Bible Commentaries
Colossians 1

Verse 1

THE EPISTLE TO THE COLOSSIANS IntroductionBy D. J. LEAHY

The Church at Colossae—The origin of the town’s name is unknown; it has nothing to do with ’Colossus’ or ’Colosseum’; it is probably an adaptation of the name of Lake Koloe, not far distant. The town lay in the southwestern corner of Phrygia. The traveller setting out eastwards to the Euphrates from the seat of Government, Ephesus, would take the great trade road through the Meander Valley for about one hundred miles to Laodicea. Eleven miles farther on he would come to Colossae; or six miles northwards he would come to Hierapolis. These cities lay in the Valley of the Lycus, a tributary of the Meander. Colossae itself was situated among mountains which marked the upper reaches of the valley and the point of entry into the tableland of central Asia Minor. Today the district is desolate, but in ancient times it was prosperous. Xerxes halted there on his famous march against the Greeks in 481 b.c., and later Cyrus stayed there for seven days ( Xenophon, Anabasis, 1, 2, 6). Josephus (Ant 12, 3, 4) relates that Antiochus III, the Great ( 223-187 b.c.) transferred two thousand Jewish families from Babylonia and Mesopotamia into Lydia and Phrygia. These were allowed to use their own laws and were well treated. Some of them must surely have settled in Colossae. St Paul’s epistle supposes that there is a Jewish element among the people there.

In the first cent. of the Christian era the town was already in a state of decay. It had bee outstripped by nearby Laodicea, founded in the third cent. b.c. and renowned for its trade in black wool and medicine. Indeed, as J. Huby (p 1) declares, if St Paul had not written this epistle, the name, Colossae, would be known only to specialists in ancient history.

St Paul did not found the churches in the Lycus Valley personally; they are not included in the description of the Apostle’s journeys in Acts, and in this epistle he writes of the Christians gathered together at Colossae and Laodicea in terms which suggest that he had never seen them face to face (Colossians 1:7; Colossians 2:1). Nevertheless, the Church at Colossae was closely bound to the Apostle, and he hoped to visit it personally after writing to Philemon (Phm 22). Hearing your faith (1:4) does not mean that the Apostle was only then for the first time becoming acquainted with the Christians at Colossae. How the Church at Colossae came to be founded was probably in the following way: St Paul spent over two years at Ephesus, and after he had been thrust out of the synagogue there and was preaching daily in the school lent by, or rented from, Tyrannus (Acts 19:9), ’all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks’ (Acts 19:26). Among those who came from the Lycus Valley were the Colossians, Epaphras ( 4:12) and Philemon ( 4:9; the slave, Onesimus, was from Colossae; hence also his master, Philemon). Epaphras acted as a missionary in his native valley, founding churches at Hierapolis and Laodicea (Colossians 4:13) as well as in Colossae itself (Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12-13). He was assisted by Philemon, who provided accommodation for a church in his house (Phm 1-2). It is likely that both of them were Gentiles, since Paul mentions specially Jesus Justus as a Jew (Colossians 4:11). Indeed, the majority of the Christians at Colossae appear to have been Gentile converts; cf. 1:21, 27; 2:13, etc. But that there was a Judaic element is, as we have seen, a priori probable, and it is confirmed by several allusions in the epistle (2:11, 14, 16; 3:11, etc.).

Date, Occasion and Purpose— This epistle is one of the four Captivity Epistles, all written whilst St Paul was in prison and all within a short time of one another. The captivity was the Apostle’s imprisonment in Rome (61-63, cf. § 898b).

St Paul intended this epistle for all the Lycus Valley churches (cf. 4:16), but that does not imply that it is a circular letter, like Eph. The people in the Lycus Valley were closely bound together; they shared the dangerous tendencies which were the direct occasion for the writing of the epistle. It was doubtless the affair of Onesimus and the letter to Philemon which led Paul to direct the epistle in the first instance to Colossae. Whilst in prison in Rome, the Apostle received a visit from Epaphras, who told him of the growing faith and charity of the people at Colossae (1:7; 2:5; 4:13). This news was good; but there was something disturbing in the report too. There were false teachers there. In brief, they were saying that Christians should worship spiritual beings who were alleged to be intermediaries between God and man. The effect of this false teaching was to rob Christ’s person and work of their unique and supreme importance. To combat these errors St Paul wrote this epistle, which, then, can be described as a polemical treatise. His method was to make clear the supremacy of Christ’s person and work—to exalt both above intermediate beings.

