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Colossians 2:13-19
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.
ESV
This is a passage that literally shouts victory!
In our cultural context, we see moments of victory all the time: fireworks go off, confetti is fired into the air, and it floats back to the ground. Don’t forget the parades where teams lift the trophy that they’ve won.
In Paul’s cultural context, victory over enemies was celebrated quite differently (they didn’t have television, social media, or even printed materials). To celebrate victory, the general and his army would return home with the spoils of war: gold, silver, jewels, and other things. However, behind the army coming into town, there would be a long line of prisoners, and at the very end would be the enemy king. The height of the celebration would be the very public execution of that defeated king.
That’s what the Romans thought they were doing with Jesus. They thought that they were celebrating a great victory over an enemy king through His public execution.
When Rome nailed Jesus to the cross, everyone watching would understand that Rome was celebrating a victory. Rome had stripped Jesus, the King of the Jews, naked, beaten Him to within an inch of His life, and hung Jesus on a cross for a slow, tortuous, and very public death.
The Jewish leadership thought that they had won…
Rome thought they had won…
Satan thought he had won…
Death thought it had won…
Now look at verse 15 again… Jesus won. Jesus is victorious!
Best of all, everyone who entrusts their life to Christ shares in that victory. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8).
Now that this victory is ours through Christ, don’t go back to the old ways, the old systems, the old rules and regulations, the old practices. All of them are no longer necessary.
What’s strange is that we are often creatures of habit. We typically have a default mode for dealing with things which often leads us to forget our victory in Christ. We think we have to pray more, to do more, to worship more. The problem in trying to do “more” is that we’re trying to obligate the Lord to us through our efforts.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me. There is nothing wrong with finding a system of prayer or a practice that helps you grow and mature in your relationship with Jesus or a celebration or act of service that gives your faith in Christ voice and expression. There is nothing wrong with those things unless those things supplant Jesus at the center of our hearts, or they become something that we insist others must have or do in order to be a right and good Christian.
It’s strange how we will often let these patterns and practices and acts become chains that prevent or limit us in our relationship with Jesus because “we’ve always done it that way.”
It never is, and it never will be about those things. It is always and only about Jesus.
What is necessary is that we hold fast to Christ alone. In Christ, we are fed. In Christ, we are united; through our relationship with Jesus, we grow and mature, knowing God the Father and His perfect will for our lives, becoming more and more like Jesus in the process.
In Christ, you are victorious! I know that there are things that make it difficult to see the victory, things that try to steal your delight and joy, things that wear on you, stripping you down to nothing and leaving you exhausted and feeling naked, raw, and exposed. But look at verse 15 one last time.
Their “triumph” was their utter public humiliation and defeat. You share in Jesus’ victory! Celebrate, live into, and live out that victory today!
God bless you, and know that you are always in my prayers!
Scott
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