Colossians

Recommended reading from Eric Hanna

Colossians was written by St Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome between 61-63 AD. He also wrote Ephesians and Philemon in the same period. His authorship was never challenged in the early church, appearing in Marcion’s canon of Scripture around 150 AD and in 190 AD were it was attested by St Irenaeus. In the 18th Century some scholars began doubting his authorship due to the content and language of the letter, however, by and large it is predominantly seen as a Pauline Epistle. The Epistle is very short but packs a punch!

I am not here to write a commentary on this Epistle, there are many excellent commentaries out there, but I just wanted get across to you how magnificent this Epistle is and why you should read it this Lent!

Colossians soars to the cosmological heights of the mystery of Christ, it puts Him front, centre and in everything that is going on and then lifts us up to live with this Christ in our daily lives, a life worthy of this almost unimaginable truth. The letter was also dealing with some false teachers who seemed to be denying the fullness of God in Christ. I also hear in it the theme of Christ being the Wisdom of God, present at the beginning of creation, which you will find in the deuterocanonical book; The Wisdom of Solomon.

But the portion that it is most well-known for is the ‘hymn’ in the first chapter. Colossians 1:15-20.

15 He 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 He 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 to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

This is not seen as a hymn per se - as F.F Bruce said;

Do these six verses really contain a hymn? Certainly one cannot recognize here the established forms of either Hebrew or Greek poetry. What is here is rhythmical prose, but it is rhythmical prose with a strophic arrangement such as is found in much early Christian hymnody.

Whether this was an existing hymn or creed, we do not know. But regardless of this - just look at it!! ‘…the image of the invisible God’ - what did Jesus say to St Phillip? If you have seen me you have seen the Father. ‘For in Him all things in heaven and on earth…rulers or powers..all things have been created through Him and for Him.’ Whatever is happening to you today or this week or this year, Jesus is above all that. Regardless of who is in charge or what virus’s might appear, it is all, unfathomably - a part of and within Christ. The Christ who loves you and gave himself up for you. ‘The fullness of God was pleased to dwell’. The Jesus who grew into manhood, the Jesus tempted for 40 days, the Jesus who was nearly thrown off a cliff by an angry crowd - and the Jesus who will enter His Pasch for us - the fullness of God dwelt within.

The rest of the epistle is filled with gems that can impact your life if you let it. Go on, have a read!

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.