In detail, the Errors were essentially Judaistic (cf. P. Benoit RB 54 [ 1947] 624), though they were shot through with a false asceticism and false speculation which came from Hellenistic syncretism (cf. Abbott, xlix). The Apostle supposes that his (Jewish) readers see a close relation between the Law of Moses and the angels. This idea was not new: there are traces elsewhere in the NT (Acts 7:38, Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2), and it was taken for granted by many Jews in rabbinical circles which regarded the Torah as a supernatural being, the real value of which was judged not in its creation, but in its promulgation through angels (cf. J. Bonsirven, S.J., Le Judaïsme Palestinien, Paris, 1934, I, 250). The angels were regarded as guardians of the Torah, and they would destroy those who refused to accept it (J. Bonsirven, loc. cit., I, 232; cf. SB III, 554-6). At Colossae, then, the Judaizers wanted the Old Law to stand; they wanted divine worship to be given to those celestial beings and all they stood for. J. B. Lightfoot (P 71): ’Even the enforcement of the initiatory rite of Judaism may be inferred from the contrast implied in St Paul’s recommendation of the spiritual circumcision (2:2)’.

At the same time there was a tendency which Lightfoot ( ibid. ) describes as ’an element of theosophic speculation, which is alien to the spirit of Judaism proper . . . a shadowy mysticism which loses itself in the contemplation of the unseen world’. It was a tendency later to develop into Gnosticism (cf. Lightfoot, 74-111). Meanwhile, it appeared as a claim to an exclusive and profound knowledge of celestial beings (cf. 2:18).

The two bad tendencies had one common root: matter was evil and therefore hateful to God. Between God and man, between infinite and finite, yawned a chasm that could not be bridged. In their bewilderment the false teachers, yearning to approach God, turned to angelic beings as instruments of communication between God and man, and as objects of worship.

In his refutation St Paul shows that it was only Christ who filled that chasm; his Person—the Word Incarnate—was their solution; the celestial beings, the alleged intermediaries, to whom St Paul gives the name angels (2:18), or thrones, dominations, principalities, powers (1:16; 2:10, 15) are not divine, are not mediators. They are not closer to man than Christ is; they are subordinate to Christ, the Divine Mediator.

The Doctrinal Teaching is in perfect harmony with the rest of St Paul’s teaching—salvation by union with and in Christ; deliverance from the old man of the flesh and from the Law; entry into the new man by possession of eternal life, already acquired by Baptism but awaiting development in Heaven.

But ’The distinctive feature of this epistle is its Christology. The doctrine of the Person of Christ is here stated with greater precision and fulness than in any other of St Paul’s epistles’. (Lightfoot, 120.) Positively, the Apostle here lays great emphasis on the Divinity and Manhood of Christ. He is pre-existent and is supreme over all creation; he has a function in the creation and government of the world; he has a function as Redeemer of the world; he is Head of the Church, the mystical body.

Authenticity— Abbott (op. cit. p L) ’About its early and uncontroverted reception as the work of St Paul, there is no doubt’. There are probable allusions to the epistle in Clement of Rome (1 Cor 49, 2; Colossians 3:14); in Barnabas (12, 7; Colossians 1:16); St Ignatius (Eph 10, 3; Colossians 1:23). St Irenaeus quotes from every chapter and attributes the epistle explicity to St Paul ( Adv. Haer. 3, 14, 1). Similarly, there is no doubt about its authenticity in the works of Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, Origen. In the Muratorian Canon the epistle occupies the same position as in our MSS. The Chester-Beatty papyrus (P 46), which dates from the first half of third cent., reproduces it, and Eusebius mentions it as one of the uncontested epistles. Even the heretics, Marcion and the Valentinians, quote it as the word of God.

Attacks on the authenticity have been based on purely internal or subjective reasons. Thus Mayerhoff ( Der Brief an die Kolosser, Berlin, 1838) excited interest by declaring that the epistle was a treatise against Gnostics, and since the earliest Gnostic writer known is Cerinthus, the epistle could not have been written until two centuries after the date of St Paul’s death. At the same time Mayerhoff viewed with suspicion the connexion between St Paul and the Christology of the epistle. Though Mayerhoff attracted a few critics to his view, the fact is that today the vast majority of nonCatholic commentators admit that the epistle is from the hand of St Paul.

