Posted by Lisa Laree to Beer Lahai Roi
The next bit we're going to look at is STILL Paul's 'setting up' of the real topic that he wants to discuss... and, in that set up, he discusses his labor and concern for the church...particularly those congregations that he has not himself met in person.
Verse 24 is a puzzling verse; I have puzzled over it in the past and I puzzled over it again today. On the surface, it seems that Paul is saying there is something insufficient about the suffering of Jesus:
Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.
Today, however, I had an epiphany...it wasn't that the affliction of Jesus was somehow lacking...it was that there is suffering to be done in order to get the word out about Jesus' affliction. And that, Paul says, he is happy to do, so that the church will know the price paid for her.
I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness. (v.25).
And here is a favorite theme of Paul's: that the message of Jesus is also for the GENTILES. He refers to this as a mystery; not just here, but also in Romans 16: 25-27 and Ephesians 3:6. Hidden until the revelation of the Spirit proclaimed it...that the Gentiles have also the hope of Jesus. This was a radical concept in his day and it was the point of contention with the Jewish leaders that had actually resulted in Paul's imprisonment and hair-raising trip to Rome, from where he was writing this letter....that God would do anything that would include uncircumcised Gentiles. Paul had a valid claim to suffering for the sake of those Gentile believers in foreign lands.
To [the saints - v. 26] God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (v.27)
Paul's labor and struggle, through the power of the energy (NIV) of Jesus working in him, is to proclaim Jesus, admonishing and teaching everyone...so that everyone may be presented perfect in Christ. And this struggle is not just for those churches in the cities he has traveled, but also for those folks who have not met him personally (v. 1:28 - 2:1)
His burden for these believers, whom he has never met but who have been instructed in the faith by those who are known to him, is for them to be encouraged and united and have the full riches of complete understanding...pretty comprehensive. Because if these things are true, they will know the mystery of God, the treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hidden in Christ.
He drops a hint of where he's going in v. 4...stating that he is telling them these things so that no one will deceive them with 'fine -sounding words'. He doesn't give us much clue as to what he expects that deception to be, but, based on the previous statements...that he has suffered for their sake, and he wants them to be perfect in Christ, united in love, etc...I wonder if he is referring to the folks who seemed to always follow him around and do their best to discredit his teaching....not only deceiving them about Paul and his motivations, but about the message Paul carried. In effect, I am telling you that I am not doing this for personal gain or glory, but for your own benefit, and anyone who says otherwise is deceiving you. He will later give more information about some of the specifics of the deception that will come, but for now, he says, even though he is not physically with them, he is spiritually with them, and delights in the order they maintain and the firmness of the faith to which they hold.
I wonder, sometimes, how Paul would address us now, with so much of the situation reversed. He was despised and judged for taking the gospel to the Gentiles; now, Christianity is largely considered to be a Gentile monopoly. You will find folks claiming to follow Jesus (who was Jewish!) who deny the idea that God's kingdom extends to Jews. We have tipped the scales to the other direction. It was never meant to be Gentiles vs. Jews...either/or. The mystery of the kingdom is...that it is both. And Paul, who has never met any of us, nonetheless prayed for those who had never met him to be encouraged in heart, united in love, and blessed with full understanding.
We are a long way from that ideal.
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