The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians: Expository Commentary from Sermons by Dr Peter Masters

Bible Commentary on the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Colossians

by Dr Peter Masters, Metropolitan Tabernacle, London (adapted from sermons)

Colossae was an ancient city in Phrygia, which is part of modern Turkey, and it was a very proud city, a pagan city, but a city in decline. Decline had come because it was situated very close to Laodicea, and the great trade route had run through Colossae, but some years before the time of the narrative here, that road had been re-routed through Laodicea. So Laodicea became rich and Colossae went into decline.

The city had a population of about, so the experts think, 25,000 to 30,000 people – somewhat bigger than Chichester, somewhat smaller than Brighton, but a large city for those times, although small in modern times. It lay about 100 miles east of Ephesus, on the eastern side of that group of seven churches in the letters in the book of Revelation; Colossae is not one of those addressed, but near to that group of churches, just on the eastern end.

Paul has never been there. While Paul was in Ephesus for three years building up the church and preaching, there was a man from Colossae name Epaphras and he was in Ephesus, perhaps on business. He heard the apostle Paul preach and he was saved, and was taught by Paul. On returning to his home in the city of Colossae, and Epaphras preached the gospel and the church was founded and grew, and amazingly so because it was a pagan city and a proud pagan city. It had its own acropolis which in earlier time would have had a citadel on top. It also had a theatre, an amphitheatre, which would have held about 5,000 people. So, it was an strongly rooted pagan city, but the Spirit moved and many people were converted and there was a thriving church.

But it was subject to difficulties. Although, as the apostle writes, it seems to be a wholesome church, it had been penetrated by heretics rather like Judaisers wanting Jewish ceremony, not unlike the heretics that infiltrated the church at Corinth. There was a large Jewish community in Colossae, so even though it was a Gentile city, but a lot of Jews lived there, and these heretics wanted circumcision and Jewish ceremonies. But they also had other strange ideas. They are called Gnostics. They had the idea that Christ was not a real person, he was a sort of emanation from the Father, who came and was withdrawn. The Scriptures – well, they were disparaged and denied. ‘There is a higher knowledge you need. You can have it infused directly into you. You can know and understand and see things mystically. The Scriptures, what are they? Just ink written on parchment, paper – oh, no, you can have this direct link to divine knowledge.’ It was one of these rather arrogant, mystical things. ‘And who is Christ? Well, yes, he is there in a way but he is just nothing in particular; he did not really have a human body.’ They denied his humanity. ‘He is one among other, curious manifestations of the divine presence and power.’ So, they did not believe in the gospel; they did not believe in Calvary. They were prepared to use clever language to insinuate their way into the church of Colossae, if they could. So, the heretics were way off track, and denied salvation by grace and faith, and they were threatening to come in and had to be countered in this epistle.

Evidently Epaphras, the pastor and founder of the church, has travelled the 100 miles to Ephesus to ask Paul, ‘What can we do about this? How can we protect the church?’ So, Paul writes this epistle and it is a warning epistle. But it is not just a warning epistle. Some of the commentators make too much of the heresy. They see lurking in every single verse a kind of antidote to the heresy and that is going much too far. They go through the entire epistle as though it is only an answer to the heretics and it is not. There are no doubt a lot of things said that warn against unsound teaching, against heresy, but in addition to the warning, there are tremendous passages that exalt Christ and teach of him. He is saying many things that would strengthen the Colossians against heresy but its fundamental purpose is to teach them and us and to give tremendous encouragement and help.

The epistle was written around AD 60, probably 3, 4, or 5 years – not more than that – before there was the tremendous earthquake centred on Colossae, and almost all the historic buildings collapsed, and were devastated. But here is just a small insight into the pride of Colossae: although it was in decline, Colossae was one of those cities, so the historians tell us, that rebuilt itself without any aid from the Roman overlords. So, they were capable people, and industrious people. But there this church was formed, and the apostle now writes from Rome and he is in prison at the time of writing. He gives instructions for the letter to also be read in the nearby church of Laodicea.

TOC o "1-1" h z u Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc60575544 h 1Contents  PAGEREF _Toc60575545 h 2Outline  PAGEREF _Toc60575546 h 3Purpose  PAGEREF _Toc60575547 h 4Colossians 1  PAGEREF _Toc60575548 h 4Colossians 2  PAGEREF _Toc60575549 h 27Colossians 3  PAGEREF _Toc60575550 h 43Colossians 4  PAGEREF _Toc60575551 h 63