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Col.2:1. I want you to know what a feat I have for your sake and for the sake of those who are in Laodicea and Hierapolis, and for the sake of all who have not seen my face in the flesh, Intending to begin teaching, he points out in advance his great love for them in order to gain greater confidence. I'm worried, he says, about you. But he puts the believers in Laodicea and others along with them, obviously so that they would not be embarrassed, thinking that the reason for this was their weakness. Why are you worried? Do you notice anything bad in us? Because, he says, you have not seen my face. But he added: “in the flesh,” amazingly showing that they constantly saw him in the Spirit. Col.2:2. so that their hearts, united in love, may be comforted Finally, he begins to study; but neither condemns them nor completely frees them from accusation. The answer lies in these same words. A feat, he says, I have. For what purpose? So that they do not think differently, but are in agreement and are all united in one faith. How? Not by coercion and violence, but “in love.” He said this because differences of opinion give rise to schism. for all wealth: (και είς πάν πλοΰτον) perfect understanding, That is, so that they do not doubt anything, so that their understanding, that is, the knowledge of the secret, is strengthened in every possible way. And he didn’t just say: “for wealth,” but: “for all wealth.” I know that he says that you have knowledge of the mystery, but I wish that the confidence in this knowledge would be strong in you. Or: I wish you to be convinced rationally, and not unconsciously. to know the secrets of God and the Father How is this the secret of God? The one that through the Son we are attracted to God, and not through angels. Col.2:3. in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He alone knows everything. If He alone is wise, then wisely, of course, He came in the last days, and not long ago, and in vain some foolish people attack this. Having said: “treasures”, indicates their multitude, and with the word: “all”, shows that nothing is unknown to God, but by the expression: “hidden” - that He alone knows and one must ask Him for wisdom and knowledge. But notice, if it seems that he said something especially great, then this too - “in whom are hidden treasures” - he said it in relation to the understanding of very simple people. For God is self-wisdom and self-knowledge. Col.2:4. I say this so that no one will deceive you with insinuating words; “This,” that is, that all knowledge is in Christ, I said so that no one would deceive you. As for what if someone speaks red? Know in advance that if such a person does not speak about Christ, then he speaks only paralogisms and sophisms. Col.2:5. for although I am absent in body, I am with you in spirit, According to the connection of the speech, it was necessary to say: although I stand in the flesh, I spiritually see the deceivers. He turned this word into praise. Listen. rejoicing and seeing your prosperity and the strength of your faith in Christ. For not only, he says, have you not fallen, but no one has shaken your order and firm faith. Just as in a battle formation good order makes the phalanx strong, so the Church is strong when there is good order in it, love unites everyone and there are no divisions. But faith in itself constitutes a solid support, because it does not allow other thoughts to creep in, which, introducing division, shake the internal structure. Col.2:6. Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, We are not introducing anything new, but what you accepted is what we wish again. Lord Jesus Christ, not angels. For He is the way that leads to the Father. This way is not for angels; for this path does not lead there. Col.2:7. being rooted That is, standing motionless and not bowing either to Christ or to the angels. For those who are rooted never move. Shows that they had fallen, so that they needed restoration, that is, a second building on Christ as the foundation. and strengthened:(βεβαιούμενοι) in faith, That is, holding firmly to Christ through faith, and not through reasoning and wrangling. For a building is shaky even if it has a foundation, but it will not stand firmly on it. as you were taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving. Again he uses the word “how” so that, if nothing else, then they would be ashamed of themselves. So, in the words “as you were taught,” the apostle laid, as it were, a foundation, and in the words “prospering” he points to a building. We should not change the previously accepted teaching, but should succeed in it, taking it upon ourselves to show something exceedingly in our faith, thanking God for worthy of us with such grace, and not attributing this success to ourselves. Col.2:8. Be careful, brothers, that no one deceives you There is a thief, he creeps up secretly, he unnoticedly undermines the walls from below, intending to rob your mind. So, beware. philosophy and empty seduction, It also shows the way in which the thief comes: this is philosophy. But since the name of philosophy is considered respectable, he added: “and empty deception.” For there is also good deception, about which Jeremiah speaks: “You deceived me, O Lord, and I was deceived” (Jer. 20:7). And Jacob, it would seem, deceived Esau, but this should not be called deception, but dispensation (Gen. 27:27). according to human tradition, Do you see why there is seduction? Because human opinions come in. The Christian faith is not a human teaching, and therefore will not receive such a name. Finally, he begins to denounce the observation of days, calling the elements of the world the