From the fictional story of Nympha’s trial to a justification of the theology behind that story, Walsh and Keesmaat now turn in Colossians Remixed.
Her story is the story of the early Christians in conflict with the empire of Rome.
“The counterimperial vision of cosmic reconciliation in Christ is the vision that has transformed this community into a subversive body politic, counter to the empire” (226).
It is the story of the cross and that means suffering. Israel’s hope is the suffering servant (Isa 53); Jesus is the suffering servant; Paul is on the same path of suffering (Col 1:24).
We have to let the Bible subvert even our most cherished interpretive traditions.