Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Colossians 1:24

"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body`s sake, which is the church;" — Colossians 1:24 (ASV)

The interpretation of this verse is much disputed, but the general sense of it is clear. In it the apostle teaches that the sufferings he endured in the course of his work were in the interest of the Colossians, indeed, of the whole church; in that knowledge, he is able to rejoice (cf. Ephesians 3:13).

“Now” may be both temporal and transitional in force. In its temporal sense, the word indicates that Paul’s joy and his suffering were both realities at the time of writing this letter. In its transitional sense, “now” shows that this paragraph is closely related to the thought of the preceding section. Looked at in this manner, the term is almost equivalent to “therefore” and shows that the thought of Christ’s supremacy is a factor in Paul’s ability to rejoice in the midst of suffering.

Three things are said in the verse about the sufferings of Paul.

(1) They are for the sake of other people (“for you” and “for the sake of his [Christ’s] body”). In both phrases “for” means “in the interest of.” The first phrase alludes to the fact that Paul’s imprisonment had come as a result of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles, to which class the Colossians belonged. His sufferings, therefore, were for their sake in that they shared in the benefit of the ministry that brought on the sufferings. The second phrase affirms that the benefit of Paul’s sufferings extends not simply to those Colossians or even to the Gentile portion of the church; they in some sense have a bearing on the whole body of Christ. Indeed, his sufferings contribute even to our well-being, for had he not suffered imprisonment, this letter might never have been written, and we would have been deprived of its message.

(2) Paul’s sufferings are identified with “Christ’s afflictions.” The words “I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions” have evoked a great amount of discussion. Many Roman Catholics, for instance, interpreting the “afflictions” of Christ as Christ’s redemptive sufferings, have asserted that Christ’s atonement is defective and that the sufferings of the saints are needed to supplement his work on our behalf. But whatever this verse means, we may be sure that Paul did not regard the death of Jesus as lacking in efficacy (cf. Colossians 2:11–15). That death was complete, once for all, and wholly adequate to meet our need.

The afflictions of Christ are undoubtedly those endured personally by him on earth, but the reference is to his ministerial afflictions, not his redemptive sufferings. “Afflictions” (GK 2568) is never employed in the NT of the sufferings of Christ on the cross; the reference, then, is to the tribulations our Lord endured in the course of his life and ministry. The sufferings his people endure are a continuation of what he endured, and in that sense they complete his afflictions. The church is built by acts of self-denial in Christ’s servants; they continue the work he began.

The underlying principle is the believer’s union with Christ. That union is so intimate—Christ the Head, his people the body—that he suffers when they suffer (cf. Isaiah 63:9). His personal sufferings are over, but his sufferings in his people continue (cf. 2 Corinthians 1:5). Perhaps Paul was thinking of Christ’s words to him on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4–5). “What is still lacking” is not an intimation of deficiency in Christ’s own sufferings but a reference to what is yet lacking in Christ’s suffering in Paul. In his experience as a prisoner, the apostle was filling up the sum or quota of suffering yet remaining for him to endure.

(3) They are the sphere of Paul’s joy. The sufferings Paul endured for the Gospel seem never to have been to him a source of perplexity or of sadness. But his attitude had nothing in common with those ascetics of a later time who inflicted torture on themselves in the belief that they would thereby gain merit with God. Paul’s joy was not in suffering as such, but in “what was suffered for you.” That is to say, it was the distinctive character and circumstances of his sufferings that enabled him to find joy in the midst of them. He saw them as a necessary part of his ministry (Acts 5:41; Hebrews 10:34.)