NOTES for Col 1:24-2:3

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²⁴Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

²⁵Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

²⁶Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

²⁷To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

²⁸Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

²⁹Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

¹For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

²That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ;

³In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

The apostle writes that the Lord commanded him to reveal a mystery hidden for ages. Paul is ready to endure any suffering and deprivation because bringing this truth to people matters more to him than anything else in life. The essence of his preaching can be summed up in a single phrase: “Christ lives in you.” To understand this and to live according to such wisdom is the goal of Christian life. On the way to comprehending the divine mystery, it is necessary that “hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love.” The achievement of Christ’s disciples, their faith and sufferings, can become the greatest source of hope along this path. As we read the apostles’ letters and deeds, we become ever more convinced that if Christ had not lived in them, their lives would have been entirely different—perhaps with less suffering, but also with fewer divine miracles.

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For Col 1:24-2:7

²⁴Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church:

²⁵Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God;

²⁶Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:

²⁷To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

²⁸Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

²⁹Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

¹For I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh;

³In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

⁴And this I say, lest any man should beguile you with enticing words.

⁵For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

⁶As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

⁷Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

Continuing the discussion of Christianity and Christian life, Paul turns to the theme of his own ministry, and... Read more

Continuing the discussion of Christianity and Christian life, Paul turns to the theme of his own ministry, and the apostle sees its meaning in the fact that the word of God was fulfilled in it (vv. 24-29). In speaking of "fulfillment," the apostle evidently has in mind the original sense of the corresponding Greek word, which implied "fulfillment" as filling up, bringing to fullness what had not yet reached fullness.

In this way Paul draws the attention of the recipients of his letter to the twofold task that stands before the Church in our world, which is being transformed but has not yet been transformed to the end, applying it to the concrete ministry of individual Christians. On the one hand, the ministry of every Christian presupposes his own rooting in the life of the Kingdom, which, of course, is unthinkable without the transformation of his human nature. For such transformation, God's direct action on this nature is necessary, and the apostle, of course, does not speak accidentally of the power of God working in him, as in everyone who does God's work (v. 29): for God's work cannot be done by human strength alone; here the direct intervention of the One who entrusted this work to the minister is needed.

On the other hand, the ministry of a minister turns out to be not simply the performance of a concrete task, even if that task is a commission given directly by God. It is directly connected with the fullness of the Kingdom, toward which every Christian strives. And every ministry, if it remains to the end God's work, becomes not only the minister's step toward this fullness, but also the emergence of the fullness of the Kingdom through a concrete ministry, manifested in it just as in every work of God. And the apostle's sufferings now turn out not simply to be sufferings for Christ; they turn out to be their continuation, just as the very existence of the Church in our world, not yet transformed to the end, turns out to be the continuation in it of that history of the Kingdom which began with the Savior's coming into the world and continued with His death on the cross and His resurrection.

That is why Paul speaks of the consolation that the news of his sufferings was to bring to the recipients of his letter (vv. 1-3): for they meant not only the apostle's own faithfulness to his ministry, but also that the Kingdom is growing and the day of its full triumph and the Savior's return is drawing near - news truly joyful for every Christian.

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NOTES for Col 1:24-2:3

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