Lesson 1
A
Clear Voice in a Confused Time
Colossians
1:1-2
What
the average man wants, much more than he wants the
liberties we prize, is security; and he will
support those who can and will give it to him.
—Carl Becker
At a
football game I leveled my Leica camera hastily on
the broad back of an obviously athletic-type young
man passing by the stands. The point of interest
photographically was a symbol on that young man’s
sports jacket, a closed hand with the index finger
pointing up. Two words completed the scene and the
symbol: “ONE WAY.”
Jesus
the Christ---Still the Focus
You
who read this are quite at liberty to make up your
own minds concerning whether you like or do not
like that particular form of Christian witness.
The very fact that this symbol does not need
further explanation, for young or old, makes the
point. Jesus the Christ is still very much in
focus for a great many people in today’s world.
Questions are asked about him. Affirmations are
made about him. Followers live and, sometimes, die
for him. He is an inescapable figure on the
current scene.
Two
Thousand Years Ago, But Why Now?
Almost
two thousand years is a long time for any person
to stay “in focus” in human interest and
allegiance. But Jesus has done so and with persons
of all ages and many different walks of life. To
pursue the question of “why” and to ask what
fundamentally the Christian faith affirms about
him is a worthy and profitable quest.
Following that football game
and the photographic episode, several of us went
off to a pancake house for a short stack and
verbal replay of the game. In the pancake house
was a bookrack filled with numerous books, more
than one of them specifically about Jesus.
This
Fellow Jesus, beckoned one of the titles (from
Warner Press, incidentally). Louis Cassels, for
many years the senior religion editor with United
Press International, authored that one.
Cassels plunged into his
book on Jesus with typical reporter tenseness. He
recalled how a college student had once said to
him: “I would like to believe the things
Christians believe about Jesus. But I find the
story incredible.”
And
here is Cassels’ reply: “Tell me, which detail of
the biblical record of Jesus’ life do you find
more improbable than the fact that you and I are
talking about him, debating who he was and what
his life signified two thousand years after he was
executed as a criminal in an obscure province of
the Roman Empire?”
This
may have been a new thought for the student.
Cassels reports that the student “agreed, after
reflection, that this is indeed the strangest
aspect of the Jesus story—the simple, obvious, and
indisputable fact that he continues generation
after generation to be an object of intense
interest to people of all ages, races, nations,
cultures, and levels of intelligence.”
The
All-Sufficient Christ
The
preceding words, or wording of similar import,
occur again and again in writings about the letter
to the Colossians. In fact, the noted Scotch
commentator, William Barclay, has used it as a
title for a manual on Colossians. As a title it is
hard to improve as a jumping-off place for the
consideration of the epistle. That’s what the
Colossians letter is all about—the all-sufficiency
of Christ. He is portrayed here as Savior and
Lord, the agent of creation and the head of the
Church, the victor over all principalities and
powers.
Colossians does not narrate
the life story of Jesus. That is found in the four
Gospels. But it does interpret his significance
and what was believed about him by early
Christians, particularly the Apostle Paul. More
than any other portion of the New Testament (with
the possible exception of Ephesians) this letter
sets out the foundations of Christian belief about
Christ—who he was, what he had done, his continued
significance. In part, it came into being because
of danger that the infant church in Colossae might
be swept from its doctrinal moorings by emphases
that Paul felt were both heretical and dangerous.
Some
Background
The
letter begins by identifying Paul as author, (1:1)
and this is almost universally accepted by Bible
scholars. The date of its writing is not easy to
establish because of questions about where it was
written. Most commonly, it is thought to have come
out of the period of Paul’s captivity (4:10) in
Rome. (But it could have been earlier in
Caesarea.) If, as seems probable, the letter came
from Rome, the date would be A.D. 62 or 63,
shortly before Paul’s death.
Two
severe dangers appeared to be threatening the
church in Colossae, a town in the Lycus Valley a
hundred miles from Ephesus. First, a
super-spirituality or false piety was being
practiced by some members of the community,
together with a mixture of borderline and even
non-Christian ideas. At the same time, and from a
different quarter, there were remnants of paganism
with which to contend—tendencies to sensuality and
sexual looseness. These conditions are not so much
stated in the letter as they are inferred from
what Paul appears to be attacking.