Relation between Col and Eph—These two are called companion epistles, first because they were written about the same time, and especially because of their striking literary likeness. Abbott (p xxiii) quotes a list of parallel passages compiled by De Wette. It comprises some fifty verses of each epistle. It is noticeable that the parallels occur mostly in the moral section of each epistle, and this is not surprising, since once St Paul had formulated precepts for domestic behaviour, for example, he would naturally frame the same instructions in similar language in a second epistle written at the same time (possibly on the same day) to churches which he had not known personally. The contexts, the doctrinal ideas, are not the same in each epistle.

The principal idea of Col is the pre-eminent dignity of Christ’s person, whether considered in his eternal life or in his relations with the world—’in all things holding the primacy’ (1:18c). The moral teaching develops from this. The principle of man’s perfection is not something external (13:21-22); it is within him, for it is Christ dwelling in his soul (3:17). It is in virtue of his union with Christ that man achieves merit: man’s perfection is not so much a fleeing from sin, as a continual progress up to God by and in Christ.

The principal idea of Eph is the Church, the union of the faithful with and in Christ, as members of the body of which he is the head. This theme occupies the first three chapters, but corresponding to this Col has only ch 1. Indeed, the whole of Col 2 has no parallel in Eph. The moral teaching of Eph is an exhortation to lead the Christian life in view of the doctrine expounded in the first three chapters. The Apostle insists especially on unity in and with Christ, the head of the body: internal unity with him by faith, hope and charity; external by professing the same Christianity, all doing their part to build up the whole Christ. The striking passage on charity in unity (4:1-16) has no parallel in Col. ’It must be recognized that nowadays those who deny the authenticity of Eph are abandoning the argument drawn from the literary likeness between that epistle and Col. Nobody now speaks of a servile reproduction, or of an imitation without any show of originality.’ (Coppieters RB 9 [ 1912] 371.)

Verses 2-29

I 1-3a The Greeting—1. It is noteworthy that St Paul uses his title ’apostle of Jesus Christ’ even to a church which he had not personally founded (cf. § 909c). What he is going to write in this epistle is authoritative; that is why he begins by quoting his credentials (cf.1 Corinthians 1:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Ephesians 1:1, etc.). With his own name he associates that of Timothy, a brother in affection, who ministered to the Apostle in captivity (cf.Philippians 2:19-23), and who is mentioned in all the Captivity Epistles, except Eph. Indeed, Timothy appears to have written out this epistle at the Apostle’s dictation (4:18).

2. Those who are addressed are the Christians at Colossa (the orthography of the town’s name varied), and, as in all his later epistles beginning with Rom, St Paul describes them as ’the saints’, i.e. the new Israel consecrated to God by Baptism in Christ; they are also ’the faithful brethren’, i.e. whose faith in Christ is firm (cf.Acts 10:45; Ephesians 1:1; 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Timothy 4:12, etc.).

3a. The ’grace’ is the supernatural bounty of God and Christ; it is the foundation on which ’peace’ or union with God, is built. As in Eph, Paul raises the common Greek and Hebrew salutations to the supernatural order.

3b-8 Thanksgiving—St Paul has heard from Epaphras (7) of the state of their faith, hope and charity; for this he gives thanks always. 5. The dominant note here is hope of the good things awaiting them in Heaven. Radford: ’The future glory casts a new light on the present struggle’. We may infer at once that it is perfectly lawful for Christians to practise their religion with a view to eternal recompense (cf.Ephesians 6:6-9; 1 Peter 1:3-22; Apoc 14:13). The Council of Trent (Sess. 6, cap. 16) has stated the Catholic doctrine of merit: every good work done in the state of Grace is rewarded by God with a title to an increase of eternal bliss. The Church has condemned the proposition attributed to Fénelon, ’There is an habitual state of love of God without admixture of any motive of self-interest, and this is perfect charity’ The important word in this quotation is, of course, ’habitual’.

6. The Apostle’s view of the Gospel territory is ’the whole world’. Already the Gospel had been preached in most provinces of the Roman Empire (cf.Romans 1:8), and it is probable that the Apostles had already evangelized Africa, Egypt and Gaul. The Gospel came to the Colossians as part of the world-wide movement.

