Imitation or Realistic Participation?

A Study of Paul's Concept of "Suffering With Christ"

by C. MERRILL PROUDFOOT

NUMEROUS PASSAGES in the Pauline letters refer to an intimate rela­

tion in suffering which the Apostle has with Christ. In I I Corinthians
ι : 5, Paul says that "we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings" ; and
in II Corinthians 4:10, that "[he is] always carrying in the body the
55
death of Jesus. In Philippians 3:10, he speaks of his purpose "to share
55
his sufferings ; while in Romans 8:17 he expresses apparently the same
concept in one term, συμπάσχομεν. There is, in addition, the tan­
talizing statement of Colossians 1:24 which not only challenges the
exegete to explain the meaning of the expression "complete what is
lacking in the Christ's afflictions,55 but also presents the question of the
authorship of the letter.
The basic problem in the interpretation of these passages is this : Are
we dealing here with a realistic "Christ-mysticism55 or with the milder
concept of the imitation of Christ? Does Paul believe his suffering is in
some real way the suffering of Christ, or is he simply using vivid meta­
phor to say that his suffering is like that of Christ, or that it has its origin
in his service to Christ?
It would seem to be correct to say that interpretations by scholars of
this century may be classified in three categories : those definitely non-
"mystical55; those which employ the "mystical55 concept but which more
or less limit it to the relation between Paul and Christ; and those which
understand the mysticism in terms of the underlying "body of Christ,55
and which stress, therefore, the participation of the congregation of be­
lievers along with Paul and Christ in the suffering fellowship.1 Those
who do interpret Paul as a mystic—especially those in the second cate­
gory—differ in the degree of realism which they assign to this mysticism.
Or, to use another term, they differ in the degree to which they give a
sacramental character to this mysticism. Albert Schweitzer gives the
most literal interpretation to the mysticism, employing such terms as
1. T h e word "mystical" as we shall use it will not be intended in the Oriental sense of
absorption of the believer into the divinity, but in the sense of a real connection between be­
liever and divinity in which there may be an actual sharing of experience, but not necessarily
a merging of personalities. O u r use of the term "realistic" has a similar signification.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 141

"physical solidarity.552 It may be questioned whether Schweitzer has

allowed the mysticism to be sufficiently tempered by other elements of
Pauline piety, such as the emphasis on faith and justification. Bultmann
stands out as the most conspicuous advocate of the non-mystical inter-
pretation. His interpretation, however, is subject to the criticism that it
goes beyond exegesis of the text to a "demythologizing 55 of the text, and
in doing so probably goes beyond Paul. 3
Since there continues to be wide divergence of opinion as to how Paul
understands Christian suffering to be related to Christ, this article offers
a fresh study of the major Pauline passages in which Christian suffering
is implicated. The exegetical method is chosen in an attempt to let Paul
himself answer the question. In order to limit the study, we shall con-
centrate on I I Corinthians 1:3-7 and 4:10-12, Romans 8:17, and
Philippians 3:10-11, in all of which the Christ-Paul relation in suffering
is most vivid. We shall use Colossians 1:24 in a comparative way because
of the question regarding its authorship. We shall strive to keep these
passages always in the perspective of the entire Pauline literature.

I
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies
and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be
able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we
ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's suffer-
ings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. If we are afflicted,
it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your com-
fort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we
suffer. Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our
sufferings, you will also share in our comfort (II Cor. 1:3-7 ) .4

Paul is writing a consoling letter, having heard from Titus that the sharp
words of censure which he had employed in his previous communication
had caused the Corinthians to grieve and repent. As he speaks of com-
fort, he shows a tender regard for their condition, with perhaps just a
gentle reminder of the suffering they have caused him.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father
55
of mercies and the God of all comfort In words which echo Jewish
2. The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (London: A. and G. Black, Ltd., 1930). Translated
by Wm. Montgomery.
3. Rudolph Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament, Vol. I (New York: Charles Scrib-
ner's Sons, 1951), pp. 345-352). Translated by Kendrick Grobel.
4. RSV, as are all New Testament quotations unless otherwise specified.
142 Interpretation

liturgical phrases, Paul announces his theme of comfort—the comfort

that comes in suffering—and at the same time he relates this comfort and
suffering to Jesus Christ, the One who has transformed his own under­
standing of the old forms. This word comfort—striking here in the fre­
quency of its occurrence—is for Paul and for the Bible in general a more
important term than is generally realized. We sense something strange in
the very idea of comfort as something experienced while one is suffering
affliction, and actually increased when the suffering becomes more
severe (vs. 5 ) . We have not the space here for a detailed study of the
"comfort 5 5 concept, but because of its close relation to suffering in Paul's
thought, we must mention the salient points.
T h e Old Testament background for the term is found in the root nhmy
translated in the Septuagint, when it has the meaning "comfort, 55 by
τταράκλησις and its cognates. Although nhm occurs often in the Old
Testament in much the sense that we give to the word "comfort 5 5 today,
there is in addition an augmented usage, found most prominently in the
Psalms and Deutero Isaiah. Typical of this usage are the following
examples :
Turn to me and take pity on me;
give thy strength to thy servant,
and save the son of thy handmaid.
Show me a sign of thy favor,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame
because thou, LORD, hast helped me and comforted me.
(Ps. 85 (86): 16-17)
For the LORD will comfort Zion;
he will comfort all her waste places,
and will make her wilderness like Eden,
her desert like the garden of the LORD. . . .
(Isa. 51:3a) 5

I n these passages, "comfort 5 5 represents not just a feeling, but an actual

change of condition brought about by an activity of the comforter on,
or for, the comforted. T h e term fits into a complex with such ideas as
salvation, redemption, and deliverance. This realistic use of comfort
denotes not only the removal of the cause of the misery, but also positive
6
benefits. It is used with reference to both the individual and the nation.
5. Cf. also Ps. 70(71)120-21, Isa. 57:18, Nah. 3:7, Ps. 125:1 (LXX).
6. Most of the references in the Psalms ostensibly refer to individuals; most of those in
Deutero Isaiah refer either to the nation or to the mourners within the nation.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 143

For both, it is God who is the ultimate Comforter.