Very
noticeable in this letter is Paul’s tendency to
contrast positive affirmations about Christ and
the Christian life, against teachings or trends
considered undesirable. In other words, what he
affirms here indicated something of what this
church, which Paul had not founded or visited, was
up against in terms of false teaching and
substandard Christian living.
An
Overview of the Letter
Paul’s
letters commonly begin with some form of personal
greeting, usually followed by a series of
doctrinal affirmations, then a section of
application of the doctrinal emphasis to Christian
life and work, and then another brief and personal
closing section. This is the way the Colossians
letter develops:
1.
Personal Greetings and Comments (1:1–8)
2.
Doctrinal Emphases and Affirmations (1:9–2:23)
3.
Concerns for Christian Living (3:1–4:6)
4.
Closing Personal Remarks (4:7–18)
For
convenience in spanning one quarter, the text
material has been divided into thirteen portions.
They could not all be exactly the same length or
weight. Feel free to adapt the pace, putting
greater emphasis where the interest lies.
Remember, keep watching for parallels to
present-day problems of the Church in both
doctrine and life.
Notes
on the Biblical Text
1:1
From Paul. To learn about Paul, read key passages
such as Acts 7:58; 8:1–3; 9:1–27; 22; 24–28.
Fragments of autobiography appear in his letters,
such as Galatians 1:15–2:5 and Philippians 3:4–6.
By God’s will … an apostle. Paul asserts that his
authority is derived from God rather than humans.
An apostle is “one who is sent,” a messenger. Paul
typically began his letters this way. See Romans
1:1; 1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1;
Galatians 1:1; and so forth. This statement of
apostolic credentials may have been especially
needed for this letter since Paul had not
personally visited this church.
Our
brother Timothy. See 1 Thessalonians 3:2; 1
Corinthians 4:17; Philippians 2:19–23. Note how
greatly Timothy had assisted Paul in his ministry.
In the light of Colossians 4:18, Timothy might
well have been the actual scribe or secretary for
the writing of this letter. Notice “our” brother;
even Christians who have not yet met face to face
are linked in the bonds of unity in Christ.
1:2.
To God’s people. Literally, the “saints,” those
who belong to God. The Church is people who have
been set apart for God’s purposes. In Colossae …
in union with Christ. The Colossian Christians
were in a city where dangers lurked. There was
much sin and moral looseness, some of it
encouraged by Greek and Romans religious
practices. But they were also in a place of
safety—“in Christ.” Grace and peace. These were
favorite Pauline terms. A study of them is
rewarding.
Some
Study Approaches
For
this beginning session, the purpose might be
primarily to become aware of some remarkable
parallels between the situation to which the
Colossians letter was originally addressed and our
own times—a time of religious confusion but yet
sincere search for certainty and direction, a time
of trends toward the occult and the practices of
mystical rites, a time of exploration concerning
the meaning of Jesus for the Christian.
A
possible way to get at the study would be a quick
overview of the four chapters of the letter,
asking: What is going on here and how does it
parallel our own times? (Each of four small groups
might explore one chapter quickly and bring their
finding to the whole group.)
Some
attention needs to be given to at least brief
orientation concerning such matters as the author
of this letter, the persons to whom it is
addressed, some of the key persons mentioned, the
overall theme. Notes on the Biblical Text will
help here. Give specific attention to the clues
found in chapter 1, verses 1–2.
Lesson 2
“When We
Pray for You” Colossians 1:3-12
For
this beginning session, the purpose might be
primarily to become aware of some remarkable
parallels between the situation to which the
Colossians letter was originally addressed and our
own times—a time of religious confusion but yet
sincere search for certainty and direction, a time
of trends toward the occult and the practices of
mystical rites, a time of exploration concerning
the meaning of Jesus for the Christian.
A
possible way to get at the study would be a quick
overview of the four chapters of the letter,
asking: What is going on here and how does it
parallel our own times? (Each of four small groups
might explore one chapter quickly and bring their
finding to the whole group.)