9-14 Prayer for their spiritual progress— 9. —’Therefore’ sums up what he has written of the good they possess. Chrysostom: ’For as in the games we cheer on those most who are near upon gaining the victory, so truly does Paul also most exhort those who have achieved the greater part’. The Apostle is thinking of the false teachers, with their speculations, their claim to know (gnosis). He prays daily that his readers will be equipped intellectually with the perfection of knowledge (epignosis, DV ’the knowledge)—the deepest understanding—of God’s will (cf. Lightfoot, 248-54). Further, he prays that this intellectual conviction be accompanied by ’all wisdom’ (whereby a man sees all things with reference to God) and ’spiritual understanding’ (whereby he clearly discerns between right and wrong).

10. Thus equipped by God the Christians life should show four qualities: (i) Zeal to please God (this being the probable sense of ’in all things pleasing’); (ii) ’fruitfulness’, like a tree, ’in every good work’, accompanied by a deepening knowledge of God; (iii)

11. Determination to carry out God’s will patiently, without wrath (DV ’longsuffering’) and joyfully; (iv)

12. A spirit of thanksgiving for the whole favour of salvation through Christ’s redemption (cf.Ephesians 1:6-7; More precisely, this thanksgiving embraces three effects of the Redemption. First, the Father ’hath fitted us for our portion of the inheritance of the saints in light’ (WV). All the supernatural benefits and God himself, their source, are described by the figure of light (cf. Acts 9:3; Ephesians 5:7-13, etc.).

13. Second, we have been snatched from being slaves to the power of darkness— ’from an arbitrary tyranny’ (Lightfoot)—to the well ordered ’kingdom of his beloved Son’ (WV). 14. Third, we have ’redemption’, i.e. liberation from a state of guilt, forgiveness of former sins (cf.Ephesians 1:7).

15a Christ and God the Father— St Paul here begins the doctrinal part of the epistle; he continues it down to 2:7. Christ is the ’image of the invisible God’. ’Image’ (e????), says St Thomas (op. cit.) connotes three qualities at the same time: (a) it must have a likeness with the original prototype, (b) it must be derived from the prototype, (c) it must belong to the same species as the prototype. Hence, mere likeness alone would not be enough. A photograph is a likeness; it is not an image in the sense used here. But a son is the image of his father (but not vice versa). By ’God’ here, of whom Christ is the image, the Apostle means God the Father (as in 2 Corinthians 4:4). To him St Paul gives the title ’invisible’. Prat (I, 288): ’Invisibility belongs especially to him, considered either as God (and then it is common to him and to the Son, his perfect image) or considered as the Father, as St Paul seems to hint, and as a great number of the ancient ecclesiastical writers have thought; in this case it would designate the personal and incommunicable attribute, by virtue of which the Father, source and principle of the Godhead, sends the other Persons, but is not sent by them’. Christ, then, is the image of the Father, because he manifests him to mankind. *Lightfoot: ’the underlying idea of the e????, and indeed of the ????? generally, is the manifestation of the hidden’. Hence, there is no need to follow St Thomas here (and other writers, e.g. St Chrysostom) saying ’he is the image not only of the invisible God, but is himself as invisible as the Father’.

In itself ’image’ does not demand equality with the archetype; but in fact we know that Christ, the image, is ’identical with the Father in every particular, differing from him only by the fact of being begotten (St John Damascene, quoted Prat ibid ). Cf. v 19.

15b-17 Christ and the Universe— He has absolute supremacy over all natural creation, because he is ’the firstborn of every creature’. ’Firstborn’ here (as Romans 8:29; Colossians 1:18) is used in the metaphorical sense of pre-existence before creation. * Radford (p 174): ’It implies more than priority; it implies a relationship to God which cannot be predicated even of angels or men, much less of other creatures’. (Cf. Prat I, 289 f.; C. F. Burney, JTS 27 [ 1926] 160 f.) Christ, then, being eternal, is supreme; yet he is the final revelation of God (16 ). ’For’ indicates the reasons. ’In him were all things created.’ In particular, he is the Creator of celestial beings, some of whom the Apostle here names (cf.Ephesians 1:21)— perhaps those to whom the false teachers paid most respect. The three prepositions, in him, by him, unto him, indicate how the act of creation occurred, and at the same time provide a summary of the relations of the Son to the universe. ’In him’: he was the centre of unity, of harmony and cohesion, when the act of creation took place. All creatures, past, present and future, are suspended ontologically from the Christ, and cannot be fully understood if their relation with him is broken. St Thomas (op. cit.): ’A worker constructs an object by making it take on his mental ideal ("forma"). He clothes, as it were, his ideal with external matter, as a man builds a house according to the plan which he has worked out in his mind. And thus God is said to do everything by his wisdom, because the wisdom of God is to created things what the art of the builder is to the house. The mental ideal ("forma") and wisdom is the Word, and hence all things are created in him, as in a certain exemplar’. ’By him’: he is the efficient cause of all things. ’Unto him’: all things are pointed towards him as their final goal and meaning (cf. Apoc 22:13). It is noteworthy that the verb here (??t?Sta?) is perfect, indicating that there is a continuous, ever present, relation between all created things and Christ, who is their efficient cause and goal. The Apostle makes this thought even clearer in the next verse.