55
But to the extent that it partakes of the flavor of "salvation, comfort
7
must become for Israel an eschatological entity. Thus the term becomes
in the Scriptures and Apocrypha a standard term for referring to Israel's
55
national hope, and it is found in formulas such as "the comfort of Israel
55 8
and "the Day of Comfort in the rabbinic writings. Already in pre-
55
Christian times the eschatological "comfort must have been brought
into connection with the figure of the Messiah; at least this is strongly
supported by Luke 2:25ff., where we find Simeon waiting for the
9
παράκλησις of Israel in the coming of the Messiah.
The fact that Paul's use of the term in the passage under consideration
is embodied in a liturgical formula points up the probability that Paul,
as a "Hebrew of the Hebrews,55 would have been the heir of this comfort
concept. That comfort for Paul has a messianic, and therefore Christo-
logical, content is demonstrated clearly in the way he relates the two
clauses, "the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort55 and "the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.55 The words θεός and πατήρ
form a chiasmus which indicates that the One who is Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ is also the Father of mercies, and the One who is God
of our Lord Jesus Christ is also the God of all comfort. It is apparent
that the mercies and the comfort are Jesus Christ—that is, in the sense
that it is in and through Christ that they are brought to realization—an
affirmation to be brought out more clearly in verse 5.
In verse 4, Paul moves from theological postulate to personal testi­
mony. God comforts him in all his affliction. (The plural pronoun seems
here to be the "editorial we,55 or possibly a gracious inclusion of Timothy
in the Apostle's ministry of suffering. Note that Paul's readers are ex­
cluded from the "we55 in verses 6ff.) The clause είς το δύνασθαι seems
to be a genuine purpose clause, supported as it is by verse 6. The
Apostle is convinced that God has comforted him in all his affliction
in order that he may be the channel of comfort to others—specifically
now, as verse 6 will bring out, to the Corinthian congregation. The
preposition διά in the following phrase should not be taken in the loose
7. Cf. Isa. 4 0 : 1 , 4 9 ^ 3 ? 5 ^ 3 , 6 1 : 2 , 66:11,13.
8. Cf. Apoc. Baruch 4 4 : 7 ; Targ. II Sam. 2 3 : 1 ; Targ. I Gen., 1:21. See further Strack-
Billerbeck, Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch, II, pp. 124-6.
9. In Isa. 61:1 ff., comfort is a function of the anointed one. The use of this passage with a
messianic reference in Luke 4 : 1 6 ff. and 7:18-23 strongly suggests that it was given a messianic
interpretation in pre-Christian Judaism. "Comforter" (M e nachem) was a familiar name for the
Messiah among the rabbis, where we have it recorded perhaps as early as the second century,
A.D. See Sanh. 98^; pB«rakh 2 , 4 ^ , 1 5 ) ; further in Strack-Billerbeck I, p. 66 f.
144 Interpretation
55
sense of "because of, as though it were followed by an infinitive con­
struction; rather it is the very comfort Paul receives from God that he
shares. Paul cannot of himself comfort anyone, for God is the originator
of all comfort.
Although we set out to investigate Paul's view of suffering, we have
found him up to this point concerned chiefly with comfort, having men­
tioned it five times in two verses. Now, in verse 5, Paul brings the two
together in a comparison: "For as the sufferings of Christ abound unto
5510
us, so also through Christ abounds our comfort. The comparison has
55
to do first with quantity : "As our sufferings abound, so does our comfort.
Since we usually think of suffering and comfort as opposite forces, this is
a startling statement that must wait for illumination upon the rest of the
passage. The emphasis of position given to δια του Χρίστου in the
second clause shows that the suffering and comfort are being compared
also with respect to the fact that both in some fashion have their origin
in Christ. This raises the question : Can PauPs suffering really be related
to Christ in a way comparable to that in which his comfort is related to
Christ? If the comfort is to be understood Christologically, in what sense
can the suffering be understood Christologically? It is evident that the
understanding of the much-discussed phrase, "the sufferings of Christ,55
will be of crucial significance for us.
To begin with, we surely can assume that the sufferings referred to
are real sufferings endured by Paul (in line with other references
throughout the passage), and we can proceed to investigate what relation
these have to Christ or to Christ's sufferings.
The genitive case by itself tells us only that Christ does stand in a kind
of relation to the sufferings which somehow defines or describes them.
But the uses of the genitive are many—such as source, quality, subject,
possession—and each of these could be applied here in different ways.
This is the problem, not the solution. The correspondence between
του Χρίστου in the first clause and bià του Χρίστου in the second
emphasizes the connotation of source, but by no means exhausts the
possibilities. Actually Paul did not say τα παθή ματα τα δια του Χρίστου.
We have already begun to glimpse in the passage a triangular com­
munity embracing Christ (or God), Paul, and the Corinthian believers,
which somehow underlies the sharing of suffering and comfort. This is
reminiscent of Paul's concept of the church as the body of Christ and
suggests that we need to explore that concept in order to place in proper
10. A literal translation from the Greek.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 145

