In the land of Narnia the animals talk and a great lion named Aslan is Lord. Tragically, a wicked witch has cast a spell so that it is always winter and never Christmas. She rules with a spell-casting wand, and Aslan has not been seen for a long time. So begins C.S. Lewis’s classic story, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Four children enter Narnia through an enchanted wardrobe and are befriended by a talking beaver. Right away, the beaver says to the children, “They say Aslan is on the move.” Lewis writes, “And now a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. . . . At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside” (74).

As I read these words to our children at bedtime one night, I felt something jump inside me! Aslan “on the move” and making things right in Narnia triggered thoughts about God on the move, making things right in the world through Jesus Christ. I kept reading, choosing not to mention this internal jolt to our children. Apparently our oldest son felt something too because on two occasions the next day, with no prompting from me, he said, “Dad, Aslan is on the move!”

God is on the move through Christ! There is a movement afoot to make the world into the place God wants it to be. The letter to the Colossians and the letter to Philemon celebrate, explore, and explain this movement that Paul calls “the kingdom of God” (Col 4:11). The kingdom is already present in the world (Col 1:13), and it will be fully established when Christ returns (Col 3:4). These letters challenge us to work for the kingdom now even as we point to its future consummation.

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul points to several specific areas where God is on the move making the world what it is intended to be. Through Christ, God breaks down the barriers that keep people apart and creates one family (Col 3:11). God moves against the spiritual powers that prevent creation and its human stewards from fulfilling the dreams of its Creator, disarming the powers on the cross (Col 2:15). God reconciles all things and forgives sins through Christ (Col 3:20), which means people can live in right relationship with God, each other, and all creation when they embrace God’s movement through faith in Jesus.

The movement was alive and well in Colossae because the Colossian Christians had a deep faith in Christ and a tremendous love for each other. Paul’s letter trained them as workers for God’s kingdom and equips them to resist counter-movements from those who would distract them from their work (Col 2:8). He sent a personal letter to Philemon to show what kingdom living should look like in Philemon’s relationship with Onesimus, his runaway slave and brother in Christ. Both letters help us understand and embrace the work God has for us as individuals and churches in the world today.

Colossae was located in the Lycus River valley of southwestern Anatolia (modern-day Turkey). The Lycus River was a tributary of a twisting and turning river called the Meander (from which we get the English word “meander,” meaning to wander about). Sheep grazed on the slopes of the valley and their wool fueled a significant weaving industry in Colossae (Dunn, 20; O’Brien, xxvi; Martin, 2).

Colossae was the least prosperous city in the valley’s tri-city area. Laodicea, located 10 miles west, was the seat of the Roman administration for the region. Hieropolis, located 12 miles to the northwest, was famous for its healing waters. It has been said that Colossae “was the least important church to which any epistle of St. Paul is addressed.” A massive earthquake damaged Laodicea and Colossae in [AD OR BC?]60–61. Laodicea was restored with outside assistance, but Colossae never fully recovered (O’Brien, xxvi; Martin, 2-3).

The Lycus valley was well situated for travel. The Lycus joined the Meander, and from that area one could journey to the coastal city of Ephesus. A main road going to Ephesus also ran through Colossae. During Paul’s extended ministry in Ephesus (Acts 19), his associate Epaphras (Col 1:7) probably took one of these routes to Colossae, proclaiming the gospel and founding a church. By the time Paul wrote Colossians and Philemon, this church was meeting in Philemon’s household (Philemon 2). Both letters most likely arrived in Colossae at the same time (Dunn, 20; O’Brien, xxvi; Martin, 6; Thompson, 5).

About 200 bc, Antiochus III forced 2,000 Jewish families to move from Babylon and Mesopotamia into the region, and by Paul’s day there remained a substantial Jewish minority in Colossae (O’Brien, xxvii; Dunn, 22). It seems likely that some of the Colossian Christians were converts from Judaism, but the church was predominantly Gentile (the Jewish name for non-Jews) in origin (Col 1:12).

Some scholars wonder if one of Paul’s associates wrote the letters to Colossians and Philemon, either writing under his name with his approval or writing after the apostle’s death. Such a practice in our day is highly questionable, but in ancient times it was commonly accepted. Small differences in vocabulary and theology as compared to Paul’s other letters are the reasons given for doubting Paul’s authorship. However, vocabulary differences are minor and easily attributed to the tailoring of a letter to address specific audiences in specific situations. Theological differences could be the result of growth and development in Paul’s thought and need not be explained by different authorship. When these explanations are considered, “there is no serious obstacle in the way of an acceptance of apostolic (Paul’s) authorship” (Martin, 40).

We do not know where Paul was when he wrote these letters, nor do we know when he wrote them. The traditional view is that he wrote from detention in Rome (Acts 28:30) during the early 60s. His Roman imprisonment was more of a house arrest, and he had the freedom to preach and write. The letter to Philemon is based on Paul’s ministry to Philemon’s runaway slave Onesimus, who could have easily found refuge in a large city like Rome. Few would notice or care in the capital of the empire if the imprisoned apostle and a fugitive slave became friends (Martin, 23; Felder, 884).

Arguing against Rome is the 1,200 miles separating it from Colossae. Would Onesimus travel that far to escape his master? Would Paul so casually request Philemon to prepare a guest room for him to visit soon? (Philemon 23) Because they are closer to Colossae, the cities of Ephesus and Caesarea have also been proposed as possible locations. If Paul wrote during his three years in Ephesus (Acts 19:8-10), the date of the letters would be the mid-50s. If he wrote during his Caesarean imprisonment (Acts 23:23-26), the date would be the late 50s. Ultimately, when it comes to the date and place of writing, “not much hangs on it” (Martin, 25, 26, 28; Felder, 884; Dunn, 41).

All of the proposed dates indicate the Colossian church was a young one. It most likely was established by Epaphras during Paul’s mid-50s stay in Ephesus. Philemon and his sisters and brothers had been followers of Jesus for five or six years at the most when they received Paul’s letters.

Paul writes about God’s movement in the world in part because some people in Colossae were resisting that movement. Colossians 2:7-23 describes a “philosophy” that promotes strict spiritual and bodily disciplines as the only way to enter God’s presence. Adherents of this philosophy attempted to take “captive” members of the young church. Paul wrote to strengthen the church’s defenses.

The range of scholarly opinions on the nature of this philosophy is vast. Some think it was Jewish in nature based on its Sabbath and dietary law focus. Others see in the philosophy early traces of Gnosticism, a system of thought that flowered in the second century ad. Gnostics emphasized the spirit over the body and believed there was special knowledge of the divine that only a select few could achieve. The rigid bodily regimen Paul counters in 2:16-23 and the strong argument he makes for Christ as the true source of all wisdom (2:3) suggest Gnostic tendencies existed in the Colossian philosophy.

Most likely the philosophy was made up of different elements from various religious and philosophical systems. Since “there is not only no consensus but . . . an ever-increasing diversity in the range of reconstructions on offer” (Barclay, 40), it is best to say we do not know for sure exactly who the opponents were and what they believed.

We do know what Paul believed: God is on the move in Jesus Christ! Caught up in this movement and devoted to it with every ounce of his being, Paul wrote to keep the Colossians on the move with God. His letters serve the same function for us today, calling us to advance God’s kingdom work in all that we do.

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