Colossians 2:16-17 16Therefore, let no one judge you in eating and drinking or in participation in a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day; 17things which are a shadow things to come, but the body is of Christ.
Paul returns to the human philosophies and teachings to which the Colossians were being exposed. His warning in these verses is directly linked by therefore to the previous section about the hope the Colossians can have through Jesus Christ. Whatever they were facing, their answer could be found in the new life offered by Jesus Christ, not in the humanism present in false teachings and philosophies. The descriptions in these two verses suggests that some of the issue may have had Jewish background. These were similar issues with which Paul had to deal in other letters (Romans 14; 1 Corinthians 8). The problem facing the Colossians was that false teachers, outsiders, or critics were judging them for participating or not participating in certain activities. Sometimes judging about matters like this comes in the form of considering those who do something different as spiritually immature or weak or the other extreme of being liberal. The outcome is often division, hurt feelings, and an overall loss of witness and effectiveness in the mission of the gospel.
The first area Paul mentions has to do with dietary matters. Those from a Jewish background would have particularly had strict regulations about what could be eaten or drank, so-called “kosher” laws based on the Old Testament cultic regulations. For Paul, what a person ate or drank was not important because God created all things and everything should be considered good. Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 4:4-5, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” Paul is not necessarily rejecting the Old Testament law here but putting it through the filter of new creation in Christ. Everything must be viewed differently through Christ. This does not mean that a person should be a glutton or drunk but that these food and drink should not be what makes a person spiritually mature or righteous.
The second area of Paul’s concern is about certain festivals and holy days. Like food and drink, these have no saving purpose. Jews particularly remembered and celebrated certain days as holy. They had many festivals they observed throughout the year. These had value as long as they drew people’s attention and worship back to God’s saving grace. But they could easily take on their own significance and give people a false sense of security that they were righteous and holy by observing them. Holidays, like sacraments, should be a time of remembering and celebrating God’s gracious salvation and mercy. The Sabbath day was especially significant for observant Jews. Paul does not say here that the Sabbath should be done away with but that its value for spiritual growth must be kept in the right perspective. Gentiles obviously did not observe these Jewish practices, but they perhaps had their own festivals and celebrations that could also distract them from total faith in Jesus Christ.
Paul’s concern is hinted at in the last clause about the body of Christ. This could be a reference to the church as the body of Christ. The practices mentioned in verse 16 actually created divisions among people, especially Jews and Gentiles. If one group judged another, the result was selfishness and protectionism. All things that we do must be put through the filter of Jesus Christ. Paul will stress the need for unity in chapter 3 and mention the necessary key ingredient in 3:14 as love.
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