context the relation that Christ has to Paul's suffering. Fortunately the
studies of Ernst Käsemann11 and J. A. T. Robinson12 have illuminated
PauPs use of the soma concept; we are indebted to them in the brief
survey which follows.
PauPs use of σώμα to designate the church can be understood only in
its relation to his use of σώμα in the anthropological and soteriological
senses. PauPs anthropology starts from the Old Testament—Jewish
presupposition of man as an indivisible whole. Thus the terms σώμα
and σαρξ have their characteristic use not in the Greek sense of the
material of the human self as contrasted to its form, but each can repre­
sent the whole man in different aspects. Thus man does not have a body
so much as he is a body.13 When Paul speaks, then, of the church as
Christ's body, he cannot mean that it is something external which he
possesses, but rather that in some real sense Christ himself is the church.
For Paul, as for the Hebrews, the body, like the "flesh,55 is not what
separates one man from another; it is what ties men together because
it binds them to the common life on this earth. 14 This points to the unity
of "body55 when the church is so considered. The term σαρξ seems to
indicate man as opposed to God, σώμα man's possibility of living
either against or for God.15 When man is redeemed, it is from "the body
of sin." It is by the body of Christ which met death on the cross that this
is possible for him. It is into the body of Christ, the church, that he is
now placed. Thus σώμα του Χρίστου makes the strongest possible
tie between soteriology and ecclesiology. Paul says in Romans 7:4,
" . . . You have died to the law through the body of Christ " The
reference of σώμα is primarily to the fleshly body of Christ which died
on the cross. But the point is that we are so bound to Christ that what
he experienced on Calvary we have also experienced : " . . . our old self
55
was crucified with h i m . . , (Rom. 6:6) ; " I have been crucified with
Christ'5 (Gal. 2:20). And Romans 6:3ff. makes it clear that it is by
55
being baptized "into Christ Jesus that we have attained this sharing
with him in death; while we see in I Corinthians 12:12-13 that to be
baptized into "Christ55 is to be baptized into his body—that is, the church.
So then these passages together clearly establish that there is such a
11. Leib und Leib Christi (Tübingen: J. C. B. Mohr, 1933).
12. The Body; A Study in Pauline Theology (London: Student Christian Movement Press,
Ltd., 1952).
13. Käsemann, op. cit., p. 119; Robinson, op. cit., p. 28. Cf. Bultmann, op. cit., p. 194.
14. II Cor. 5:8, 10; Rom. 8 : 2 3 ; Phil. 3 : 2 1 . See Robinson, op. cit., p. 29.
15.1 Cor. 6:13-20. Cf. Käsemann, op. cit., p. 121 ; Robinson, op. cit., p. 31.
 146 Interpretation

relation between Christ and his church, the body, that certain experi-
ences which happened to Christ in his earthly body in some way happen
also to members of the church.
But if the church is thus related to the crucified body of Christ, it is
similarly related to the risen spiritual body of Christ. So I Corinthians
6:15 ff., "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? . . .
he who is united to the LORD becomes one spirit with him.55 Our death
in the body of Christ was in order that we might "be united with him
in a resurrection like his'5 (Rom. 6:5), and this resurrection has already
begun, for Paul admonishes, "So you also must consider yourselves dead
to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus55 (Rom. 6:11). So the church as
body of Christ partakes at the same time of the humiliation of Christ's
body of flesh and in the glory of Christ's risen body. This is in keeping
with a community that is a historical phenomenon and yet eschatologi-
cally designated for life, and which indeed is already beginning to ex-
perience it through God's gift, the "guarantee55 of the Spirit.
We see at once that if being in the body of Christ causes such experi-
ences to happen to us, it is no mere figure of speech, but it is to be
understood in a more realistic sense. This realistic character is further
evidenced by the fact that Paul can say in I Corinthians 6:15 f. that
our bodies are members of Christ in a way that can be compared with
sexual union. Conclusive evidence of the realistic nature of this somatic
connection is Paul's view of the sacraments : To take the Lord's Supper
means to participate in the body and blood of Christ; but if one take it
unworthily, judgment in the form of sickness or even death results (I
Cor. u:27ff.). The practice of baptism for the dead becomes more
understandable on the presupposition of this body-relation (I Cor.
15:29). Further evidence lies in the fact that the sanctification that
works in the body of Christ can be extended from the believing partner
of a marriage to the unbelieving partner or to the child (I Cor. 7:12 ff.).
If "body55 is to be taken thus literally, it does not mean a group or a
collection, but a unity, a person. This understanding is bolstered by the
typical Pauline thought that the believer is "in Christ,55 or Christ "in55
the believer.
That the "body of Christ55 is not to be taken in a crass physical or
magical sense is suggested by I Corinthians 6:17, "He who is joined to
the Lord is one spirit with him.55 It is the purpose of this discussion to
follow out the clue in this verse which indicates that the reality of the
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 147
16
somatic connection is in the Spirit who unites the believer to the Lord.
The specific importance of this study for our problem lies in the fact
that the unity in the body of Christ is so close and of such a nature that
the experiences of one member of the body become the experiences of
the others, and particularly that the experiences of Christ become the
experiences of believers.
For example, in I Corinthians 12:26 the sharing of suffering and
"joy" is specifically laid to the union in the body of Christ: "If one
member suffers, all [the members] suffer together; if one member is
honored, all [the members] rejoice together." Compare II Corinthians
11:29, where Paul is speaking of "the daily pressure upon me of my
55
anxiety for all the churches : "Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is
made to fall, and I am not indignant?55 Also compare I Corinthians
5:3-4, where Paul's spirit is affirmed to be effective in meeting with the
Corinthians for the condemnation of a sinner, even though Paul is absent
in the body.
This study of σώμα Χρίστου throws considerable light on how Paul
can say that he and the Corinthians experience the sufferings of Christ.
It suggests that it is because they have entered by baptism into a realistic
bond with Christ which enables them through the medium of the Spirit
to experience Christ's experiences—that is, of course, Christ's soterio-
logical experiences of death and resurrection. Because of this bond, then,
PauPs own suffering and that of the Corinthians must be interpreted as
bearing a special relation to what Jesus suffered in the flesh. But Christ
in the flesh and the risen Christ are one; therefore Paul and the Corin­
thians are related in the same way to the risen life of Christ. This not
only means that they share his "comfort,55 but also that the risen Christ
is likewise spiritually related to their sufferings.
This, then, gives us a hypothesis which seems to fit I I Corinthians 1:5
and its context : The sufferings of Christ are the Christians5 sharing in the
historical sufferings (or death) of Jesus, as these are mediated to them
through their spiritual connection with the risen Christ—just as "com­
fort55 is their sharing in the resurrection of Christ through the somatic
union with him. The death and resurrection of Christ are twin experi­
ences of the believer as the result of his union with the Lord.
Verses 6 and 7 elaborate on the fellowship of suffering and comfort,
extending it laterally to include the Corinthian congregation. Paul here
16. Gf. Rom. 8:9-11; I Cor. 6:17 f., 12:4 ff-, 13.
 148 Interpretation

