Christ is the Center
Colossians 2:16-19
The centrality of Christ is what frees us from the obsession with peripheral matters.
#Christ
Published February 6th, 2017
Commentary
Arc
Commentary
The implications of the reality of who Christ is and what He has accomplished are far reaching. Since He is the substance (17b), everything must center on him. It relativizes the importance of everything else, such as food, drink, festivals, new moons, and sabbaths (16). The Christian doesn't need to fear the opinions and judgments of people who would judge and condemn over peripheral matters (16, 18a). If Christ isn't at the center (19a), people will get hooked into peripheral and sometimes bizarre things such as asceticism, worship of angles, visions, and self exaltation (18b,c,d). But when one holds onto Christ as the center, he or she grows as a significant part of the whole body of Christ (19).
notes
Arc
NT
Colossians 2:16-19
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Μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω ἐν βρώσει καὶ ἐν πόσει ἢ ἐν μέρει ἑορτῆς ἢ νεομηνίας ἢ σαββάτων
Therefore (because of who Christ is and what He has accomplished) let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.
ἅ ἐστιν σκιὰ τῶν μελλόντων,
( For ) these are a shadow of the things to come,
τὸ δὲ σῶμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ.
but the substance belongs to Christ.
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μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω
( Therefore ) let no one disqualify/ pass judgment on you,
θέλων ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ καὶ θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων,
( when he is) insisting on asceticism and worship of angels,
ἃ ἑόρακεν ἐμβατεύων,
( and he is) going on in detail about visions,
εἰκῇ φυσιούμενος ὑπὸ τοῦ νοὸς τῆς σαρκὸς αὐτοῦ,
( and he is) being puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind,
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καὶ οὐ κρατῶν τὴν κεφαλήν,
( for he is) not holding fast to the Head,
ἐξ οὗ πᾶν τὸ σῶμα...αὔξει τὴν αὔξησιν τοῦ θεοῦ...
( even though ) from [Him] the whole body...grows with a growth that is from God...
διὰ τῶν ἁφῶν καὶ συνδέσμων ἐπιχορηγούμενον
( in that the body is being) nourished
καὶ συμβιβαζόμενον
and knit together through its joints and ligaments.
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