Col. 2:12. Having been buried with Him in baptism,
What he called circumcision, he now calls a grave, presenting in comparison something greater than circumcision. For what was circumcised was not simply cast off, but perished and decayed. Thus, the one who is baptized is buried together with Christ, by the threefold immersion depicting the three-day burial of the Lord, and dying as the old and sinful man.
Col. 2:12. In Him you were also co-raised through faith in the power of God, who raised Him from the dead,
Not only does baptism serve as a burial, but also as a resurrection. In what way? Through faith. For having believed that God can raise the dead, and having the example of this in the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we have thus been doubly raised in the Lord: both by the hope of the resurrection, so certain as if we had already received it, though it is yet to come; and spiritually, having cast off the deadness of sin and having received the quickening of the spirit.
Col. 2:13. And you, who were dead in sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive together with Him,
Christ, he says, having received bodily death, was made alive by the Father, and he says this not because Christ the Lord was Himself too weak to make Himself alive, but in order to refer everything to the One source. And that the resurrection of the Lord is also His own action, He Himself says about this: "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days" (John 2:19), and again it is said: "He showed Himself alive after His suffering" (Acts 1:3). But you, having undergone the death of sin and being uncircumcised, that is, having in abundance and excess fleshly thoughts which were putting you to death, were made alive together with Christ. For as He rose bodily, so you rose spiritually; but we shall rise, without doubt, bodily as well. But the great John gives us to understand that the putting to death can also be understood in another way. For, he says, on account of the fall we were under the condemnation of death.
Col. 2:13. Having forgiven us all our sins,
But see what He deemed us worthy of and in what manner He set us free.
Col. 2:14. Having wiped out by His teaching the handwriting that was against us, which was contrary to us,
Since he said that He forgave us, lest you think that He nevertheless left them to exist somewhere and be visible, he says: no, not so; He completely blotted them out, wiped them clean. By "handwriting" we shall understand either the covenant which the people, as it were, personally concluded with Moses, saying: all that God has said we will do and we will obey (cf. Ex. 19:8) — or the condition which God set for Adam, saying: on the day you eat of it, you shall die (Gen. 2:17). This was in the hands of the devil like a handwriting; this stood against us, not allowing us to rise, for it had the right on its side. Christ destroyed this "by teaching," that is, by faith, for not by works but by the teaching of faith did He abolish it.
Col. 2:14. And He took it out of the way and nailed it to the cross;
He not only wiped this out, but also "took it out of the way," that is, made it so that it could not be seen; and He neither gave it back to us, nor kept it with Himself, but, nailing it to the cross, tore it up, as is fitting for one who forgives with joy. For we were all subject to sin and punishment, but He, being Himself sinless, punished for our sake, destroyed sin and punishment on the cross: therefore on it He also tore up the handwriting.
Col. 2:15. Having stripped the principalities and powers,
The Apostle says this about the powers of the devil either because they were clothed in human nature, or because the Son of God Himself, having become man, knew their nakedness and exposed it, that is, proved unconquerable by the principalities and powers. For even though He took upon Himself sinful nature, it was without sin. You may understand what is said as follows: the devil ruled over human nature in two ways: through passions and through diseases. Therefore the Lord also clothed Himself in a body in order to fight on our behalf against the principalities and powers of the devil. I will not speak of how He crushed them at the very beginning, upon the assumption of His holy flesh, having been conceived without lust and born without pains. But even after He was born and came of age, He was tempted first of all on the mountain by the enticements of pleasure — tempted directly by the enemy with the enticement of gluttony, covetousness, and vainglory — and He conquered on our behalf. Then, through afflictions, the tempter tried to incline Him to hate His neighbors, inciting the Pharisees, scribes, and those whom He had benefited against Him. But he was unable to accomplish this. Finally, he employed the most powerful means, nailing Him to the cross. But the Lord not only did not weaken from all that the enemy desired, but even prayed for those who were crucifying Him. In this way, on the cross He most perfectly stripped the principalities and powers of their strength, and as one who had partaken of our nature, He granted also to us who had been subject to them this stripping of strength from the principalities and powers.
Col. 2:15. he authoritatively subjected them to disgrace,
That is, He made them put themselves to shame. For the devil never shamed himself so. He hoped to seize Christ, but lost even those whom he had. The word "openly" (ἐν παρρησίᾳ) found in the Greek text is used in the sense of: publicly, in the sight of all. If he could, the devil would have done everything to convince people that He did not die. For in this lies his great defeat and destruction — to subject a sinless Man to death. This is why he produced countless heresies that claimed the death was merely apparent. Therefore the Lord died openly, but did not rise openly. Because the proof of His resurrection was served by all the time that followed, whereas for the proof of His death, if the very time of death had not served as proof, there would have been no other time.
Col. 2:15. Having triumphed over them by Himself.
That is, on the cross He showed that the demons were defeated. A triumph is when someone, returning from victory over the enemy, makes a solemn procession, showing to all those bound and taken captive. Therefore the Lord also, having set up His trophy on the cross, as if at a public spectacle of Greeks, Romans, and Jews, triumphed over the demons. If, then, it was not angels who died for us, but Christ Himself, how can you say that through them you were brought to God?
Col. 2:16. Therefore let no one judge you in food, or in drink, or in regard to a feast day, or a new moon, or sabbaths:
Until now he spoke enigmatically: "lest anyone lead you astray by deception"; but now more clearly, when he mentioned the benefactions of God. For if, he says, you have attained such greatness, why do you subject yourselves to what is insignificant? Therefore, do not submit to those who condemn you for not observing Jewish ceremonies in food and drink. By this he seems to praise them, as those who are estranged from Judaism. He said "some festival" because they did not dare to keep all of them. For even if they kept the sabbath, it was not so strictly, since they professed the Christian faith. Thus he shows that such observance is futile when not everything is observed; it only leads to the violation of the whole. For if it were good, it would be observed in its entirety.
Col. 2:17. this is a shadow of things to come,
He calls the blessings of the New Testament "things to come," for they were "things to come" in relation to the Old Testament, which existed as long as its time lasted.
Col. 2:17. But the body is in Christ.
Col. 2:18. Let no one deceive you
Some place the punctuation at the words "in Christ," so that the meaning would be: the Old Testament things were a shadow, but the body, that is, the truth, is Christ's. What need is there to grasp at the shadow when the body is present? But others connect these words with what follows, so that it could be understood thus: "but the body of Christ," that is, you, "let no one defraud" – (καταβραβεύετω, that is, deprive), for καταβραβεύειν means when one wins the victory but another receives the prize. You defeated the devil and rose above: why then submit again to sin through the observance of the law, which cannot justify? In another sense: the one who ruled over us was defeated by Christ, not by the law; to Him should belong the prize, and likewise to you who constitute the body of Christ. How then do you yield this gift to the law? It is perfectly clear that if we still live in the Jewish manner, then the law rules over us and through it we hope to be saved. But if the law is a shadow, and Christ's works are the body, then first we needed to become accustomed to the shadow. Therefore He rightly became incarnate in the last days, in order to bring us to the Father.