Some
attention needs to be given to at least brief
orientation concerning such matters as the author
of this letter, the persons to whom it is
addressed, some of the key persons mentioned, the
overall theme. Notes on the Biblical Text will
help here. Give specific attention to the clues
found in chapter 1, verses 1–2.
The
Church in Our World
In the
Church, it’s true; the traditional teaching of
enmity with the world has often been pretty
strong. (“This world is not my home; I’m just
a-passin’ through,” we used to sing.) Still, the
culture becomes so much a part of us that we fail
to recognize the nature of our “alienness.”
Many
people speak today of “traditional American
values,” in fact, as if they were synonymous with
Christianity. We may now acknowledge that some of
the practices we once identified as “worldly” and
inappropriate for Christians were not necessarily
so. But we also may suspect that some practices we
readily adopt are not at all in keeping with a
Christian life-style. Someone has said that asking
people to analyze their own culture is like asking
a fish to describe the nature of water.
Isn’t
it true, however, that the problem of which
Bonhoeffer speaks is the most urgent for any age?
After all, to every person who has ever lived, his
or her own age has been the “modern” one. As we
look back to the church at Colossae, we find that
their problems were not so different from our own.
The
Church in the Colossian World
The
Colossian converts to Christianity, most of them
Greek or Roman, may have recognized more readily
than we that a contrast existed between the way
they lived and the way they were called to live.
And yet, identifying the distinctives was by no
means easy. Among their problems were these:
1. The
true gospel was being distorted by teachings that
sounded pious but might eventually bring great
harm to the church.
2.
Converts from raw paganism were clinging to their
old styles of life rather than growing in a
Christian lifestyle.
3.
Jesus was being regarded as one of many
intermediaries between God and human beings but
not essentially unique in his person (a teaching
known as Gnosticism).
4.
Some persons felt they were the “spiritually
elite,” superior in experience to the rest of the
congregation.
5. The
temptation existed to exchange salvation by grace
for salvation by observance of specific rituals
and rules.
Does
any of this sound vaguely familiar? How would you
identify the chief dangers facing the Church
today?
As you
read Colossians 1:3–12, note where Paul begins in
his concern for the welfare of the Christians in
Colossae.
Some
Thoughts About Colossians 1:3-12
Paul’s
first reaction to the news of problems and dangers
in this church was to let the people know that he
was praying for them (v. 3). He begins with prayer
and thanksgiving and an enumeration of some of
their strengths rather than a tirade against their
weaknesses. Not all the news had been bad because
the Colossians demonstrated faith in Christ and
love for the people of God (v. 4). Is this not
usually the way things are in our congregations—a
mixture of strengths and weaknesses, of things
commendable and things questionable? The whole
picture requires seeing both. To dwell on
weaknesses only is to bring discouragement and
hopelessness or even resentment; to refuse to see
or admit that some weaknesses are present is to
permit deterioration, possibly beyond the point of
recovery.
Paul
reminds these Christians that they have received
the “true message” and that it has brought “hope”
to them (v. 5). In fact, the faith they hold and
the love they manifest are grounded in a hope that
reaches beyond this time-bound world. The gospel
is growing and spreading, wherever it gets a
hearing, just as it did among them (v. 6).
Now
Epaphras is mentioned (v. 7). Notice how he is
described. He is evidently the person chiefly
responsible for the raising up of this Christian
congregation in Colossae. Can anyone remember who
the most significant person or persons were in the
birth and development of the congregation in which
you now worship? Epaphras has reported to Paul how
this congregation is getting along (v. 8). From
emphases later on in the letter it is quite
evident that not all the news was good, but note
how Paul stresses the positive side of the report
in this opening portion of his letter.
The
next verses (9–12) indicate specifically Paul’s
prayer burden for this church, including his hopes
and aspirations for them.
Finding a Life-Style
Note
again the brief quotation at the beginning of this
session: “The most urgent problem besetting our
Church is this: How can we live the Christian life
in the modern world?” Those are the words of
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian leader in Germany
at the time of World War II. He himself was
imprisoned and finally hanged for the “crime” of
opposing the Hitlerian regime and its policies. He
felt acutely the clash between Christian
conscience and the pressures of both government
and society.
