Colossians 2:17 and Spiritual Shadows of Christ
Colossians 2:17 and the Concept of Spiritual Shadows
Colossians 2:17 states, "which are a shadow of the coming things, and the body is of Christ" (YLT) [1]. This verse is part of a larger passage where Paul discusses the relationship between the Old Testament practices and the reality found in Christ.
The immediate context of Colossians 2:17 is Paul's warning against being judged for not observing certain Jewish rituals and festivals. one tradition argues that these practices are merely "a shadow of the coming things," with the substance or reality being Christ [3]. The term "shadow" (σκιά, skia) implies a foreshadowing or representation of something greater to come.
The concept of "shadow" is significant in understanding the typological relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament. According to Easton's Bible Dictionary, the term "shadow" is used to denote the typical relation of the Jewish to the Christian dispensation, not just in Colossians 2:17 but also in Hebrews 8:5 and 10:1 [2]. This typological interpretation is supported by various commentators, including John Calvin, who notes that the Old Testament ceremonies were manifestations of God's grace, foreshadowing the reality that is found in Christ [8].
The phrase "the body is of Christ" is crucial in understanding the nature of this typology. It signifies that Christ is the substance or reality that the Old Testament shadows pointed to. As Tyndale House commentary on Colossians 2:17 notes, "The reality of Christ was anticipated by the Old Testament rituals, which Paul calls shadows" [4]. This understanding is in line with the broader Reformed tradition, which sees the Old Testament as prefiguring the New Testament reality in Christ.
The implications of this understanding are significant. It means that with the advent of Christ, the ceremonial aspects of the Old Testament law are no longer binding. As Matthew Henry comments on Colossians 2:16, the apostle is cautioning against judaizing teachers who would impose the yoke of the ceremonial law on Christians [5]. This is because Christ's coming has fulfilled the types and shadows, rendering them obsolete.
In the history of Christian interpretation, Colossians 2:17 has played a crucial role in understanding the relationship between the Old and New Testaments. The verse has been used to argue for the typological interpretation of Scripture and to underscore the centrality of Christ as the fulfillment of Old Testament foreshadowings.
The understanding of Colossians 2:17 as affirming Christ as the reality to which Old Testament practices pointed has been influential in Christian theology, particularly in Reformed and Protestant traditions [6, 7]. It highlights the significance of Christ as the fulfillment of God's plan of salvation, rendering the shadows and types of the Old Testament obsolete.
Sources
- Colossians “Colossians 2:17 (YLT) — which are a shadow of the coming things, and the body <FI>is<Fi> of the Christ;”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Shadow — Used in Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 10:1 to denote the typical relation of the Jewish to the Christian dispensation.”
- Colossians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Colossians 2:17: Which are a shadow of things to come,.... By Christ, and under the Gospel dispensation; that is, they were types, figures, and representations of spiritual and evangelical things: the different "meats and drinks", clean and unclean, allowed or forbidden by the law, were emblems of the two people, the Jews and Gentiles, the one clean, the other unclean; but since these are become one in Christ, the distinction of meats is ceased, these shadows are gone; and also of the different food of regenerate and unregenerate souls, the latter feeding on impure food, the ashes”
- Colossians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Colossians 2:17: 2:17 The reality of Christ was anticipated by the Old Testament rituals, which Paul calls shadows (see also Heb 10:1).”
- Colossians (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Colossians 2:16: The apostle concludes the chapter with exhortations to proper duty, which he infers from the foregoing discourse. I. Here is a caution to take heed of judaizing teachers, or those who would impose upon Christians the yoke of the ceremonial law: Let no man therefore judge you in meat nor drink, etc., Col 2:16. Much of the ceremonies of the law of Moses consisted in the distinction of meats and days. It appears by Rom. 14 that there were those who were for keeping up those distinctions: but here the apostle shows that since Christ has come, and has cancelled the”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 96: exemplified that putting off of the old man of which he was speaking, and yet to them external circumcision was not superfluous. This objection he anticipates, when he immediately adds, that the Colossians were buried together with Christ by baptism, thereby intimating that baptism is now to Christians what circumcision was to those of ancient times; and that the latter, therefore, could not be imposed on Christians without injury to the former. 25. But there is more difficulty in explaining the passage which follows, and which I l”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 43: not be, all our lifetime, subject to bondage, having our consciences oppressed with the fear of death. Meanwhile, it must ever remain an indubitable truth, that the Law has lost none of its authority, but must always receive from us the same respect and obedience. 16. The case of ceremonies is different, these having been abrogated not in effect but in use only. Though Christ by his advent put an end to their use, so far is this from derogating from their sacredness, that it rather commends and illustrates it. For as these ceremoni”
- CCEL (Reformed) “John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, section 96: but the body is of Christ” ( Col. 2:17 ). His purpose is not to declare the inefficacy of those manifestations of grace in which God was pleased to prove his truth to the patriarchs, just as he proves it to us in the present day in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but to contrast the two, and show the great value of what is given to us, that no one may think it strange that by the advent of Christ the ceremonies of the law have been abolished. 23. The Scholastic dogma (to glance at it in passing), by which the difference between the ”