sun and the moon, from which the days seem to receive one or another property. And he did not say: observation of days, but: the whole present world, to show its insignificance. For if the whole world is nothing, then even less so are the elements. Even if it were possible, he says, to serve both Christ and the elements in half, then even then one should not obey the latter; and now they are completely removing you from Christ. And the observations of the days were not only Hellenic, but also Jewish: the first came from philosophy, and the second from law. Col.2:9. for in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, That is, what God is, the Word, dwells in Him. But so that, having heard the word “dwells,” you would not think that He was under the influence of power, like the prophets, for God dwelt in them, according to the word: “I will dwell in them and walk in them” (2 Cor. 6:16), - he added: “bodily,” that is, that He is not some kind of energy (force), but an essence, as incarnate and constituting one hypostasis with what was perceived. Or, in the words of St. Cyril, he lives like a soul in a body; and it dwells in the body essentially, inseparably and unmerged. But the soul is separated from the body at death. God the Word never separated from the resurrected flesh: He was with it in the tomb, preserving it from corruption, and in hell was with the soul, proclaiming and giving freedom to the captives, and in general there was a unity of soul and body even when they were separated during His voluntary death. Col.2:10. and you are complete in Him, That's what he said! You are in no way inferior to Him, since you too are filled with Divinity, but only “in Him,” that is, through the flesh assumed by Christ (δια του προσλ "μματος). For when our nature was united with God, we also shared in the divine nature in Him. And everywhere Paul wants to bring us closer to Christ. For example, when he says: “He raised us up with Him and seated us in the heavenly places in Jesus Christ” (Eph. 2:6), and: “If we endure, we will also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12), and when he calls us “joint heirs” (Rom. 8:17). Who is the head of all principality and power. He does not place Him as our head as one of the same essence, but above, as a source. So, how do you, having left Him, resort to the angels, of whom He is the head? And with all this he completely destroys the false teaching about angels. Col.2:11. In Him you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, It is a wonderful blessing that you have received circumcision in Christ. For it was not a human hand that performed this circumcision of the flesh, but the Holy Spirit: it is not a part that is circumcised, but the whole man. by putting off the sinful body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ; There, through circumcision, through the removal of the covering of the flesh, part of the body was exposed; here our body gets rid of the sin that we commit in the flesh. And such circumcision is performed not by the law, but by Christ in baptism, stripping off the old life from us - sinful and generally carnal life. Col.2:12. having been buried with Him in baptism, What he called circumcision, he now calls a tomb, comparing it to something more than circumcision. For what was circumcised was not simply discarded, but perished and decayed. So, the baptized person is buried in Christ, immersing himself three times, representing the three-day burial of the Lord, and dying like an old and sinful man. in Him you were also raised up by faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead, Baptism serves not only as a grave, but also as a resurrection. How? Through faith. For, having believed that God can resurrect, and having an example of this in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we have thus been raised in the Lord in two ways: and by the hope of the resurrection, so certain, as if we had already received it, although it will yet be; and spiritually, casting off the deadness of sin, and receiving quickening in the spirit. Col.2:13. and you, who were dead in sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive together with Him, Christ, he says, having accepted bodily death, is quickened by the Father, and he says this not because Christ the Lord Himself was weak to quicken Himself, but in order to lead everything to the One Source. And that the resurrection of the Lord is also His own action, He Himself says about this: “Destroy this church, and I will raise it up in three days” (John 2:19.), and again it says: “He showed Himself alive through His suffering” (Acts 1:3). But you, having suffered the death of sin and being uncircumcised, that is, having carnal thoughts in abundance and excess, which were killing you, were made alive together with Christ. For as He rose in body, so you rose in spirit; but we will rise, without a doubt, in body. But the great John makes it clear that mortification can be understood in another way. For, he says, because of the fall we were under condemnation to death. But look what He has honored us with and how He has freed us. Col.2:14. having destroyed by teaching the handwriting that was against us, which was against us, Since He said that He gave us, so that you would not think that He nevertheless left them to be somewhere and visible, He says: no, not so; He completely wiped them out and cleaned them out. By handwriting we will mean either the agreement that the people, as it were, personally concluded with Moses, saying: everything that God has said, we will do and obey (cf. Exodus 19:8), or the condition that God set for Adam, saying: on the day that you eat, you will die (Gen. 2:17). It was in the