March 1
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PUBLIC DISPLAY OF TRIUMPH OVER EVIL
12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. – Colossians 2:12-15
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In these passages, Paul explains to them that their baptism has given them that resurrection power of Jesus when they believed in Him. The previous verses are warnings against false teachings regarding the importance of circumcision. Paul was explaining to the Colossians why the act of circumcision isn’t as essential as the act of baptism. In baptism, the believer is submerged in water to die to the old self and raised up again from the water as a reminder that in Christ, he has been resurrected. In other words, the old life is gone and the new creation in Christ has begun. In the cross, Christ canceled our debt (sin). When we were born, we were all sinners as an aftermath of Adam and Eve’s sins. But, God gave us a way out so we can be spared from His wrath. He gave his only Son, Jesus, to be the sacrifice for our sins to be cleansed and has paved the reconciliation process for us. Verse 13 explains the state of our life before Christ died for us: we were dead in our sins. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross changed that dead person to one who is alive in Christ. In verse 14, Paul explains the process that happened when Jesus died for our sins. When we sinned, we violated God’s laws, so we are supposed to pay a penalty for those violations. Jesus cancelled all those penalties by his death on the cross which produced the blood that was the sacrifice that is the only thing that could appease God’s wrath for our sins. In verse 15, Paul further explains the meaning of the cross, which is the public display of Christ’s triumph over the rulers and authorities Wright comments “The greatest powers of the earth at that time – Rome, the greatest governmental power and Judaism, the greatest religious power – conspired together to put the Son of God on the cross. “These powers, angry at his challenge to their sovereignty, stripped him naked, held him up to public contempt, and celebrated a triumph over him.”
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REFLECTION
• How is the cross a public display of triumph over evil?