goes a step beyond verse 4 when he asserts that not only the comfort, but
even the affliction itself is given to him for the sake of the benefit which
55
redounds from it to his children in the gospel. He adds "salvation to
55
"comfort as a benefit they receive from his affliction. Of course,
55
παράκλησις itself carries much of the meaning of "salvation, but the
explicit use of the term σωτηρία emphasizes the redemptive effect for
the community of Paul's suffering-with-Christ.
The question of how Paul believes his suffering ministers to the
55
Corinthians' "comfort and salvation must be investigated because it
will have an important bearing on the central question of whether the
55
"suffering with Christ is viewed by Paul after the manner of a realistic
union, or as a correspondence.
Perhaps the first possibility that would be suggested by υπέρ . . .
σωτηρίας is that Paul is reminding the Corinthians that without his
readiness to suffer they would never have known the gospel and its
benefits. This would view the suffering simply as a necessary adjunct to
his evangelistic work. But against this is the fact that he says whenever
(είτε—"whether 5 5 ) he is afflicted (present tense), it works for their
comfort and salvation. Add to this the fact that Paul seems to say that
this comfort and salvation is fully realized only when they themselves
undergo suffering. So this "comfort and salvation55 is something the
Corinthians still need and still obtain through Paul and his suffering.
This hypothesis, then, is inadequate.
Another possibility is that by having experienced comfort, Paul is
better able to comfort them by words or example. This must be rejected
as the sole meaning because of the positive meaning παράκλησις has for
Paul. It is "the power of Christ's resurrection"—virtually the present
part of which salvation is the whole. Such a hypothesis would not ex­
plain the και σωτηρίας.
The only other explanation at hand would be one depending on the
realistic union between Paul and the Corinthians in the body of Christ. It
is unnecessary to decide whether Paul means that the comfort the Corin­
thians derive from him becomes effectual for them only when they
suffer patiently, or that this comfort makes it possible for them to endure
suffering patiently. However, if the former idea is not in verse 6, it is
in verse 7. In verse 7 the identical thing is said with reference to the
relationship between the Corinthians and Paul in suffering and comfort
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 149

that was said in verse 5 with regard to the relationship of Paul and
Christ in suffering and comfort: as they become "fellowshipers55 in the
sufferings, they become fellowshipers also of the comfort. But what
suffering and comfort is it? It is "the same sufferings [not the same kind
of sufferings] that we suffer55 (vs. 6) and therefore it is the "suffering of
Christ55 and the "comfort of Christ.55 Thus we have in view in verse 7
(probably also in verse 6) not a two-way fellowship, but a triangular
fellowship.
The explanation of how the Corinthians get comfort and salvation
from Paul's sufferings is basically the same as the explanation of how
Paul gets comfort out of his relationship with Christ in suffering. Paul is
only a medial figure : it is the union with Christ which is basic; it involves
a union of believers with one another: " . . . we, though many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members one of another" (Rom. 12:5).
Thus, the spiritual bond between believers in the body of Christ actually
makes it possible for the Corinthians to derive spiritual benefit from the
comfort which comes to Paul from Christ. This is definitely a realistic
view of the fellowship of suffering and comfort.
But does not Paul say that the Corinthians themselves must suffer in
order to receive comfort? What meaning would it have, then, to say that
his suffering was benefitting them with comfort? The death and resurrec-
tion of Christ underlies the whole fellowship of suffering and comfort,
as much for the Corinthians as for Paul. The Corinthians, too, must leave
themselves liable to share in Christ's (and therefore Paul's) suffering,
if they would share in Christ's (and therefore Paul's) comfort—because
the resurrection power of Christ cannot be completely separated from
the power of Christ's death. But Paul does seem to imply that, as their
missionary and pastor, he has had to assume a special amount of suffer-
ing on their behalf, and this means he has also received for them a surplus
of comfort. It can never be calculated in a legalistic way, so as to say,
"If you suffer so much, you will receive so much comfort." Rather, the
grace of God is apparent in the fact that the comfort is more in evidence
than the suffering. Paul is perhaps allowed to bear some of the "suffer-
ings of Christ" for the Corinthian congregation so that they receive
comfort-benefit for which they did not literally suffer, but only in terms
of their spiritual union within the body, by which it may be said that
"if one member suffers, all suffer together" (I Cor. 12:26).
150 Interpretation

II
Other passages which associate the Christian's suffering with that of
Christ should be examined in connection with this hypothesis.
. . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his
sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible I may attain the resur­
rection from the dead (Phil. 3:10-11).