Paul
evidently sensed this same problem in the
Colossian situation. (Maybe we really should say
that it is a fresh dilemma in every time for those
who take the Christian way seriously.) Early in
his letter he focused his prayer and concern and
hopes in the phrases found in verses 9–11 of this
first chapter. A three-fold formula for a
Christian life-style emerges (in verse 10):
1. To
lead a life worthy of the Lord (RSV). This says
something about basic intention. When the
decisions and directions of life are governed by
intention to be worthy of the name “Christian” and
the claim to be a follower of Christ, a life
different from and superior to society’s norms
will appear.
2.
Fully pleasing to him (RSV). We all experience
pressures to “conform” to the society around us.
Christians seek first of all to please their
Master. Many people spend their lives trying to
please certain “others.” And we are all urged in
our culture to please ourselves. “You deserve a
break today!” we are told. But pleasing ourselves,
or even others, as unselfish as that may sound, is
not the order for the Christian. All our energies
are to be given to pleasing God.
3.
Bearing fruit in every good work (RSV). A
Christian life-style brings forth more than just
piety of belief and negative withdrawal from
society. Full obedience leads to fruit bearing.
Notes
on the Biblical Text
1:3.
We always give thanks. Another common
characteristic of the early portions of Paul’s
letters. For other examples, see 1 Corinthians
1:4–7; Philippians 1:3; 1 Thessalonians 1:3. In
each case, serious problems were on the horizon
but Paul begins with thanksgiving. The Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Again and again the New
Testament affirms special relationship between
Father and Son—note Romans 15:6; 2 Corinthians
1:3; 11:31; Ephesians 1:3; 1 Peter 1:3.
1:4.
We have heard. They heard from Epaphras. (See
4:12.)
1:5.
Faith … love … hope. This trilogy frequently
appears in the New Testament-1 Thessalonians 1:3;
5:8; Romans 5:1–5; Galatians 5:5–6; Ephesians
4:2–5; Hebrews 6:10–12; 10:22–24; 1 Peter 1:3–8,
21–22. Paul will build upon the good that already
exists.
1:6.
Bringing blessings and … spreading. The gospel is
fruitful when heard, accepted, and acted upon.
Note Matthew 13:18–23.
1:7.
From Epaphras. Back of the beginnings of any
congregation there is usually some faithful and
persistent witness. Faithful worker. His report to
Paul (v. 8) occasioned this letter.
1:9.
We … prayed for you. Although Paul has never met
these persons, he is deeply concerned for their
welfare. Concern for our brothers and sisters
around the world is the mark of a Christian.
Knowledge … wisdom … understanding. “Nothing short
of the total of what God can and will give his
people satisfied Paul’s inspired desire” (Vaughn).
There is danger in being superficial in knowledge
and shallow in experience.
1:10.
Live … do. Knowledge must result in action and
obedience. What pleases him. Our first criterion
is pleasing God rather than people. Note Romans
12:12; 1 Thessalonians 4:1; 2 Corinthians 5:9;
Ephesians 5:10.
1:11.
Made strong. “God’s commands always imply the
means of obedience and the promise of power”
(Thomas).
1:12.
Give thanks. God has made us acceptable. Gratitude
is our appropriate response.
Some
Study Approaches
Begin
by discussing both advantages and disadvantages of
living in a country that is identified as
“Christian.” Can a country be “Christian?” You
might suggest aspects of North American culture or
values that seem to you to be most in conflict
with Christian values. Or ask class members to
suggest examples of their own.
Quickly review Colossians
1:3–12. Here we get a few clues concerning the
Colossian situation and how Paul came to write to
this church. (Recall that he was not its founder
and had never visited it, but he was concerned
because of the report that had been brought to
him.)
Identify parallels between
problems the Colossians were experiencing and
difficulties the church experiences today.
Lesson 3
Affirmations About Christ
Colossians 1:13-20
Paul did not take the
negative method of arguing with and contradicting
the false teachers; he took the method of stating
the Christian gospel in all its splendor.
—William Barclay
A
skilled and devout German wanted to crown his work
with a statue of Jesus that would convey the full
feeling and conviction of Christians about him.