hands of the devil that it was like a handwriting; it was something that resisted us, not allowing us to rise, because it had the right. Christ destroyed this by “teaching,” that is, by faith, for he destroyed it not by works, but by the teaching of faith. and He took him out of the way and nailed him to the cross; Not only did he clean it out, but he also “took it from the environment,” that is, made it so that it was not visible; and neither gave it to us, nor kept it with Himself, but, nailing it to the cross, tore it to pieces, as is characteristic of one who forgives with joy. For we were all guilty of sin and punishment, but He, the sinless Himself, punished for us, destroyed sin and punishment on the cross: therefore, He tore up the handwriting on it. Col.2:15. having taken away the strength of the principalities and authorities, The Apostle says this about the powers of the devil either because they were clothed with human nature, or because the Son of God Himself, having become a man, knew their nakedness and revealed it, that is, he turned out to be invincible for the principalities and authorities. For even if He took upon Himself a sinful nature, He was without sin. You can understand what has been said this way: the devil ruled over human nature in two ways: through passions and illnesses. Therefore, the Lord also took on a body in order to fight for us against the principalities and powers of the devil. I will not say that He crushed them at the very beginning, when He took on His holy flesh, being conceived without lust and born without disease. But, however, even after He was born and came of age, He was tempted first of all on the mountain by the lures of pleasure - we are tempted directly from the enemy by the lure of gluttony, covetousness, vanity - and He won for us. Then, through sorrows, the tempter persuaded Him to hate His neighbors, inciting the Pharisees, scribes and persons favored by Him against Him. But he was unable to do it. Finally, he used the most powerful means, nailing Him to the cross. But the Lord not only did not weaken from everything that the enemy wanted, but also prayed even for those crucifying. In this way, on the cross, He completely took away the power from the principles and authorities and, as one who shared our nature, He also granted us, who submitted to them, this removal of power from the principles and authorities. imperiously subjected them to shame, 6 That is, he made them disgrace themselves. For the devil has never disgraced himself like this. He hoped to take possession of Christ, but he lost even those he had. The word “explicitly” (εν παρρησία) found in the Greek text is used instead: publicly, in the sight of everyone. If he could, the devil would do everything to assure people that He did not die. For this is his great defeat and - destruction - to subject the sinless Man to death. That is why he produced countless heresies that claimed that death was illusory. Therefore, the Lord died clearly and did not rise again explicitly. Because all the time that followed served as proof of His resurrection, and to prove His death, if the time of death itself had not served, there would have been no other time. having triumphed over them with Himself. That is, on the cross he showed that the demons were defeated. They call it a triumph when someone, returning from a victory over an enemy, makes a solemn procession, showing everyone bound and captives. Therefore, the Lord, having placed His trophy on the cross, as if at a national spectacle of the Hellenes, Romans and Jews, triumphed over the demons. If, therefore, it was not the angels who died for us, but Christ Himself, then how can you say that through them you were brought to God? Col.2:16. So let no one judge you for food or drink, or for any festival, or the new moon, or the Sabbath: Hitherto he spoke mysteriously: “so that no one entices you with deception”; Now it’s clearer when I mentioned the benefits of God. For if, he says, you have achieved such greatness, then why do you subject yourself to unimportant things? So, do not obey those who condemn you for not observing Jewish ceremonies in food and drink. By this he seems to praise them as alien to Judaism. He said about “some holiday” because they didn’t dare save everything. For if they kept the Sabbath, it was not so strictly, since they professed the Christian faith. Thus it shows that such observation is in vain when not everything is observed; it only leads to disruption of everything. For if it were good, it would be completely observed. Col.2:17. this is the shadow of the future, He calls the blessings of the New Testament coming, because they were coming in relation to the Old Testament, which existed until then, while its time lasted. Col.2:18. Let no one deceive you Some put a sign on the word “in Christ” so that this is the meaning: what was in the Old Testament was a shadow, but the body, that is, the truth, is Christ’s. What need is there to grasp at the shadow when the body is present? And others connect these words with the following ones, so that it can be understood in this way: “the body of Christ,” that is, you, “let no one deceive” - (καταβραβεύετω, that is, deprives), for καταβραβεύειν means when one wins the victory, and the other receives a reward. You have defeated the devil and become higher: why again submit to sin by observing a law that cannot justify? Otherwise: Christ, and not the law, defeated the ruler over us; He must have a reward, and so must you, who make up the body of Christ. How then do you yield this gift to the law? It is absolutely clear that if we still live like Jews, then the law rules over us and through it we hope to be saved. If the law