In contra-distinction to the Judaizers, Paul puts no confidence in the

"flesh,55 but has given up all his claims via the flesh in order to gain
Christ (vss. 2-9). The syntax of these two following verses is not precise.
It seems best to take του γνώναι and what follows as explaining more
closely "in order that I may gain Christ, and be found in him.55 The
word ΊΌΛΟΟΛΛ emphasizes the entry into a personal relationship with
Christ, in the sense of the Hebrew yd'.17 The following και cannot be
understood as introducing a coordinate element. Rather, in this case it
connects the whole with two of its parts : "to know Christ55 is ( 1 ) to know
the power of his resurrection, and (2) to know the sharing of his
sufferings.
The word κοινωνία denotes the sharing or participation one has in
anything; it is a fellowship or community. It ordinarily expresses a
"narrow connection,55 a "two-sided relationship.5518 Moulton and Milli-
gan tell us it was used in secular koiné of the intimate relation of mar-
riage. It is used in I Corinthians 10:16 of the sacramental participation
in the body and blood of Christ. One of the expressions of the believers5
community with Christ is the sharing of his suffering.
This fellowship in suffering is further explained by the following
phrase of Philippians 3:10, "becoming like him in his death55; and the
sharing of the resurrection power by yet another clause, "that if possible
I may attain the resurrection from the dead.55 One has only to compare
this formula with Romans 6:5 to be aware that the idea of the "body of
Christ55 underlies Philippians 3:10 as surely as it does the Romans pas-
sage. At baptism we are brought into the body of Christ and hence into
relation with Christ's soteriological experiences of death and resurrection
in such a way that we participate in their continuing effect.
But the conformity to Christ's death only begins in baptism; it is
being worked out on the one hand through the Christian's continuing
17, J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan
Publishing House, 1953). See comment on this passage.
18. Gerhard Kittel, editor, Theologisches Wörterbuch zum Neuen Testament (Stuttgart: W.
Kohlhammer Verlag, 1932—), Vol. III, p. 798, lines 44-45.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 151

"deadness" to sin (Rom. 6:5), and on the other hand through the
Christian's daily life in suffering.
Verses 10 and 11 form basically the same proposition as II Corin­
thians 1:5> contained twice, in chiasmic form:
resurrection : death : : suffering : resurrection

This suggests that the "comfort" which comes through Christ may be
taken as an expression of "the power of Christ's resurrection." Paul em­
phasizes two aspects of the resurrection in the double statement of
Philippians 3:10-11—first, the resurrection power that even now is
flowing into the life of the believer, and, in the last clause, the resurrec­
tion from the dead. (To these two aspects of resurrection the term "your
comfort and salvation" in II Corinthians 1:6 correspond.) The order of
the last two clauses is a studied one, since the conformity to Christ's death
must precede the final resurrection from the dead. But fellowship in
suffering and the influence of the resurrection which is already being
experienced are contemporaneous in the Christian life. While the power
of the resurrection of Jesus cannot be enjoyed apart from participation
also in his suffering, the other side of the picture is that the believer in
his suffering with Christ is strengthened by the power of Christ's resur­
rection. This is exactly what Paul states in II Corinthians 1:5 in regard
to suffering and comfort.
While the person who is not in Christ may be able to choose or reject
suffering, this is no option for the man in Christ. He is brought into fel­
lowship with Christ's suffering at baptism. The context of our passage
shows that to place oneself on the side of Christ automatically places one
in opposition to those who are enemies of the cross of Christ; to receive
citizenship in heaven necessarily places one in tension with the forces of
this world (3:2ff., i8ff.).
Just as it was necessary for Christ to submit to suffering before he
experienced resurrection, so also Paul knows that he must allow himself
to become "conformed to Christ's death" if he is to come through to
( καταντάω—"come upon, arrive at" ) resurrection. Thus, also, comfort
can come only to one who suffers (I Cor. 1:4-7). But even so, the
ει πως shows that the resurrection cannot be counted on as a certainty
upon the fulfillment of a prescribed condition. Indeed, συμμορφιζόμενος
is not a condition to be humanly fulfilled; it is itself an aspect of the
union with Christ.
152 Interpretation

Now we are in a position to understand how Paul can allude to his

sufferings as sharing in the sufferings of Christ. We have seen that the
nature of the believer's spiritual union with Christ is such that he re­
capitulates in his own life the two-fold soteriological experience of his
Lord—death and resurrection. In the Philippians passage Paul speaks
of the one aspect as coming to know "the power of his resurrection."
Even though Christ's resurrection was an event fixed in time, it has a
continuing power that works in those joined to him. Is it not natural,
then, to assume that Christ's death, although it was at a fixed point in
time, has also a continuing power that works in those who are united to
the body of Christ? We have always recognized this to be true to the
extent that it places the believer in a new status—that through the
power of Christ's death the believer is "justified" or "free from sin."
Now we see that just as the "resurrection-power" is not simply a status,
neither is the "death-power" : it is working itself out in Paul's daily ex­
perience. He is continually being conformed (present participle) to it
as his fellowship with Christ extends to suffering.
To approach it from another angle : Christ still "owns" the suffering
he underwent on Calvary; in a sense it is still at work for him. Paul's
"knowledge" of, or union with, Christ joins him to the force of Christ's
resurrection and death in such a way that Christ's sufferings on Calvary
are working themselves out also in Paul's life, in Paul's own sufferings.
Thus Paul's sufferings are likewise "owned" by Christ. Paul's are united
with his in one "body" of suffering. Just as Paul's present walk in "new­
ness of life" (Rom. 6:4) results from the power of Christ's resurrection
working in Paul, so his present sufferings are a sharing in "the sufferings
of Christ."
This study of Philippians 3:10-11 seems surely to confirm the hypothe­
sis regarding II Corinthians 1:5. Paul's experience of "the sufferings of
Christ" results from his realistic somatic union with Christ and is not
so called simply because it imitates Christ.