His first attempt required several years of hard
work. But at last the statue was finished and he
decided to test his success by unveiling the
statue before a little girl and awaiting her first
reaction.
More
Than a Great Man?
The
sculptor asked the little girl, “Who is this?” Her
reply was: “It is certainly a great man.” The
sculptor, so the story goes, was so disappointed
that he destroyed the first attempt and began his
work all over again. He repeated his “test” with
the same little girl, but this time she stood
quietly a few moments, almost as if in the
presence of a living person. Then in obvious awe
she murmured: “He is the One who said, ‘Suffer the
little children to come unto me!’ ”
The
Christian faith affirms the human reality of Jesus
but has always insisted that the fullness of his
person cannot be explained in human categories
alone. An ancient creedal statement describes him
as “truly man and truly God.”
A
Matter of Belief
Some
years ago a dynamic young evangelist left the
pulpit for a secular career in the broadcasting
industry. He had been remarkably successful,
particularly in his work with young people. It was
hard to secure his services for a youth convention
because his calendar was so filled with
engagements of this kind. His preaching was
urgent, winsome, and compelling; many converts to
Christ and the Christian way resulted from his
ministry.
But
suddenly, in the midst of what appeared to be a
highly effective career, he dropped out, canceled
his long list of waiting engagements, and left
both friends and admirers baffled over what had
happened. Eventually, in response to press
inquiries, he stated his key reason for his
decision. “I ceased to believe in the divinity of
Christ,” he said.
Leonard Griffith, also a
noted minister and a friend of this former
evangelist, commented on this situation in a book
titled What Is a Christian? Here are his remarks:
If
this did actually happen to his thinking, then we
have to respect him, because the preacher who
ceases to believe in the divinity of Jesus has
nothing more to preach. The foundations beneath
his Gospel have collapsed; he no longer has a
Gospel, and if he wants to be honest with himself,
he has no alternative but to leave the ministry
and earn his living in some secular profession. In
spite of intellectual reservations a man may lead
a life controlled by the highest Christian
principles, but he is still not a Christian if he
rejects that fundamental belief which, unless it
is true, turns Jesus himself into a liar, makes
fiction of the New Testament and reduces nineteen
centuries of Christianity to a colossal hoax (p.
13).
What
is your reaction to this decision and Leonard
Griffith’s interpretation of it? How important is
what we believe about Jesus? Is it not enough to
experience him in living relationship? Why do we
find it necessary to answer such questions as who
Jesus really was, why he came, what his life and
death signify? In other words, what is the
relationship between doctrine and discipleship? If
we feel that one should have priority, can we
thereby do without the other?
Some
Background on Colossians 1:15-20
A
noted Bible scholar has stated that Colossians
1:15–20 “represents a loftier conception of
Christ’s Person than is found anywhere else in the
writings of Paul” (E. F. Scott). Such sweeping
affirmations as are made in this passage about
Christ make our minds reel trying to comprehend
them. Two background ideas will help before
looking specifically at the passage:
1.
Scholars believe that some fragments of early
Christian “praise” hymns are embedded in portions
of the New Testament. Philippians 2:6–11 is an
example of this (note how it is arranged as poetry
in most current translations and so is Colossians
1:15–20.) In other words, we have the language of
praise and adoration here coupled also with
doctrinal affirmation. In part, Paul may in this
passage have given some doctrinal explanation and
affirmation based in part on familiar phraseology
of a hymn already known to his hearers.
2. The
type of teaching prevalent at that time—and
evidently threatening the future life of this
congregation—tended to foster viewpoints about
Jesus that to Paul were unacceptable. Christ was
being regarded as not wholly adequate to
salvation, as one among many “saviors,” as one
link but not the unique Mediator between God and
persons. The reality of his coming “in the flesh”
to suffer and die on our behalf was being
depreciated. These ideas were part of the early
heresy known as Gnosticism. Read the passage with
these two background ideas in mind in order to
understand overall significance.
Christ
and His Relationships
Paul
here affirms exalted convictions about the
relationships of Christ to God, to creation, and
to the Church. Christ is “special” and unique in
all these relationships. Each affirmation was
intended as an antidote to borderline or
less-than-fully-Christian emphases:
1.
