Jesus at the Center: A Close Reading of Colossians Victor Mendoza College

Colossians 1:15-20 is a passage to place Jesus in His rightful place as center and on the throne of all humanity. The ultimate conclusion of Paul’s writing is to exalt and to extol the supremacy of Jesus, the Son of God. If one studies the historical and literary context of this portion of scripture, one would see that Paul was actually breaking onto controversial and bold ground to a church that had been beginning to downplay the power of the Gospel. From Jesus’ time on earth until today, the main controversial point between so many religions is the authority and identity of Jesus. Many believed that Jesus was simply a prophet, others believed that he occupied a truly supreme status in all of creation. Through powerful wording, vibrant literary technique, and clear communication, Paul is able to illustrate to his audience the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Before one jumps into the intentional wording of this passage, historical context is absolutely necessary in order to fully understand the significance of Paul’s statements. First of all, Paul was writing to mainly a Gentile audience, which was in and of itself a newer development because the Jews were supposedly God’s only chosen people, but one of the main priorities of Paul’s...