Ill
. . . and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided
we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him (Rom. 8:17).

Here we have the same idea of κοινωνία in Christ's sufferings expressed

simply by the term συμπάσχομεν. If we are led by the Spirit of
God, Paul has affirmed, then we are children of God, and if children,
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 153

then heirs. If we are heirs of God, we are fellow heirs with Christ. This
" σ υ ν " denotes the fellowship. It suggests to Paul two other "GUV'S"
which will clarify the nature of that fellowship: the " σ υ ν " of suffering
and the " σ υ ν " of glorification. Otherwise, some might have the false
impression that to be a fellow heir meant only to share Christ's glorifi­
cation.
Romans 8:17 makes it perfectly clear that to know "the fellowship of
his suffering," or to experience "the suffering of Christ" is to suffer with
Christ. It suggests again that since the Christian's suffering is to be
understood in terms of Christ's death, it cannot be dissociated from the
experience of his resurrection. The aspect of the resurrection power in
view here is that ultimate eschatological gift referred to in Philippians
3:11.
Of course the συν might be taken as merely figurative. It is true that
Christ has already been glorified and has already endured crucifixion.
But when we consider together the expressions "suffer with Christ,"
"know the fellowship of his sufferings," and "[experience] the sufferings
of Christ," and compare them with Romans 6:3—"Do you not know
that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his
death?"—the case becomes almost indisputable that the "with" is based
on the realistic bond in the body of Christ and denotes a real sharing in
which the distinction in time is somehow beside the point. The best
explanation is that given in Philippians 3:10-11 : that Christ's suffering
as well as his resurrection still is effective in the body of Christ.

IV
There is another passage which must certainly be investigated because
it deals with this same complex of ideas :
. . . always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may
also be manifested in our bodies. For while we live we are always being given up
to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal
flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you (II Cor. 4:10-12).

These verses are joined in thought, and to some extent in style, to verses
7-9. The preceding context (beginning perhaps at 2:14) has disclosed
Paul's awareness of the important position in which he has been placed
as a minister of the New Covenant—a position that may be compared
with that of Moses in the Old Covenant ( 3 : 7 0 . ) . And so Paul speaks
 154 Interpretation

boldly and acts with authority (3:12, 4 : 2 ) . But the honor, the boldness,
and the authority inhere not in himself, but in God who has given him
his message and in Christ whom he preaches (vs. 6). He in himself is
no more than their slave "for Jesus' sake." Paul's position, therefore, is
one of sharp contrast between his own weakness and the exalted nature
of his ministry, which is due to the glory of the gospel it proclaims. How­
ever, it is a contrast which is not contradictory, for Paul's own weakness
actually testifies to the greatness of God's power which works through
him.
This is brought sharply to focus in "But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and
not to us" (4:7). The term "this treasure" refers to the inward illumina­
tion of the knowledge of God's self-revelation in Christ (vs. 6), particu­
larly as this is entrusted to the missionaries, Paul and Timothy, to be
communicated to others.19 The "earthen vessels" we take to be Paul's
description of himself (and Timothy and any other Christian who shares
his missionary role), prompted by the observation of his own suffering.
The utter worthlessness of the container causes the preciousness of the
treasure to appear in its true light. The metaphor is elucidated by four
pairs of participles in loose apposition to the two clauses of verse 7 : the
first participle in each pair denotes an instance of the weakness of the
"vessel"; the second shows how God's power is seen to be manifested by
the fact that he is able to preserve the weak vessel from utter destruction.
But in verse 10, whose clauses structurally continue the pattern of
verses 8 and 9, two radical elements are introduced which carry the
thought far beyond that of the preceding verses. Now the sufferings and
also the "power" are considered to derive from a relationship to Christ
which suggests the realistic union we saw in other passages; also, the
second member is no longer simply an assertion of the limitation to this
suffering, but the affirmation that the bearing of this suffering is actually
allowing a corresponding life-force to be manifested from the same
quarter in which the suffering is borne ("in the body").
Thus we have here in terms of dying-life the same two-member salva­
tion pattern we noted in II Corinthians 1:5 in terms of suffering-
comfort, in Philippians 3 as suffering-death-resurrection, and in Romans
8:17 in terms of suffering-glorification. Here again, while the "dying"
19. Paul's ministry of the gospel has been the larger subject of the whole letter; the ήμεΐς
retains its primary reference to Paul himself, with perhaps Timothy included, as we see from
the contrast to ύμείς in 4 : 1 2 . The π ρ ο ς φ ωτισμόν, on the other hand, may well refer to the
illumination of others (although most commentators reject this view).
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 155

