At the end of the second letter to Timothy, Paul writes to his student that the end of his earthly path is near...
At the end of the second letter to Timothy, Paul writes to his student that the end of his earthly path is near (vv. 6-8). At the same time, the apostle says of himself that he is "already being poured out," having in mind the libations that were made during sacrifice (v. 6; in the Synodal translation, "I am already becoming a sacrifice"). For an adequate understanding of what Paul says, it is important to remember that, according to the Torah, a sacrifice had to be accompanied by a libation: the sacrificial meat lying on the altar was poured over or sprinkled with wine and oil; otherwise it was considered unfit for sacrifice (Num 15:1-12). The libation was not the main component of the sacrifice; the meat remained that, or more precisely, the sacrificial blood with which those present were sprinkled, thereby sanctifying them. But the sacrificial meal, during which, unless the matter involved a whole burnt offering, those taking part in the sacrifice ate consecrated meat, would have been impossible without wine and oil, in many ways depriving the sacrifice of meaning, since an essential part of it was precisely the sacrificial meal. And Paul compares his life and his ministry with such a libation, and his death as a witness with the moment of sacrifice, when this libation alone can play the role appointed to it by God, becoming an element of the sacrifice that sanctifies the people of God and, through them, the whole world.
Such a comparison is certainly no accident: the apostle understands perfectly well that his whole ministry and his whole earthly path can receive meaning only in that fullness of the Kingdom which will be revealed to him at the moment of the complete transformation of his human nature, while through him also being revealed to the Church and to the world. Just as sacrifice was a divine-human action whose culmination became the encounter between God and the people taking part in it, an encounter that sanctified those people, so the witness's meeting face to face with the One to whom he bore witness all his life becomes the moment of his final sanctification and complete transformation. Of course, Paul himself, his life and ministry, turn out to be only part of the grand process connected with the unfolding of the Kingdom in the world, and not even its main part: at the center here, as is easy to understand, stands the Savior Himself. But now this part is finally united with the whole, becoming its inalienable element while still preserving all its uniqueness. And the history of the Kingdom takes one more step on the way toward that fullness which will include within itself the world transformed by the breath of God.
4
4:16 All - My friends and companions. Forsook me - And do we expect to find such as will not forsake us? My first defence - Before the savage emperor Nero.
4:17 The preaching - The gospel which we preach.