and in him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17
Colossians 1:15-20
15 Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18 Christ is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
Background and Authorship
This is the second of four weeks that the second reading comes from the epistle to the Colossian church. Last week I started but never finished a reflection on Colossians 1:1-14. This week I had to say something about Colossians so I could include my illustration of Colossians 1:17—one of my all time favorites.
Despite the greeting referencing Paul and his sidekick Timothy, this epistle's grammar, syntax, vocabulary, and sentence structure depart from the style of Paul/Saul of Tarsus' seven genuine letters. In addition, the household codes in 3:18 – 4:1 are patriarchal rather than egalitarian in the ways Paul's epistles to the churches at Galatia and at Corinth recommend for communities in Christ to be structured and function.
Most likely a ministry companion, friend, student, or younger sibling of Paul wrote this letter from 60CE to as late as 75CE, about three decades after Jesus' death and resurrection, predating the gospels. Colossae was in current western Turkey, 120 miles inland from the Aegean Sea. Apparently the site of the congregation at Colossae now is a heap of ruins waiting to be excavated.
Because Colossians and the later letter to the church at Ephesus share similar theology and language, the probable author of both sometimes gets called deutero-Paul or Paul the Second. I was excited to learn recently from Enter the Bible that Colossians may have been a template for Ephesians, with Ephesians qualifying as an early commentary on the content of Colossians. Enter the Bible is a free, scholarly yet accessible resource from Luther Seminary.
Style and Content
In Colossians we find theology (the word about the divine), Christology (words about the Christ), and cosmology (words about the scope and reach of all creation) that anticipates the worldview of John's gospel almost a half century later. In his seven undisputed epistles, the apostle Paul is about outward from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth; the cosmic Christ of Colossians moves beyond planet earth into immeasurable time and space.
Even in translation, Colossians' poetic splendor takes Paul up a few notches. It's as if original Paul was super-concerned about carefully articulating formal theology of law and gospel, death and resurrection, but Colossian's author already has all that down, so they feel confident to riff and gloss on those basics.
As in Paul's authentic letters, Colossians are "in Christ," rather than followers or disciples as the gospels describe Jesus' people. This is the Christ who embraces and rules all creation, yet affects individuals at their core.
Future weeks will refer to the social and religious location that had the Colossian church involved in a syncretism that sounds like the edge of heresy, so all along the letter affirms the sufficiency, authority, power, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
gods God Images
Christ is the image of the invisible God. Colossians 1:15
Imperial Rome and its colonies were full of coins stamped with the emperor's image. The Roman Caesar supposedly was the son of a god, bestowing on him a slice of divinity. Formal church history well may (it does) locate the confession of Jesus as fully human and fully divine in the Definition of Chalcedon from the ecumenical council that convened in the year 451, but this letter to the Christians at Colossae declares Jesus divine four centuries earlier.
Authority Sovereignty Rule
Today's reading describes Jesus as God's authoritative presence and the actual ikon / icon / image of the invisible God. How do you picture something that's invisible, that can't be seen? Do you remember Genesis 1:27 tells us God created humanity (us!) in the divine image—imago Dei?
Early Christians perceived – "saw, viewed" – Jesus as fully imprinted with God. In terms of the first century's (and this twenty-first's) status quo, these words from Colossians are seditious and subversive! They proclaim the person, power, and rule of Jesus Christ in terms that only are supposed to belong to the emperor. If – because – Jesus is supreme, then caesar isn't. Because Jesus is Lord, national flags and corporate logos aren't our central symbols. The cross of Calvary is.