Many claim freedom from Judaism because of the sacrifice of Jesus and the words of Paul who seems to have loosened the Law which, paradoxically, Jesus says that He did not come to loosen in Matthew 5:17-18. We need the spirit of discernment to reevaluate the freedom from Judaism under the microscope of the immutability of the Law (Luke 16:17).
Who gets to understand the Parables of Jesus? Not anyone can, says Jesus. In other words, even with a degree in Theology we still will not be able to understand the message of salvation of Jesus! Jesus says to the Disciples: "(9) And His disciples questioned Him, saying, What might this parable be? (10) And He said, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, 'that seeing they might not see, and hearing, they might not understand Isa. 6:9'. Luke 8:9-10 KJ3.
The Disciples relate the parables to us and their explanations to whomever would have the heart to understand them (John 12:40).
(34) Jesus spoke all these things in parables to the crowds, and He did not speak to them without a parable, (35) so that was fulfilled that spoken through the prophet, saying: “I will open My mouth in parables; I will speak out things hidden from the foundation of the world.” Psa. 78:2. Matthew 13:34-35 KJ3
(10) And coming near, the disciples said to Him, Why do You speak to them in parables? (11) And answering, He said to them, To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to those. Matthew 13:10-11 KJ3
(33) And many such parables He spoke the Word to them, even as they were able to hear. (34) But He did not speak to them without a parable. And He explained all things to His disciples privately. Mark 4:33-34 KJ3
(11) And this is the parable: The seed is the Word of God. (12) And those by the roadside are those who hear, then the devil comes and takes away the Word from their heart, lest believing they may be saved. Luke 8:9-15 KJ3. Et cetera.
How is a newly converted Colossian pagan to understand the teachings in Colossians 2:16-23? Were the Colossians keeping that fleeting aspect of Judaism and other teachings or were they being encouraged or taught to do so, and judged if they did not?
Colossians 2:16-17 YLT
(16) Let no one, then, judge you in eating or in drinking, or in respect of a feast, or of a new moon, or of sabbaths,
(17) which are a shadow of the coming things, and the body is of the Christ;
Do the verses give us a license to eat, drink whatever, and to ignore the seventh day Sabbath?
Regarding eating, Jesus gave Moses a list of what to eat and not to eat. There is no one author of the New Testament who has eating forbidden food, if we care to look carefully. The Old Testament has no forbiddance on drinking, except for the use of 'strong drinks'. Most importantly, Jesus says in Matthew 5:17 that He did not come to loosen the Law and the Prophets or to relax the old forbiddances. He said He came to fulfill. If we can put aside our passion for a type of food, can anyone seriously or critically think that the list of what to eat and not eat was a shadow that was to be fulfilled? Fulfillment means 'to not do it anymore' but not to reverse a forbiddance. If Jesus fulfilled eating and drinking on the cross, we must all stop eating and drinking. However, it is not possible to stop eating and drinking.
Also, can the seventh day Sabbath of Genesis, the only one day of God [Isaiah] in the seven days be fulfilled on the cross? Does it make sense that the Sabbath day had stopped being the day of God (Jesus) because Jesus died on the cross and knowing that Jesus called the seventh day His own day(). Forgive my English, but both arguments in favor of eating anything or discarding the seventh day Sabbath is pure nonsense!
Therefore, we must look deeper for the scope of Colossians 2:16-17.
The Old Testament does speak of meat offerings and drink offerings which, along with new moons, festivals, and festivals, are a shadow of things to come. Those are what were a shadow of things to come because of their sacrificial or ceremonial nature and because nothing in the Torah, the Law, or the Prophets may be changed or loosened (Luke 16:17-31). Let us admit that no intelligent or critical thinking mind can think that the seventh day rest of Genesis or the discrimination between the type of meat to eat is a shadow of things to come. Jesus would have felt the same way.
meat offerings:
Genesis 8:20 ASV
(20) And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.
Exodus 20:24 ASV
(24) An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace-offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in every place where I record my name I will come unto thee and I will bless thee.
drink offerings:
Leviticus 23:18 ASV
(18) And ye shall present with the bread seven lambs without blemish a year old, and one young bullock, and two rams: they shall be a burnt-offering unto Jehovah, with their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Jehovah.
Leviticus 23:37 ASV
(37) These are the set feasts of Jehovah, which ye shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah, a burnt-offering, and a meal-offering, a sacrifice, and drink-offerings, each on its own day;
Numbers 28:14 ASV
(14) And their drink-offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bullock, and the third part of a hin for the ram, and the fourth part of a hin for a lamb: this is the burnt-offering of every month throughout the months of the year.
Colossians 2:16-17 teaches that there are no more feasts nor sabbaths to keep observing. Colossians 2:16-17 does not teach to stop eating and drinking, to stop keeping the seventh day Sabbath because those activities were shadows or a symbolism of things to come. Only the minds which are bent to welcome fables and falsehood can believe otherwise:
2 Timothy 4:1-4 LEB
(1) I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom,
(2) preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all patience and instruction.
(3) For there will be a time when they will not put up with sound teaching, but in accordance with their own desires, they will accumulate for themselves teachers, because they have an insatiable curiosity,
(4) and they will turn away from the hearing of the truth, but will turn to myths.
NOBODY in the Old Testament, not Moses, no Prophet, no Apostle in the New Testament had the authority to add to or to decree additional RELIGIOUS feasts, holidays, or festivals in addition to those which Jesus gave to Moses. Those feasts had been fulfilled and are now obsolete (Colossians 2:16-17).
If any believer of today observes any RELIGIOUS feast in honor of Jesus or God, except the remembrance of the last supper which Jesus mandates, that believer is not of God. The believer is in violation of Mark 7:7 because that believer is following doctrines or commandments of men. In other words, that believer will not be saved since the worship is in vain.