and "life" clearly happen in Paul's "body" ("self," not limited to the
physical body), it is the death and resurrection of Christ which furnishes
the motif. Is it simply a motif, a background, or do the dying and life
somehow spring from a realistic union with Christ? The import of 4:10
is that Paul's suffering is the νέκρωσις of Jesus. (This word probably
should be taken in an active sense with του Ιησού as object, "the putting
20
to death of Jesus." It is significant that Paul does not simply say that
he suffers in order to establish a basis for the Christ-union which will
result in a manifestation of Christ's life-giving power, for already in
Paul's suffering the union with Christ is presupposed.
That Paul describes this νέκρωσις in verse 11 as "being delivered to
death for Jesus' sake" does not deny that it is a "participation" in the
suffering of Jesus by means of the spiritual bond with Christ, but only
describes what form this suffering takes for Paul.
Although the grammatical symmetry is broken after verse 10, verses
11 and 12 continue the parallelism in thought to the ideas of human
weakness—divine power of verse 7. The contribution of verse 12 is to
establish that the "death" which Paul is experiencing (that is, extreme
peril in which all human security against the possibility of death is
forfeited) results in life not only within himself, but also for the Corin­
thians. The life-force is communicable: this had already been presaged
in the use of the verb φανερωθη in verses 10 and 11, and it is exactly
what Paul has said in II Corinthians 114. and 6.
And how can Paul's experiencing of the "putting to death" of Jesus
cause the "life" of Christ to work increasingly in the Corinthians? One
way is that Paul's suffering is a sort of illustration of or commentary upon
his preaching of the gospel,21 Paul's suffering enables him to manifest
in his body the putting-to-death of Jesus and the life of Jesus; but is this
not just what Paul does in his preaching—to show forth the death and
resurrection of Christ? So then Paul's suffering has a function much like
that of the sacrament when understood as the visible representation of
the preached word.
But there is another aspect to Paul's communication of the life-
20. W. Bauer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, translated by W. F. Arndt
and F. W. Gingrich (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957), sub verbo.
21. This can be demonstrated in detail from the preceding context, especially by attention
to the terms δ ό ξ α and ζ ω ή , which are seen to be two different terms for the eschatological
blessing already being communicated to the hearts of believers as they "behold the face of
Christ." For Paul's ministry enables men to do this by holding Christ before them in the verbal
proclamation of the gospel. Then in 4 : 7 ff. the same "life" is seen to come also through behold­
ing the suffering of Christ in Paul.
156 Interpretation

benefit. Paul is able to reflect the δόξα or ζωή because he "beholds

the face of the Lord" (3:18, 4 : 6 ) . He is able to manifest "the life of
Jesus" because he surrenders to bear also "the dying of Jesus." This
suggests that to perceive most fully the δόξα in the face of the Lord,
one must join the Lord in suffering. The fuller measure of affliction
which has been the lot of the Apostle has enabled Paul to experience
a fuller measure of the resurrection-power of Christ. Is it too much to
believe that this, his congregation, can share with him because of the
corporate nature of the Christian community? Will it not be natural
to assume, once the basis of the suffering and life with Christ is admitted
to lie in the realistic union of the believer with Christ, that the lateral
extension of this bond enables Christian believers to share spiritual
benefit from one to the other? (Compare II Cor. 1:5-6.) In this sense
also Paul is a minister of Christ to them.
The study of II Corinthians 4:10-12 strengthens the case for con­
sidering the "suffering with Christ" in realistic terms—first, by the
strength of Paul's expression when he says he is carrying about in his
body "the putting to death of Jesus"; second, by the persistence with
which, from passage to passage, the death of Christ is associated with
the life of Christ as divine powers working in the present in the Chris­
tian life; finally, by the fact that suffering which happens to Paul can be
associated with the life-force which is working in the Corinthians.

V
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what
is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church...
(Col. 1:24).

This verse relates Paul's suffering to that of Christ in the most vivid
sort of way, but it is discussed last because of the fact that the Pauline
authorship of Colossians is questioned by some scholars. We shall in­
vestigate it briefly now by way of comparison with the conclusions al­
ready tentatively reached.
Paul 22 has spoken of his ministry of the gospel of reconciliation.
Now he elaborates on that ministry in the above words. The phrase
των θλίψεων του Χρίστου has the marks of an exact parallel to
τα παθήματα του Χρίστου in II Corinthians ι :5· But the idea in this
22. Without attempting to judge the question of Pauline authorship at this point, we shall
call the author "Paul" because this is what he calls himself.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 157

verse for which we are least prepared is that there is something "lack­
ing" in these tribulations of Christ which the writer can "fill up." What
is this lack, to whom is it attributable, and how can the writer say that
he is filling it?
To begin with, the shortage cannot be limited to those afflictions which
have been experienced "in my flesh." This phrase, in the absence of a
preceding article, can hardly be taken abjectivally to modify "Christ's
afflictions." Grammatically it could be taken adverbially to modify the
verbal element in υστερήματα. But Bishop Lightfoot has demon­
strated rather convincingly by quoting extrabiblical passages where
άντανωπληρόω is used that "the supply comes from an opposite quarter
23
to the deficiency." If this be true, the lack could not be Paul's alone.
Indeed, if the lack and supply were both Paul's, the whole statement
would add little to "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake."
It seems best, therefore, to take "in my flesh" as an adverbial modifier
of "complete." It is separated from "complete" for stylistic reasons—
so that it can be placed in contrast to "for the sake of his body" (which
in turn has following modifiers). Paul's suffering in his own flesh is filling
up the lack on behalf of the church.
Does this mean that the lack is the church's lack? There is yet another
possibility—namely, that the deficiency is in the historical sufferings of
Christ himself, that the church is commissioned to make up this de­
ficiency, and that Paul is rejoicing because he is being enabled to supply
that lack for the church. Such an attribution of inadequacy to Christ's
work would be theologically strange in this epistle which is distinguished
by the very fact that it presents Christ as the one in whom "all the full­
ness of God was pleased to dwell..." (1:19). Nevertheless, some
scholars have taken this view, qualified by the reservation that it is not
the atonemental significance of Jesus' suffering that is in view.24 That
the believer continues the work of Jesus, and that this involves suffering,
is understandable; but is this sufficient ground for saying that there is a
deficiency in Christ's own suffering?
We think not. The considerations mentioned plus the fact that it is
a lack that Paul can fill shows that there can be a lack in "the afflictions
of Christ" only if we view these as the sufferings of Jesus and the suffer-
23. See his commentary, Saint Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and to Philemon (New York:
Macmillan and Company, 1927). Compare also Bauer Wörterbuch, op. cit., sub verbo.
24. Cf. Lightfoot, loe. cit.; also Alfred Juncker, Die Ethik des Apostels Paulus, Vol. I I (Halle,
a. S.: M. Niemyer, 1904-19), p. 23 fr.
ι58 Interpretation

