This morning in my quiet time I read Colossians 1:24, a verse that has always seemed a bit confusing to me:
"Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church" (ESV).
The most straight forward and simple reading of this verse implies there is something lacking in the suffering of Christ. That Christ's suffering on the cross was in some way, shape, or form, insufficient for the gathering of his people called the church. Feel free to check the context, when reading this verse, this is the initial impression. Christians, for centuries, have struggled because of this common sense reading.
I believe the Bible was written so an educated person (if you can read, you are educated), should be able to understand the basic meaning of a translated text without the aid of persons with Ph.D.s in Biblical languages, aside from the translation (which is truly a form of interpretation, but if the translator is honest, his or her interpretation, over the long haul, will be sufficient). It's the Bible. It is not a manual for rocket science.
This is not to say that learning Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic aren't good. To the contrary, the more educated a person is in Biblical languages, the richer the experience can be in grasping the original hearers' perspective and the original author's meaning. It is a richer experience, not necessarily a more accurate experience. One can never discount the operation of the Holy Spirit in the reading and understanding of the Scripture. No level of education has a corner on the Holy Spirit market.
Back to Colossians. This verse is simply confusing. It seems to suggest that when Jesus suffered and died for the sins of the world, he didn't do a thorough enough job. Paul's suffering, which is great - he's writing this letter from prison - is "filling up what is lacking."
Is Paul's suffering atoining for sins? It's as if Paul is equating his suffering for the spread of the Gospel with Christ's suffering on the cross. Certainly, Jesus did instruct us to take up our cross and follow him. This command implies suffering. To follow Jesus is to suffer. Crosses are instruments of suffering. There's really no way around it. Paul is suffering. He is suffering because of his obedience to the call of God on his life. His suffering is great. He seems to bear it willingly, though, because of the glory of his ultimate end: the Kingdom of God. However, is Paul's suffering salvific? for Paul? for the church? for anyone?
It seems to me that, even in light of Jesus' call for us to take up our crosses... ready now, get in line, your cross is coming... it seems even in light of this reality, the suffering of Paul, or anyone for that matter, in service of seeing the Kingdom of God come upon the earth is not the same category of suffering.
Paul suffered physically, emotionally, and perhaps spiritually, but his suffering cannot be understood to be of the same quality of Jesus' suffering. [By this I mean that Jesus' suffering was much more intense and of a different character or category]. Not only being crucified, which is humanity's greatest torture technique, but the reality that on the cross Jesus was bearing the sins of the world... Paul's sins, your sins, my sins, all sins. Certainly, Paul couldn't have meant that his suffering was in some way moving the ball forward with respect to atonement. The work of the cross is finished. So much of what is taught in the Scripture is completely clear. The curtain of the Temple is torn, our access is sure, because of the blood of Jesus we are granted entrance, boldly, to the Throne of Grace. Paul's suffering, though real, cannot be understood as being salvific.
If not, then what is he talking about? My commitment to a belief in the truth of the written text of the Scripture will not allow me to follow Thomas Jefferson's example and simply excise portions with which I don't agree or understand. I must deal with the whole counsel of God. Even this odd little verse.
I believe what Paul was getting at is that Christ's suffering is not over. He is still suffering. The pain of the cross is complete, but suffering still exists as the church lives in a world that continues to reject the message of love Jesus teaches. The world continues to live according to values and goals of self-centerdness and violence. If I am going to be a Christ-follower in this world... this world... I will suffer. I will be forced to make decisions that will cost me temporally, but will be rewarded eternally. The eternal reward does not remove the temporal suffering, but it does make it bearable.
The kind of suffering I am talking about is not the suffering of physical illness or relational pain. There's plenty of that suffering to go around, though. Right now my back hurts... not because I've been shouldering my cross, but because I awkwardly picked up my backpack out of the back seat of my car last week and tweeked it. My sore back has nothing to do with the sufferings of Christ lacking anything.
Paul suffered as a result of his commitment to Christ and Christ's ministry to seek and save the lost. I have suffered because of a similar commitment, although not to the degree of Paul. Not even close. Never been stoned. Never been imprisoned. Held up to Paul's my suffering has been a walk in the park. Suffering is suffering, though. Whether it means someone in your office despises you because you read The Upper Room at lunch time or you invited them to an early morning Bible Study, or simply because you refused to join in an inappropriate, hurtful joke at the expense of another. Living as a follower of Jesus does get us into trouble from time to time.
When his followers suffer, Jesus suffers. His suffering is not finished. People all over the world continue to be imprisoned, their personal property confiscated or destroyed, their standing in the community diminished, their lives and the lives of their families threatened and sometimes martyred because of Christ. Jesus isn't done, yet.
The Christian hope is that he will be some day. He will return and make all things right. He has already been vindicated by the power of his Resurrection. When he returns the martyrs of the church will be vindicated and righteousness, peace, and love will reign forever.