The Fullness - An Exegetical Study of Colossians 1:24

One of the most problematic passages in the letters of Paul the Apostle is Colossians 1:24. Most Bibles translate as:

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake and in my flesh I fill up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions on behalf of his body, the church.

From this verse the medieval Roman Church found the justification for its heinous practices of works righteousness and justified the sale of indulgences, teaching that Christ's afflictions on the cross were not sufficient for salvation.

Nothing could be further from Paul's intent. He has just concluded the great hymn to the sufficiency of Christ in Colossians 1:15-20. Verse 19 affirms that"in him (Christ) all the Fullness (in Greek playromai) was pleased to dwell." The Fullness is everything that God is.

It may be difficult to see in English, but the concept of playromai is the organizing concept in Paul's mind for this entire first chapter. The Greek word shows up first in verse 9: Paul's prayer is that the Christians at Colossi be filled (playromai) with the knowledge of God's will. Then notice the superlatives in verses 10-11: all wisdom, all pleasing, every work, full knowledge, all power, all endurance. In verse 19, Christ is the playromai of God's Fullness and there follows the superlative description of his reconciling all things. In verse 24 Paul's sufferings are said to function as filling up (in Greek antanaplayro). In verse 25 the word appears still again; Paul has been called to minister to them the word of God in its Fullness. Finally comes the ultimate insight, the mystery hidden from the ages and from generations but now revealed to the believers. It's the ultimate Fullness -- the mystery of Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Can you see how Paul's mind works? He grabs this concept of God's Fullness and then examines it from different perspectives, like looking at a beautiful diamond from its many facets. It seems ridiculous, then, to interpret verse 24 as though suddenly Paul's focus should shift to what is lacking in the work of Christ, especially since he's gone to such lengths in the context of this chapter to detail the all-sufficient Fullness of Christ.

Most commentators attempt to deal with the problem by trying to explain the metaphor. This is unnecessarily obtuse and difficult. The easiest explanation is to re-translate the Greek word, hustermata, usually rendered as translated "things lacking." The word comes from a root that means "that which is behind," or "following." The notion was that if you were "behind" on wine, you were running out of wine. But the word can be used of time in which it simply denotes something that is later than, that which comes after something else.

The context surely recommends this translation. The Church is Christ's body. Christ himself has triumphed in his death and resurrection and is in heaven. But the sufferings Christ endure, continue, in Paul's own sufferings. His sufferings "come along behind" the sufferings of Christ. Christ's sufferings aren't deficient. Paul can't add anything to the Fullness of Christ's saving act. But the Apostle's sufferings and those of the saints are not random and meaningless. We are not victims. Our suffering is part of the Fullness and carries on the redeeming acts of God in Jesus. Paul is a suffering servant as was Jesus as is every believer who endures rebuke for the sake of Christ.

So, a better translation in light of a study of the context of the entire passage might be:

I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and share in the Fullness of Christ's afflictions now taking place in my body on behalf of his body, the Church."