Colossians 1:24
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…
The 19th century Scottish minister Andrew Bonar said, “We have got more from Paul’s prison house than from his visit to the third heavens.” Paul was a man who suffered deeply, yet he could count it all joy (Jas. 1:2) because of the Christ he represented and the Body he ministered to. His suffering wasn’t meaningless, but pregnant with purpose, both for himself and the people he ministered to…and it still has purpose almost two thousand years later.
Jesus spoke plainly when he told us that “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn. 16:33), but what kind of trouble was he referring to? Was it the general kind of trouble we experience in a broken world? Financial trouble…health challenges…relational challenges…societal discord…immorality. Or was it more specific? More targeted? Additionally, Jesus said that His Father “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (Mt 5:45). Most things happen to most people…but there are some things that only happen to God’s people, and that is what Paul was referring to.
Tertullian of Carthage (@200 A.D.) is thought to have said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Alexander Souter translated this phrase as “We spring up in greater numbers the more we are mown down by you: the blood of the Christians is the seed of a new life,” but even this takes liberties with the original text. “We multiply when you reap us. The blood of Christians is seed,” is perhaps a more faithful if less poetic, rendering. Of course, these sayings are referring to the death of Christians under horrific persecution, but they should also be understood to apply metaphorically to the suffering we experience because of our allegiance to Christ. Have you experienced this kind of suffering?
Paul was not comparing himself or any other Christian to the suffering Jesus endured when he went to the cross—a salvific kind of suffering—but rather the suffering that Jesus endured as he walked out his earthly ministry. Rejection by family and friends. Mocking and plotting by those in authority. Not feeling welcome in his own hometown. Slander and baseless allegations. Betrayal. Abandonment. This is what Christ endured as he spread his message. This is what Paul endured as he picked up his cross and followed Jesus daily. This is what every Christian will face…IF they do the same.
John MacArthur explains believers filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions – “The enemies of Christ were never satisfied with what they did to Jesus. They hated Jesus with an insatiable hate. They wanted to add to His suffering. So, as soon as Jesus ascended back into heaven and wasn’t around any more, who did the world attack? The church! They began to persecute the church–whipping them, burning them at the stake, throwing them to the lions. Why? Was it because they hated them individually? No, it was because the church stood in the place of Christ. And since Christ wasn’t around to hate, they hated the people who stood in His place.”
Paul stood in Jesus’ place…and suffered for it. Millions of others have done the same since then. The question for each of us today is simple: Have we suffered for standing in Jesus’ place? Has it cost you anything at work? Has it cost you anything with family and friends…co-workers and neighbors? Make no mistake—no man or priest of pastor can add anything to the saving work of Christ as he suffered for our salvation. That is 100% FINISHED as He said from the cross. But…we can all carry on the work of suffering for the cause of Christ…IF we are willing to stand in His place and proclaim His message in word and deed.
