Shadows

Have you ever looked at your shadow?  Walking along a sidewalk with the sun at your back, and there on the ground is your shadow.  What you see of your self in the shadow is an outline of your shape, but little more.  The shadow we each cast is only one dimensional; there is no depth or width to the shadow.   No matter how you turn your body, the shadow remains flat.  There is no color variation in the shadow either, because it is the absence of light.  It is only dark, no shading or intensity, just flat black.  Even upon further examination, you will find no details.  Eye color, crooked teeth or straight, big nose or small; none of these are evident, none will show up in the shadow.  It is just an outline, an empty surface.

How should we then understand it when scripture compares a shadow with something else?  In Colossians 2:17 Paul writes the following; “These are a shadow (the religious regulations and practices) of the things that were to come, the reality, however is found in Christ.”  Paul is reminding the believers in Colosse that their salvation from sin came through the grace of God in Jesus Christ and not through the works of the law.  The reality is in Jesus, the shadow was all that came before.

This is an astonishing comparison: the practices of the law, the shadow and Jesus, the reality.  Think about your shadow, the flat one dimensional outline of you.  Compare that   to your reflection in a mirror.  The mirror shows the particulars of your face and body, not simply an outline of your shape.  The reflection is detailed, and like a photograph, tells much more about you.  But even a photograph, or a reflection, is not like being in the same room with a person. It is not like sitting next to someone and feeling their breath as they speak, seeing the expressions play over their face, hearing them sigh.  The mirror and the camera can give an adequate representation, and it may be accurate as far as it goes, but it is incomplete. 
 
When I was dating my husband, he went into basic training in the army.   We were going to be apart for several months and during that time all we had for communication were letters and a few photographs.  While those were comforting, the silent photograph was not an object to put my arms around and hug.  The letters, were wonderful, but were a one way conversation.  I was glad to have the pictures and letters, but both were limited and partial.  Nothing could compare with being together.

I believe God, through Paul, is trying to help us see that all we know of Jesus, of what He has done for us, of what awaits us, is far beyond what we perceive now.  What we have now is flat, colorless, one dimensional and silent.  We have a shadow, an incomplete outline of something we have never seen before.  We have the words given us in the scriptures and the indwelling Spirit to help us, but all in all it is still partial.   We must not invest too much in the shadow; we must desire the reality, which is Jesus, because what waits is as different as the shadow of a loved one from that person running to greet you with a hug.