is a shadow. Christ’s works are the body, then first we should have gotten used to the shadow. Therefore, it is right that He became incarnate in the last days in order to bring us to the Father. self-willed humility and the ministry of Angels, intruding into what I did not see, 7 After fulfilling their indignation, showing that they want to treat them villainously, to deprive them of their reward, the apostle sets forth the most heretical dogma, saying: they want to deprive you of your reward, deceiving you with seeming humility. For it is unworthy, they said, to teach the greatness of the Only Begotten that the Only Begotten brought you to the Father, since this is more than is in keeping with human smallness. Why is it more reasonable to believe that angels brought you to the Father? Based on this idea, they introduced a special service to angels, and convinced the simple-hearted to turn to them as if they were our saviors. And they, having never seen angels, claim this and that about them as if they had seen them. recklessly puffed up with his carnal mind In vain, he says, they are puffed up with their teaching, which is a matter of carnal reflection, and not spiritual. Doesn’t it expose the coarseness of their minds that they deny what Christ said: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son” (John 3:16) for people; and again: “And for them I consecrate Myself” (John 17:19); again: “I lay down my life for the sheep. I also have other sheep, which are not of this fold, and these I must bring” (John 10:15,16). There are many other similar places. So, as I said above: “humility of mind”? Their humility was apparent, not real. Otherwise: they were arrogant, like stubborn dogmatists, who did not even allow true teaching to be offered to them. Although they insist on their teaching of humility, they did not have it, but only humbly said: I will be sacrificed for us to the Only Begotten - this is more than is needed for people (not according to their measure, not to match them). Col.2:19. and not holding on to the head, from which the whole body, being united and held together by joints and bonds, grows by the growth of God. Whoever teaches this, he says, does not adhere to the Head, that is, the Son of God. For He is the Head of the angels, as the Creator and Sustainer of the World, as well as the Head of the entire Church, both for this reason and because we are His members in body, for He is our fellow man in this very thing. From Him, therefore, the entire body of the Church has both simple existence and well-being. Whoever falls away from Him is lost. Just as from the brain the sensitive spirit is transmitted through the nerves to the whole body - and from the head every feeling and every movement: so the whole body of the Church is supplied, that is, receives something with which to live and grow spiritually. When does it have this? When it is in combination (when it is well put together) with Him and in itself. For in this only case the Holy Spirit supplies the body with something to grow: so if the body does not have communication with the Head and with itself, then there is neither the supply of the Spirit, nor the return of God, that is, the best life according to God. Col. 2:20 . So, if you and Christ died to the elements of the world, then why do you, as those living in the world, adhere to the ordinances: Through baptism, he says, having died with Christ, you have died to your entire former life, so that you no longer serve the elements to which you were previously subject. Therefore, why do you submit to them again, as if living your old life? You recognize one day as happy and another as unhappy, but these are Hellenic observations. Look how imperceptibly he ridicules them, saying: “keep to the decrees” - δογματίζεσθε. You, he says, like children who have just begun to study, sit, receiving teachings and instructions on what you should do. Col.2:21. "Don't touch", "don't taste", "don't touch" Col.2:22. (that everything decays from consumption), They also give another observation regarding food, mainly Jewish, just as the Hellenic one was given regarding days. Condemning the arrogance of the local dogmatists (false teachers), the apostle says that all this is not important, but ends in corruption in those who use it; having decayed in the womb, it is then ejected by the aphedrone, so that for the soul in this, as it is in itself, there is no benefit or harm. according to the commandments and teachings of men? These are not divine instructions, but human decrees. So what? Isn't the law the teaching of God? “He existed when there was time, but now he does not exist, because his time has come to an end.” Or he says this because the elders of the Jews distorted it, establishing traditions apart from the law, as Christ speaks about this in the Gospel. Or he hints at the teachings of the Hellenes. Col.2:23. This has only the appearance of wisdom in self-willed service, humility and exhaustion of the body, in some neglect of the saturation of the flesh. They have a form of wisdom, but not power and truth. For the one who teaches this seems to be pious, modest and despising the body for the sake of abstaining from food. However, God honored the body and provided food so that, feeding on them, the flesh could exist and voluntarily dominate the passions. But they do not hold the body in honor, but deprive it of its due, taking away its power and not allowing it to act without coercion. According to Greek text: έδειγμάτισεν εν παρρησία. “Walking in vain” (instead of: “teaching”) according to another reading of the Slavic translation, which corresponds to the Greek word έμβατεύων, used by the bl. Theophylact. You might be interested in: