Jesus, Our Head
Colossians 2:1-23
We all pursue happiness in our life. And where does the happiness come from? If I can answer this question, I may already be halfway to the goal. On the contrary, if I don’t know the answer, I may be in a wrong direction, which leads me to all kinds of troubles even with my best effort to be happy. I found an article about the essentials for happiness. It says that we need health, money, relationships, contentment at work, and love and acceptance of the self. This sounds very very right. But today, I would like to mention one essential for our happiness. And I like to say that this is the only essential, which overpowers all the others in importance. What is that? It is “the head.” My happiness comes from my head. It is wholly determined by what, who, and how my head is. And this is God’s blessing upon us. Today’s text says, “You received Christ as Lord” (6) and it also says, “He is the head over every power and authority” (9), and also says, “Continue to live in him, be rooted and built up in him, and be strengthened in faith in him” (6-7). This is the sole answer to the question “How can I be happy?”
We may think, “I don’t have a head above me apart from myself.” We all believe that we are free and independent people who are our own heads over anyone or anything else. We like such phrases as “Be yourself,” “Listen to your heart,” and “Keep control.” But this is not true. We have a head that rules us day and night, and the head holds the key to my life and my happiness. Even in the very microscopic view, we can see how this works in our everyday life. I have two daughters who are working at their own workplaces. They have their bosses or supervisors, whatever you name it. They also have gone through other organizations such as schools, hospitals, and museums, and they always had somebody above them who directed their works. And I remember how decisively their bosses influenced their lives, whether good or bad. Especially when the influence was bad, it was insurmountable and the only choice was just quitting the job. My wife Ellen always seeks a peaceful life without a big change. Nevertheless, she changed her workplace twice, once from that in Chestnut Hill to that in Brookline, and again back to that in Chestnut Hill. For what? In order to work with the same boss who has been very nice to her. Ellen changed everything else instead of changing the boss. Actually, as long as she is under the same boss, everything is the same.
The Bible says that we humans are always under some authority. It is because we were all created as sheep that is in need of a shepherd. This is why we go to polling place to elect the president even when we don’t have a preferred candidate. For a sheep, its shepherd is life and light. The sheep follows the shepherd wherever he leads. In this sense, the shepherd is the sheep’s head, and they form an inseparable one body. You can transplant a member or an organ of your body. But I have never heard anyone who had his head tansplant. This is impossible unless you become a totally different person. It requires a radical change through death and resurrection. And this is what happened to us when we received Jesus as Lord. The head has been changed. God’s salvation always involves the change of the head. God saved the Israelites from the slavery under Pharaoh to freedom in their true king Lord God. In Jesus as well, God saved us from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God (Acts 26:18). God gave Jesus to be our Lord, I mean, our Head. Our happiness comes from this one truth, because Jesus is the perfect head, the perfect shepherd for his sheep. As for this happiness, David sang, “The Lord is my shephered. I shall not be in want” (Psalm 23:1).
Todays’ text tells us how Jesus, our new head, is different from our old head which has ruled and led us as our shepherd for many years. Let me first list what St. Paul mentions as our old teachers and rulers:
- Fine-sounding arguments (4)
- Hollow and deceptive philosophy based on human tradition and the basic principles of this world (8)
- Written code with its regulations (14)
- The powers and authorities (15)
- What to eat, what to drink, religious festivals, New Moon Celebration, Sabbath day (16)
- False humility and worship of angels (18)
- Human commands and teachings (22)
- Regulations, self-imposed worship, false humility, harsh treatment of the body (23)
And here are how Paul described Jesus as our new head:
- The mystery of God (2)
- All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (3)
- Fullness of the Deity (9)
- Head over every power and authority (10)
- The things to come and the reality (17)
- The Head (19)
We can see how the language itself is so different. Truly one is darkness, and the other is light. One is perishing and the other is building. One is slavery and the other is freedom. One is false and the other is truthful. One is ugly and the other is beautiful. One is suffocating and the other is relieving. One is earthly and the other is heavenly. One is flesh and the other is spirit. One is empty and the other is full. One is powerless and the other is powerful. One is basic and elementary principle, and the other is unfathomably mysterious secret. There is one or the other, and nothing in between. It is because this is about the head. And with this, we can understand Paul’s earnest and desperate tone of this letter.
