been bearing fruit among yourselves from the day you heard it and truly comprehended the graceGrace is the unmerited gift of God’s love and acceptance. In Martin Luther’s favorite expression from the Apostle Paul, we are saved by grace through faith, which means that God showers grace upon us even though we do not deserve it. of God” (1:6).
Universal powers
A group of words that center around references to “rulers” and “powers” (or “authorities”) and “elemental spirits [or elements] of the universe” (1:16; 2:8, 10, 15, 20) is important in the letter. Paul adopts language of universal powers and spirits, transforming prior references and understandings by now using them to proclaim that Christ is Lord of all rulers, powers, authorities, and elemental spirits of the universe. There is nothing outside of Christ’s sovereignty and lordship in the universe.
Cosmic Christ
Closely related to the theme of universal powers is the theme of Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord of the cosmos. The affirmation that “in him all things in heaven and on earth were created… and that “he himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (1:16-17), bears remarkable similarity to the affirmation in the prologue to the Gospel of John that the Word “was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him…” (John 1:2-3). This emphasis on the preexistence of Christ and his role in creationCreation, in biblical terms, is the universe as we know or perceive it. Genesis says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the book of Revelation (which speaks of end times) the author declares that God created all things and… is a significant development beyond what is found in the undisputed letters of Paul. In Colossians, this emphasis serves to underscore the affirmation that Christ is Lord over all other authorities, rulers, and powers.
Realized EschatologyEschatology is the study of things that are expected to happen at the end of time. In the New Testament, this period is viewed in terms of a cosmic struggle between good and evil, which eventually will culminate in the second coming of Jesus and…
The eschatology of Colossians is more “realized” than that of the undisputed Pauline letters. Whereas in the undisputed letters, a careful tension is maintained between the “already” and the “not yet” of salvation, this tension is significantly diminished in Colossians. In Romans 6, for instance, Paul says that “if we have been united with [Christ] in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5) and that if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him” (Romans 6:8). Paul is careful to hold our resurrection with Christ as a future hope. Colossians, however, speaks of our resurrection with Christ as something already accomplished, affirming that “when you were buried with him in baptismJesus was baptized (literally, “dipped”) in the Jordan River by John the Baptizer, at which time he was acclaimed from heaven as God’s Son, the Beloved. Much later baptism became one of the sacraments of the Church, the action by which a person is incorporated…, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God (Colossians 2:12) and exhorting, “if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…” (3:1). Yet there does remain a future aspect of salvation in Colossians in the expectation of Christ’s return: “When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory” (3:4).