Relationship to God. Christ is “the visible
likeness of the invisible God” (v. 15). Also, “by
God’s own decision … the Son has in himself the
full nature of God” (v. 19). Christ is more than
just a “good” or a “great” or even the “greatest”
man. He uniquely manifests and represents God. He
is the King in God’s kingdom (v. 13). It is by him
that “we are set free … [and] our sins are
forgiven” (v. 14)
2.
Relationship to Creation. Both in point of time,
and in rank, Christ comes first. “Through him God
created everything” (v. 16). “Christ existed
before all” (v. 17). And, “in him all things hold
together” (v. 17, RSV). As Lightfoot has
commented, “He is the source of its life, the
center of all its developments, the mainspring of
all its motions.”
3.
Relationship to the Church. “He is the head of his
body, the church” (v. 18). It is the head that
“guides, directs, enables, moves” the body—and so
is Christ in relationship to the church. In Paul’s
eyes the welfare of the Church is tied closely to
giving Christ his rightful place as its head. He
is God’s answer to the spiritual needs of the
human family.
What
relationship or significance do you see in these
affirmations for your life and for the life of the
church today?
Notes
on the Biblical Text
1:13.
He rescued us. Past tense. This took place at
conversion. God is the rescuer. Note Ephesians
2:4–6. From the power of darkness. See John 3:19
and Romans 13:12. “‘Darkness’ in Scripture is
symbolic of ignorance, falsehood, and sin”
(Vaughn). Into the kingdom. Note that the Kingdom
is a spiritual reality, already in existence.
1:14.
Set free. Redemption comes through the death of
Christ. Note Luke 24:21; Titus 2:14; 1 Peter
1:18–19.
1:15.
The visible likeness. Christ fully represents God.
Note 2 Corinthians 4:4; Hebrews 1:3; John 14:9.
Paul is not saying that Jesus simply tells us what
God is like. He is saying that to look at Jesus is
to see God.
1:16.
Through him God created. Paul regards Christ as
the instrument of God’s creative activity. Also
note 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; John 1:3.
1:17.
The Today’s English Version appears a bit weak in
translation of the closing part of this verse.
Check other translations. For example, “In him all
things hold together” (RSV). “He is like the root
which makes the innumerable branches and leaves
into a living tree” (E. F. Scott).
1:18.
The head of his body. The Church, is a spiritual
organism, with Christ as its source of life. He
guides and governs. Note parallels in Ephesians
1:22–23; 4:15. The church is the whole body of
believers. The Book of Common Prayer refers to it
as “the blessed company of all faithful people.”
1:19.
The full nature of God. “One of the supreme
objects of Colossians is to insist that Jesus is
not one in a series, one among many, that he is
not the partial revelation of God, but that he is
utterly unique, and that in him there is the whole
of God, the fullness of God” (Barclay).
1:20.
God made peace. Here we see the reconciliation
theme. See 2 Corinthians 5:19 God takes the
initiative in reconciliation.
Some
Study Approaches
Note
the sections More Than a Great Man? and A Matter
of Belief. They can provide a springboard for
discussing about how Christians struggle with the
matter of belief in relationship to experience.
(Both are important. Either one tends to lead to
the other. Neglect of either leads to weakness of
both.)
Explore quickly the listings
under “Jesus Christ” in the topical index of your
hymnal. List some of the things affirmed about
Jesus in typical hymns and gospel songs. Do you
find parallels in the Colossians 1:13–20 passage?
(One subheading of the index could be assigned to
each of several small groups to make possible a
quick composite of these affirmations.)
Consider the three basic
areas of Paul’s affirmations about Christ—his
relationships to God, to the world, and to the
church. The Notes on the Biblical Text section can
supplement here. Key questions: What is lost or
endangered if we surrender any one of these
affirmations? Why would Paul be so concerned about
these matters? In what sense are they of
consequence for personal Christian life or the
life and work of the Church today? (For example,
if we came to think of Christ as one among many,
“great” but not necessarily unique, what effect
would this have on the mission outreach of the
church and on personal witness and
evangelism?)
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