It's quite likely Paul passed through Colossae more than once, as it lay on one of the major routes between Antioch and Ephesus. Nearby was the much larger and richer Laodecia, and farther north was Hierapolis. All of them nestled in the upper Maeander Valley. But Paul apparently did not stop to preach in any of those cities. The Lord saw fit to use one of their own, Epaphras, a prominent man who came to Christ in Ephesus. He went back home and spread the gospel in all three cities. Paul naturally viewed this as an extension of his ministry, though, and provided apostolic guidance to them.
We gather from the scattered mention of details Paul wrote this letter rather early in his confinement in Rome. It seems he sent several letters at once, this one along with Ephesians and Philemon. The messenger delegation included Epaphras and Onesimus, a runaway slave returning to Philemon.
Though this letter is rather terse, we note he seems concerned with attacks on their faith from the Judaizers, as usual, but some other, more localized threats. The intellectual culture of the region was a mixture of old Phrygian, Greek colonists, and a long-standing, less than orthodox Jewish population. While this was a very strange brew of religious and philosophical backgrounds, we sense the earliest stirrings of Gnositicism and Western Mysticism. Thus, there were issues with accommodations to pagan mythology, Hellenism, asceticism, and all sorts of other wild nonsense. Paul's answer to them all is Christ. Jesus the man was God incarnate, the single mediator with God, and the sole truth in flesh. By calling the Colossians back to Christ, Paul leaves no room for the substitutes.
Chapter 1 -- Paul declares Christ the only provision for knowing and hoping in God.
Chapter 2 -- Particularly foolish is the Judaizer's Talmudic restrictions which cannot possibly produce the holiness God demands.
Chapter 3 -- Paul lays out the sort of mindset and expectations in this life for those who belong to Christ.
Chapter 4 -- The letter is closed with one more grand admonition, and some personal greetings.
By Ed Hurst
15 January 2011
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