Colossians 2:14-17 - Was the Law Nailed to the Cross?
Col
2:14-17 "Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing
it to his cross; And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a shew
of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or
in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or
of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Which
are a shadow of things to come; but
the body is of Christ."
Overview:
What does this text mean?
- The 10 Commandments were done away with when Christ died on the cross.
OR
- The law of ordinances which pointed to Christ (shadows) were done away with.
Evidence:
Col 2:14-15 "Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was
against us, which was contrary to
us, and took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross; And
having spoiled principalities and
powers, he made a shew of them openly,
triumphing over them in it".
In this difficult text, something called ordinances were nailed to the cross. In
the previous study of Eph.
2:15, we saw that ordinances are different
from the 10 commandments. This text
also provides further clarification of what
ordinances are...They are a shadow of things
to come (v. 17), and Christ was the reality (or
what cast the shadow).
The
word translated to "ordinances"
in both Col. 2:14 and Eph. 2:15 means:
dogma (dog'-mah); from the base of NT:1380;
a law (civil, ceremonial or ecclesiastical):
decree, ordinance.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's
Numbers and Concordance with Expanded
Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright
(c) 1994, Biblesoft and International
Bible Translators, Inc.)
Col
2:16-17 "Let
no man therefore judge you in meat,
or in drink,
or in respect of an holyday,
or of the new
moon, or of the sabbath
days: Which
are a shadow
of things to come; but the body is
of Christ."
Shadows represent Jesus: The 10 commandments are not a shadow
of things to come. However, meat,
drink, holydays, new moon, and the
seven special sabbath days connected
with the feasts and temple services
were shadows (these ordinances
are sometimes called the ceremonial
law). Many Jews did not recognize
that these things represented Jesus
(shadows) in their religious ceremonies.
These things were no longer needed
when Jesus came into their midst and
was nailed to the cross.
Sabbaths: The "sabbath days" mentioned
here (Col. 2:16-17) refer to the seven Sabbaths
connected with the Israelite feasts,
which could occur on any day of the
week. These were rest (sabbath) days. Leviticus 23:32,37-38 "It
shall be unto you a sabbath of rest,
and ye shall afflict your souls: in
the ninth day of the month at
even, from even unto even, shall ye
celebrate your sabbath...These
are the feasts of the Lord, which
ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations,
to offer an offering made by fire
unto the Lord, a burnt offering, and
a meat offering, a sacrifice,
and drink offerings, every
thing upon his day: Beside the
sabbaths of the Lord, and beside
your gifts, and beside all your vows,
and beside all your freewill offerings,
which ye give unto the Lord."
There are feast sabbaths, which are beside
[Hebrew=separation] the 7th day "sabbaths
of the Lord."
Christ's
offering replaces ordinances: The tabernacle in the wilderness
was a copy of the one in heaven. There
they offered gifts and sacrifices
required by the law of Moses. There
is no mention of gifts and sacrifices
in the 10 commandments, and this scripture
must have been referring to the ceremonial
law (ordinances).
Heb 8:3-5 "And since every high priest
is required to offer gifts and
sacrifices, our High Priest must
make an offering, too. If he were
here on earth, he would not even be
a priest, since there already are
priests who offer the gifts required
by the law of Moses. They serve in
a place of worship that is only a
copy, a shadow of the real
one in heaven." NLT
Heb
8:10 "For this is the covenant
that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, saith the
Lord; I will put my laws into their
mind, and write them in their
hearts: and I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people:"
God
is going to put His moral law, not
ceremonial laws, in the mind.
Summary:
Ordinances (sacrifices, ceremonies, festivals, etc.) that pointed to Christ's ministry were nailed to the cross.
