Author: Administrador

As Dean Wormer said, “Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life.”1 To put it another way (call it the Colossians way), “Estranged, hostile, and evil-deed-doing (21) is no way to go through life.” Colossians 1:15-28 is a Christological proclamation, ode, and solution to these existential dangers. There are two parts to … Continue reading “Colossians 1:15-28 Commentary by Karl Jacobson”

One of the goals this pseudonymous author has in writing this letter is to reassure its recipients that they already dwell securely in the reality that is Jesus Christ. To enhance their understanding of what this entails, the author presents what has come to be called a Christ hymn (1:15-20), which most likely had been … Continue reading “Colossians 1:15-28 Commentary by Richard Carlson”

Paul begins this epistle with a typical salutation, identifying first the author and then the community to whom the letter is addressed: “To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae” (Colossians 1:2). The recipients of this correspondence are first and foremost in Christ. This is their most foundational identity. And we … Continue reading “Colossians 1:15-28 Commentary by Brian J. Walsh”

This lection reframes Christian experience within a wide-angle, cosmic divine perspective. Its opening verses (verses 11-14), a distinctively Christian version of the customary prayer for divine blessings characteristic of formal correspondence of the day, expand into a reminder of all that God has done and continues to do for the often beleaguered Asian believers. Christians … Continue reading “Colossians 1:11-20 Commentary by Sally A. Brown”

This selection begins rather oddly in the middle of a sentence, and so for context we will have to go back and collect verses 9 and 10. In verse 9, Paul begins his standard prayer that concludes his introduction and thanksgiving, a format that allows him to highlight some of the issues he will take … Continue reading “Colossians 1:11-20 Commentary by Mariam Kamell”

As one of my teachers in seminary once said to me, There’s no such thing as a stupid question, only stupid people who ask questions. Fairness in conversation: I absolutely had it coming. I was asking the kind of question a person asks in order make himself look good. People do this from time to … Continue reading “Colossians 1:1-14 Commentary by Karl Jacobson”

This text seemingly consists of the rather mundane opening of Paul’s letter to Christians living in the town of Colossae. There is more at work in the text, however, than one might gather from an initial, cursory reading. First, the majority of Pauline scholars do not think Paul wrote Colossians but that it was written … Continue reading “Colossians 1:1-14 Commentary by Richard Carlson”

Was Paul just undisciplined or did his writing get away from him? Or did he dictate this letter so quickly and with such enthusiasm that his secretary (likely Tychicus, 4:7) didn’t think about punctuation and sentence structure? You see, after a brief salutation (Colossians 1:1-2), this epistle launches into a long, run-on sentence that stretches … Continue reading “Colossians 1:1-14 Commentary by Brian J. Walsh”

It’s an exclamation we’ve heard time and time again, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). But why? Today’s epistle passage is an intriguing composition of seven sentences ranging from two to twenty Greek words long. The sentences have no connecting words except “but” (alla) in 4:6 and “and” (kai) … Continue reading “Philippians 4:4-7 Commentary by Michael Joseph Brown”

Cinnamon rolls are one of my favorite desserts. I’m not talking about those out-of-the-can jobs we feed our children before we race out the door to make it to Sunday school in time. I’m talking about those delectable works of art you can only purchase at a bakery. There’s something heavenly about the way the … Continue reading “Philippians 4:4-7 Commentary by Jacob Myers”