Albert Barnes Commentary 2 Corinthians 4:10

"always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested in our body." — 2 Corinthians 4:10 (ASV)

Always bearing about in the body. The expression used here is designed to show the great perils to which Paul was exposed. The idea is that he had on his body the marks, the stripes and signs of punishment and persecution, which showed that he was exposed to the same violent death that the Lord Jesus Himself endured. Compare to Galatians 6:17: I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.

This is a strong, energetic mode of expression, meant to denote the severity of the trials to which he was exposed. The meaning is that his body bore the marks of his being exposed to the same treatment as the Lord Jesus was, and evidence that he was probably still to die in a similar manner under the hands of persecutors. Compare to Colossians 1:24.

The dying of the Lord Jesus. This refers to the death, the violent death—a death similar to that of the Lord Jesus. The idea is that he was always exposed to death and always suffering in a way that was equivalent to dying. The expression is parallel to what he says in 1 Corinthians 15:31, I die daily; and in 2 Corinthians 11:23, where he says, in deaths oft.

It does not mean that he bore literally the dying of the Lord Jesus, but that he was exposed to a similar death and had marks on his person which showed that he was always exposed to the same violent death. This did not occur only once, or at distant intervals, but it occurred constantly. Wherever he was, it was still true that he was exposed to violence and liable to suffer in the same manner as the Lord Jesus did.

That the life also of Jesus, etc. This passage has received a considerable variety of interpretation. Grotius renders it, "Such a life as was that of Christ, immortal, blessed, heavenly." Locke says, "That also the life of Jesus, risen from the dead, may be made manifest by the energy that accompanies my preaching in this frail body." Clarke supposes that it means that he might be able in this manner to show that Christ was risen from the dead.

But perhaps Paul does not refer to one single thing in the life of the Lord Jesus. Instead, he may mean that he did this so that in all things the same life—the same kind of living that characterized the Lord Jesus—might be manifested in him. Or, he may mean that he resembled Him in his sufferings and trials, so that in all things he might have the same life in his body. Perhaps, therefore, it may include the following things as goals at which the apostle aimed:

1. A desire that his life might resemble that of the Lord Jesus; that there might be the same self-denial, the same readiness to suffer, the same patience in trials, the same meekness, gentleness, zeal, ardor, love to God, and love to men evinced in his body, which was in that of the Lord Jesus. Thus understood, it means that he placed the Lord Jesus before him as the model of his life and considered it a goal to be attained, even by great self-denial and sufferings, to be conformed to Him.

2. A desire to attain to the same life in the resurrection which the Lord Jesus had attained. A desire to be made like Him, and that in his body, which bore the dying of the Lord Jesus, he might again live after death as the Lord Jesus did.

   Thus understood, it implies an earnest wish to attain to the resurrection of the dead and accords with what he says in Philippians 3:8-11, which may perhaps be considered as Paul's own commentary on this passage, which has been so variously—and so little—understood by commentators: Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Compare to Colossians 1:24.

   It intimates Paul's earnest desire and longing to be made like Christ in the resurrection , his longing to rise again in the last day , his sense of the importance of the doctrine of the resurrection, and his readiness to suffer anything if he might at last attain to the resurrection of the just and be ready to enter with the Redeemer into a world of glory.

   The attainment of this is the primary goal for the Christian. To be made like the Redeemer in heaven, to have a body like His, is the grand purpose for which they should live. Sustained by this hope, they should be willing to endure any trials and meet any sufferings, if they may come to that same "life" and blessedness above.