Grace and Peace to You

Colossians 1:1–2 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

The book of Colossians was written by Paul He was certainly imprisoned when he wrote the letter, but there is some debate as to when he wrote the letter and where he was at the time. I believe he was already in Rome, and that the year would have been 60AD. I always think it’s funny that when you talk about Paul in prison, you have to detail “which one.” The guy can’t stay out of custody for the sake of Jesus!

Colossae was a formerly great city of the Lycus Valley, in southwest Asia Minor (modern day Türkiye). In the days of Xerxes (c. 480 BC), Colossae was a major trading city, but by Paul’s day it had lost the prominence to nearby Laodicea and Hieropolis. The tree cities considered themselves close partners. Today, we would think of them sort of like a modern local television market.

Trade was the major industry in Colossae - it’s position at the meeting of the major trade routes from Sardis and Ephesus made it a key spot for merchants. Unfortunately the route was moved to Laodicea, contributing to Colossae’s decline.

Very close to the writing of this letter, the region was rocked by a massive earthquake. In fact, Tacitus dates the earthquake to the year 60 (Ann. 14.27). The fact that it’s not mentioned leads many to date this letter just prior to the earthquake.

The gospel spread from Ephesus to Colossae likely due to men like Epaphras. Epaphras played a major role in the Colossian church, which also included two other biblical figures: Philemon and his slave Onesimus.

The church was a mix of Jews and Gentiles, with heavy Phrygian and Greek influences. This admixture of cultures lended itself to a particular heresy that was gaining influence. The heresy itself was a sort of pre-Gnosticism - a belief that God had hidden knowledge from all men except the few who were worthy and intelligent enough to discover it. This heresy blended elements of Jewish observances, such as the new moons and sabbaths, with undue reverence to spiritual beings other than Christ. By disciplining your flesh with these rituals, they would argue, you could be found worthy of this higher knowledge and thus become more holy. Paul wrote this book to refute the heresy.

With all of this background, let’s dig into the letter. Verse 1:

Colossians 1:1 ESV

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,

This is a letter, so Paul begins by identifying himself and Timothy as the author(s) of the letter. This is standard writing. But notice that he identifies himself in a certain way. Paul is “an apostle of Christ Jesus.”

The word for apostle means “sent out one.” He has been charged by Christ to go. Go do what? Go proclaim the gospel. We’re all called to go proclaim the gospel, every single one of us. We are all tasked with sharing the good news about Jesus with any and all around us. But Paul’s calling is something more. He is called to go proclaim with a special kind of authority. Everybody plays on a team, but not everyone has the same authority. In football, the receiver doesn’t call his route: the QB does. In baseball, the catcher suggests pitches, but the pitcher chooses. Each of these players has a job to do, but some of those jobs have additional responsibilities of leadership.

An apostle was a leader among believers. They had a special role in starting the church and leading it. Many of them were the ones Jesus had specifically discipled for the task throughout his ministry. Paul, on the other hand, was commissioned directly by Jesus to be his Apostle. He was not an Apostle by church fiat, nor by personal preference. Jesus made him an Apostle - according to God’s will.

Jesus has a will for you, too. He is appointing you to fulfill a specific ministry. It may not be out front, like Paul was. It may not be