17. All things were not only created by the Son; they ’consist’ in him. St Thomas (op. cit.): ’If God were to withdraw his power from us, all things would fall apart.’ As Lightfoot observes, ’the action of gravitation which keeps in their place things fixed, and regulates the motion of things moving is an expression of his mind’. /par/parThe implied conclusion of this section is clear enough: Christ has absolute sovereignty over the whole created universe. Between him and celestial beings no comparison is possible; they are creatures, he the divine Creator; they are finite, he is infinite. /par/par18-19 Christ and the Church— Christ is also absolute sovereign in the Church.

18a. ’And he’ is emphatic: the same Person who is Creator, Conserver and Final Cause of all things—and not some angelic deputy—is also ’Head of the body’ (cf.Ephesians 1:22b). The head is distinct from the body (cf. 1:24; Ephesians 1:23; Ephesians 5:23); yet it is united to the body, as the next words show: he is ’the beginning’, i.e. the origin, the cause of all the supernatural growth of the members. Thus the figure of Christ as head of the body serves Paul’s purpose of insisting both on Christ’s sovereignty over the members and on his nearness to them. Radford: ’He is supreme over creation, but supreme in the Church, distinct from creation, but identified with the Church’.

18b. ’The firstborn from the dead’, i.e. the first to rise from the dead to a new life, and the cause of the resurrection of those associated with him in his triumph (cf.1 Corinthians 15:20; Apoc 1:5). The expression ’has nothing in common with "firstborn of every creature" ’ (Prat, I, 290).

18c. ’that in all things he may hold the primacy’. All these prerogatives place him (and not some creature) supreme in the natural and religious realms.

19. ’For in him it hath pleased the Father that all the fulness should dwell’ (WV). The usual sense of fulness is totality. Here it may denote all existence (P. Benoit, O.P., RB 54 [ 1947] 625), or—and this is the commoner view —it may denote ’the combined sum of the perfections which constitute the divine essence: in other words, divinity itself’. (Prat I, 295). Cf. 2:9. Moreover, Christ possesses this fullness in permanent fashion (?at???e???, DV ’dwell’). This verse provides the ultimate reason for Christ’s sovereignty over all things. 20-29 Christ’s Work: Reconciliation—St Paul has described the Person of Christ: he is the image of the invisible God (1:15), Creator (1:16-17); sovereign over the universe and supreme in the work of Redemption (1:18-20). He now draws the consequence of this, that through Christ alone must reconciliation be effected.

20. The reconciliation affects ’all things . . . both as to the things that are on earth and the things that are in heaven’. There is no difficulty in understanding that all things on earth (i.e. primarily the human race) are reconciled to God through Christ (cf.Romans 8:20-22); but how explain the reconciliation of the things in heaven? Knabenbauer (pp 303-5) refers to a variety of suggestions made, and since his time other opinions have been added (e.g. Huby, 47). The most probable interpretation is that Paul is referring to angels. The false teachers regarded the angels as intermediate beings, guardians of the Law of Moses, and holding in their hands the list of punishments due to transgressors (cf. 2:14). Now Christ has brought peace and reconciliation to all through the Cross. Cf. B. N. Wambacq RB 55 ( 1948) 35-42. The participle ’making peace’ having the same subject as the main verb emphasizes that the first step comes from the Father. The peace is effected ’through the blood of his cross’. The sacrifice on Calvary is the effective mediation; it bears peace between heaven and earth (cf.Ephesians 4:1-6). Chrysostom: ’Earth became heaven, since heaven was about to receive what came of earth.’

22a. For his sacrifice of reconciliation Christ, the Mediator, chose a body that could feel the sting of pain and death.