Based on the text, I would like to discuss a few differences between the Lord Jesus, our new head, and our old human rules. First of all, Jesus is characterized by fullness while human philosophies are hollow and deceptive. When I was in the seminary, one of my professors said this: “These days the school teaches the students ‘how to speak’ but not ‘what to speak.’” It is true. Even we assume that we are not allowed to teach ‘what to speak.’ So, we can hear so many skillful fine-sounding arguments but they are all hollow and deceptive. They sound good, but we don’t know and even they don’t know what they are talking about. But in Jesus are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, I mean, ‘what to speak.’ Jesus is the revelation of God’s mystery. Every word of the Lord is a seed of life that contains the mystery of God’s Kingdom. Thus, although it may not sound fine, it is full. It never deceives or disappoints those who receive and believe. When I was young, I tried to learn speech, but since I became a preacher, I didn’t have to be a good speaker because I knew what I was talking about and I knew it is true. What I pray is this: “May the Lord speak in me using my voice.”
Human rules and traditions are against us, but the Lord is always for us. In Verse 8, Paul says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,” and in Verse 14, he says, “The written code, with its regulations, was against us and stood opposed to us.” Human rules and traditions are basically suppressive, standing against us. It is because they treat us not as God’s children but as slaves and sinners. As if treating a prisoner, they go extreme details, saying “Do not handle,” “Do not taste,” “Do not touch,” and so on. This increases our fear, and disconnects us from God, and ultimately, leads us to perishing. This is very sad. So thankfully, however, Jesus our Lord forgave all our sins, cancelling the written code (13), taking it away, and nailing it to the cross (14). Not only this, but also Jesus lets us live and grow in him as God’s children, and ultimately, become one with him in the true sense through connection by ligaments and sinews (19). Whatever he does and whatever he says are all for us. They lead us to the full riches of complete understanding of God (2), and the fullness of the Deity (9). Furthermore, he protects us from all evil powers and authorities because he himself is the head over every power and authority (10). This Jesus is our Head and he is always for us full and perfect.
Lastly, I would like to say that Jesus gives us final victory. As a matter of course, hollow and empty human principles are powerless and useless. They are powerful only when opposing, judging, and suppressing us, but not at all when saving us. In Verse 22, Paul says, “These are all destined to perishing,” and Verse 23 says, “such regulations have an appearance of wisdom …… but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.” Human rules and regulations are basically hypocritic in that they look wise in appearance but cannot restrain sensual indulgence, our sinful nature. They are also powerless in that they are under the Christ, the true Head over every power and authority (10). Paul says that Jesus disarmed the powers and authorities, and he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. In this way, Jesus’ victory is twofold, one is over our sins and the other is over the power of darkness. And this eternal victory is given to us by our Head, Lord Jesus Christ.
We don’t know exactly what philosophies, regulations, and principles disturbed the Colossians saints’ faith in Christ. Actually, we don’t need to find examples of such things in the early churches. As proved in history, we humans are all geniuses in creating such philosophies, regulations, and principles. The Christian Church has suffered all the time from false teachings and empty traditions. How can we distinguish between truth and false, between light and darkness? The only way is that we be fully exposed to the light, Jesus the Lord. He is our Head. He is telling us the truth. Putting behind all the human philosophies, regulations, or principles, we should listen carefully what he is saying onto our hearts. Only Jesus can tell us what is right and what is wrong because he is our Head, and Jesus does it purely for our happiness out of his unceasing love to us. I thank God for blessing us with such wonderful happiness of having Jesus as our Head.