-And so Paul the apostle along with Timothy the brother is writing to the assembly of faithful Christ-followers in the city of Kolossai (Colossae) - in the region of Phrygia (now western Turkey) known as the Lycus Valley. As best we can tell, Paul never actually visited there (Colossians 1.4), although it is possible he passed through during his third missionary journey (Acts 18.23, 19.1, 19.10). But most believe this assembly was planted by Epaphras (Colossians 1.7), who was from Colossae (Colossians 4.12) and had become one of Paul’s co-workers (Colossians 4.13). In fact Colossae had ceased to be an important city in Paul’s day, and was actually devastated by an earthquake not long after Paul wrote this letter and was never rebuilt (unlike the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis).
-He has called Timothy ‘the brother’ and now calls these ones his brothers, people who most likely he had never even met. And to be sure, there is a supernatural bond which exists between those who truly follow Christ, one put there by God’s Spirit Himself. It is familial - we’re talking family ties. It is universal, it transcends boundaries of space and even time, and it is often instantaneously recognizeable. Yes, it is even palpable - Christ-followers frequently can recognize other believers prior to interacting with them, and after meeting can feel an instant connection with one another. Those who have journeyed together in Christ for some time actually experience a bond which defies description.
-He refers to those he is writing as holy and faithful brothers. Holy is God’s doing - when God calls a person and puts them in Christ, He declares them holy - set apart and totally right in His eyes. That is now who/what they ARE. They are holy, just like the One Who called them. Faithful, on the other hand, is our doing. It is our cooperation with what God has done and is doing in our lives. It is our response to His Word and His Spirit and His work and leading, a long obedience in the same direction, a lifestyle of devotion that persists and endures in season and out of season, for better or worse. Some will be inclined to insist that faithfulness is totally God’s doing, that it comes from God just like everything else, and to be sure it is a fruit of God’s Spirit which He does produce in our lives. No doubt He does give us the grace and the power to choose to obey and to be faithfully devoted to Him. But in the end, He does not force our choice. I choose. I choose whether to obey or disobey. My faithfulness or lack thereof is not God’s problem - it’s on me. I think Paul is simply recognizing here that it is a both/and.
-He gives them a very standard greeting here as well, wishing them grace and peace. Peace as a greeting was customary, rooted in the Middle Eastern culture (and continues to this day - shalom/salaam), and we see in Paul that grace - God’s undeserved favor - had superceded peace as something he would greatly desire for his audience to experience. Paul had learned the truth that there is no peace without grace.
-He had also learned that all things are from God the Father (as well as through Him and for Him, cf Romans 11.36-37), thus the mention of grace and peace coming to the Colossians from God the Father. Usually Paul adds the grace and peace as coming from the Lord Jesus Christ as well. We’re not sure why he fails to mention Christ here in this letter. Perhaps it is a shortened greeting for a church he didn’t know. He is certainly not trying to de-emphasize Christ (Paul mentions Christ 24 times in this letter in fact - ranking it 5th out of his 13 letters in terms of frequency). But here is a question - how often do i mention Christ? In my letters or frankly in any of my other communication? Granted I am not an apostle, nor am I primarily writing letters of encouragement and instruction to churches. But do I even mention Christ at all? For Paul, it was all about Christ. He really can’t not talk about Him. He starts off talking about Christ, he keeps mentioning Christ, and he finishes in talking about Christ. To Paul, Christ was an ever-present reality, a real and true friend and Savior and Lord and a priceless indescribable treasure, and he talks about Him frequently (all the time). Christ had changed everything for him, and now everything was all for Christ. No doubt to the extent that I don’t talk about Him, I show that I don’t really know how surpassingly awesome He is. The more I really encounter Christ and come to understand Who He really is, the more I will like paul be unable to not talk about Him...
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