Let no man therefore judge you in food, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:
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Ambrose of Milan
AD 397
Shall we, then, think of festival days in terms of eating and drinking? On the contrary, let no one call us to account with respect to eating, “For we know that the law is spiritual.” “Let no one, therefore, call you to account for what you eat or drink or in regard to a new festival or a new moon or sabbath. These are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ.” So let us seek the body of Christ which the voice of the Father from heaven, the last trumpet, as it were, showed to you on that occasion when the Jews said that it thundered for him. … Wherever the body of Christ is, there will be the truth.
Whoever seeks to be a stranger to that carnal … Judaism which is justly repudiated and condemned must first consider as alien to himself those ancient observances which have clearly ceased to be necessary. This is so because the New Testament has been revealed, and the things which were prefigured by those others have come to pass. A person is not to be judged “in meat or drink or in respect of a festival day, or of the new moon or of the sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come.” On the other hand, he must receive, embrace and observe, without any reserve, those commandments in the law which help to form the character of the faithful … [and] whatever progress he makes in them he must not attribute to himself but to “the grace of God by Jesus Christ our Lord.” .
There is, however, a certain other life, to which these words call us; and, although at present our days are evil, yet some others are good, which night does not interrupt; for God will be their everlasting light, shining upon them with the light of his glory. Consequently, when you hear of the good days, do not think that it is your life here that is set forth in the promises. In fact, these present days are the destructible days, which the sensible sun produces; but nothing destructible could suitably be a gift for the indestructible. “This world as we see it is passing away.” Therefore, since the law has some shadow of the good things to come, consider I pray, present sabbaths to be pleasant and holy, as they have been brought from the eternal days, and new moons, and festivals. But look upon them, I pray you, in a manner proper to the spiritual law.
“Let no man, therefore, judge you regarding food or drink, or with respect to a holy day, or the new moon, or sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come.” For if the laws relating to the difference of foods, and the holy days and the sabbath, like shadowy things, preserved a copy of other things that were mystically true, you will not say without reason that the high priest also represented the symbol of another High Priest, and that he was called Christ, as the pattern of that other, the only real Christ.
Let no man, therefore, judge you in meat or in drink. That is, for not abstaining from meats, called unclean, for drinking out of a cup without a cover, (see Numbers xix.) or for not keeping the Jewish festivals. For these were but shadows, types and figures of future things to be fulfilled in the new law of Christ: but the body is of Christ, (ver. 17.) i.e. was the body, the truth, the substance signified by these shadows and types. (Witham)
He means with regard to the Jewish observations of the distinction of clean and unclean meats; and of their festivals, new moons, and sabbaths; as being no longer obligatory. (Challoner)
Modern dogmatizers wilfully or ignorantly misapply this text of the apostle, to disprove the fasts and festivals observed in the Catholic Church; but it is evident, as St. Augustine observes, that the apostle is here condemning the legal distinction of clean and unclean meats, and the feasts of the new moon, to which false brethren wanted to subject the Colossia...
Do you see how he depreciates what the Colossians think important? If you have obtained such things [i.e., grace and wisdom through Christ], Paul asks, why make yourself accountable for these petty matters? And he makes light of them…. Don’t put up with those who judge you in these trivial considerations.
Having first said darkly, Take heed lest there shall be any one that makes spoil of you after the tradition of men Colossians 2:8; and again, further back, This, I say, that no one may delude you with persuasiveness of speech Colossians 2:4; thus preoccupying their soul, and working in it anxious thoughts; next, having inserted those benefits, and increased this effect, he then brings in his reproof last, and says, Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a feast day, or a new moon, or a sabbath day. Do you see how he depreciates them? If you have obtained such things, he says, why make yourselves accountable for these petty matters? And he makes light of them, saying, or in the part of a feast day, for in truth they did not retain the whole of the former rule, or a new moon, or a sabbath day. He said not, Do not then observe them, but, let no man judge you. He showed that they were transgressing, and undoing, but he brought his charge against others. Endur...
Paul teaches that the law is abolished, Christ having passed over the “bond” against us. He teaches that the evil one has fallen, Christ having exposed and made a parade of the evil powers. Thus, we are no longer to obey what has been abolished, and we are to reject Jews who would urge us to keep the law…. This law was the mere shadow of Christ, lacking the substance. Further, we are not to obey Greeks who would encourage us to worship angels or worldly elements. .
Now tell me, Marcion, what is your opinion of the apostle's language, when he says, "Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath, which is a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ? "