22b. What is the effect for Colossians? From being sinful they have become ’holy, unspotted, blameless’, a three-fold description of the state of Grace based on a metaphor drawn from the qualities required for an OT sacrificial victim (cf.Ephesians 1:21; 1 Thessalonians 2:10).

23. It is a firm state, not to be upset by false teaching. What the Apostle says is no mere fancy of his own devising—he is an ambassador of Christ.

24 The Work of Christ and the sufferings of the Apostle— (I) ’now rejoice in my sufferings for you’. The ’now’ is noteworthy: Paul is ’an ambassador in chains’ (Ephesians 6:20). ’And fill up’: Vg ’adimpleo’, DV ’fill up’ disregards the two prepositions which appear before the simple verb in the Greek. With the first preposition (??t?) the verb indicates a want being met by two complementary operations (cf.Luke 14:12). The second preposition (???) means ’up to the top’ (like filling a cup to the brim). The whole word shows the Apostle by reason of his sufferings on behalf of the Colossians supplying something not supplied by Christ, and the result of the combined operation between Christ and the Apostle is to satisfy the want fully. ’Those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ’: he does not say that the suffering of Christ is not completed, but that certain aspects of those sufferings (cf. plural) need to be made perfect. ’In my flesh’ denotes the whole man, body and soul.

What are the sufferings, or afflictions, of Christ to which Paul brings (along with the operation of Christ) completeness? Are they those endured by Christ; or are they those suffered by the members of Christ’s Mystical Body, other than St Paul? There are two opinions, each of which has Catholic supporters. First, the afflictions are those endured by Christ. The Passion is complete, infinite in its atoning or satisfactory power. To this power neither St Paul nor anyone else could add anything. But the application of the merits of Christ’s Passion to individual souls involves a toll of suffering, especially on the part of those chosen by Christ as his ministers (cf.1 Corinthians 3:9). The Apostle looks down at his prison bonds. His sufferings are in union with those of Christ. They are the vehicle for conveying the Passion to the hearts and souls of men, and in this way they bring completeness to the Passion in an external way. That he should call his own sufferings in the service of Christ the afflictions of Christ in his flesh is in accordance with similar expressions, 2 Corinthians 1:5; 2 Corinthians 4:10; Philippians 3:10.

The other opinion regards the sufferings of Christ as those of the mystical body (cf.Acts 9:14). Augustine (Enarr. in Ps 62, 4): ’Thou [member of Christ’s Body] sufferest so much as was to be contributed out of thy sufferings to the whole sufferings of Christ, that hath suffered in our Head, and doth suffer in his members, that is, in our own selves’. The Passion of Christ, then, is continued in the members of his Body, the Church. This fits in with the truth that the Church is in a real though mystical sense Christ himself. (Cf. R. H. Benson, Christ in the Church, esp. Parts I and IV.)

Though the exegete here ’can advance only with caution’ (Prat), the first opinion seems preferable; it gives the ordinary sense of the phrase ’the sufferings of Christ’. In either opinion we are presented with an important lesson: suffering can be, not a terrifying enigma in our eyes, but something very precious, since it is the instrument God chose to redeem us, and we can make our sufferings serve in the cause of Christ’s Passion. Cf.Romans 8:18, Romans 8:28; cf. § 900b. J. Rickaby, S.J. ( "An Old Man’s Jottings", 231): ’Suffering, merely as such, does not sanctify. It did not sanctify the Bad Thief. The wicked in hell suffer, but are not made holy. The only suffering that sanctifies is suffering patiently borne for God, suffering accepted in obedience to God’s will, suffering hallowed by the obedience of Him who was "made obedient even to the death of the Cross" (Philippians 2:8). . . . The obedience of comfort is good, but the obedience of suffering is heroic. And God requires it, sooner or later, of everyone. You may be gold, but you must be stamped with the cross to pass as current coin for heaven.’

25-29 The Work of Christ continued In St Paul’s Apostolate— 25. The purpose of his ministry is ’to utter the full word of God’ (WV).

26. This he further defines as ’the mystery’. Here, as at Ephesians 3:1-3 (cf. Romans 16:25 f.), the Apostle has in mind the comprehensive truth, once hidden, now revealed by Christ, which embraces all others. It is the whole plan of man’s redemption, timeless, yet revealed and enacted by the Incarnation and Death of Our Saviour. One phase of the mystery is that it is world-wide in its benefit. St Paul often insists on this phase. 27b. The one-time pagans of Colossae now have ’Christ in you’ (the punctuation of the DV is better omitted here).