ings of Christians taken as one whole—in other words, in the sense we

have explained "the sufferings of Christ" in II Corinthians 115.
Furthermore, since explicit mention is made of the soma concept in
this sentence, the hypothesis could hardly be advanced that only the
earthly suffering of Jesus is referred to in "the afflictions of Christ."
The fact that Paul can fill up the lack of suffering on behalf of the
church seems already to presuppose the soma idea of a fellowship in
which the effect of what is done by one may be shared by others.25
What we are suggesting is that the "afflictions" are first of all actual
26
afflictions of the church (the body), just as "the sufferings of Christ"
in II Corinthians 1:5 are actual afflictions of Paul. But they may be
spoken of nevertheless as afflictions of Christ in the sense in which the
church may be spoken of as the body of Christ.
This would suggest that the phrase "the afflictions of Christ" does bear
reference to the earthly sufferings of Jesus, but only by virtue of the fact
that the historical sufferings of Jesus are related to, express themselves in,
and empower the sufferings of believers through the believers' participa­
tion in the power of Christ's death and resurrection. Naturally, Christ
"owns" these sufferings of believers who constitute his body, and there­
fore from both standpoints—empowerment and ownership—they may
be called "his."
It is true that, whereas Christ is the soma in I Corinthians and
Romans, in Colossians Christ is the Head, and the believers are his soma.
This does not suggest with quite the same strength that Christ's death
works itself out in the believer's suffering. While we do not find in Colos­
sians the death-resurrection pattern explicitly connected with suffering,
its occurrence in 2:11-13 with reference to baptism indicates that it is
a part of the writer's understanding of the somatic relationship. It may
be therefore that the two forms of the soma concept are simply variant
forms of one underlying idea ; they do not necessarily mark a difference
between Colossians and the other letters in the way participation in
Christ's suffering is understood.
Now, some conclusions may be drawn together. Some scholars, deal­
ing primarily with the concepts of the "sufferings" or the "afflictions" or
25. T h e idea of the somatic union is definitely present in Colossians, bearing considerable
resemblance to the same idea in the unquestioned Pauline letters. Cf. 1:8, 2 8 ; 2:6, 10-13;
3 : i 5 3-
26. While it does not seem quite natural in the context of I I Corinthians or Philippians to
speak of the suffering of the church, this would seem to be justified by υ π έ ρ τ ο υ σ ώ μ α τ ο ς
here, remembering that the church consists of those who are united with Christ in faith and
spirit.
 Imitation or Realistic Participation? 159

the "death" of Christ, have felt that the ideas of source or quality are
adequate. Thus, the Christian would be suffering because he is a fol­
lower of Christ, suffering for Christ, or suffering like Christ. But it
should be apparent that such explanations do not account for the
συν Χριστώ of Romans 8:17, the κοινωνία παθημάτων αυτού of Philip­
pians 3:10, or the same realism with which the fellowship of Christians
with Christ in suffering underlies even the other passages referred to. For
here Paul speaks of a fellowship in which suffering and comfort are
actually shared. Such interpretations have failed to see the "body of
Christ" as the key to these passages. Therefore also the whole element of
suffering as a part of the dying and rising with Christ is left out of
consideration.
The same considerations would also show the inadequacy of the ex­
planation that these sufferings are sufferings not completed by the his­
torical Jesus, which he left for the church to fulfill for him. It is true
that the suffering-picture is that of the historical Jesus, and that these are
his contributions to the fellowship of suffering. But to end at that point
would be to fail to appreciate the role of the still-living Christ, present
now in power; the "fellowship" would be with the sufferings of a dead
Savior.
It has been suggested that behind these various expressions lies the
Jewish apocalyptic idea of the "Woes of the Messiah"—a time of special
tribulation that would have to be undergone by the messianic people
just prior to the coming of the Kingdom. Indeed, it remains a possi­
bility that Paul was influenced by this concept; but if so, it was trans­
formed for him by the fact that the Messiah had already come, and it
was overwhelmed by the theological importance of that Messiah's death
and resurrection. Certainly this idea of the messianic woes would not
explain the relation of these sufferings on the part of the community to
the sufferings of the Messiah who has already come; for the Jewish
concept of the "woes" had no place for a suffering Messiah, and it did
not imagine he would come before the suffering of the community took
place.
We must turn therefore to an explanation which assumes the so-called
"mystical" connection among Christ and believers and which finds the
ground of that connection in the σώμα Χρίστου. Those interpretations
which assume that the "mystical" connection is only subjective cannot
be maintained in the light of the exegesis of the texts, especially once the
nature of the soma is understood. We may now also go beyond those
16ο Interpretation

interpretations which posit a "mystic atmosphere" in which no clear

distinction is maintained between individualities or between past and
present, because the soma idea clarifies how it is possible for Christ and
believers to share thus fully without the loss of personal identity or of
salvation history. Still other interpretations, supposing the spiritual
body to be a substantial element gradually replacing the natural body as
the Christian suffers, were going too far, making the realistic explanation
into a metaphysical one. This hardly fits with the eschatological nature
of the Christ-union as Paul understands it.
The conclusion, then, is that Paul knows suffering as a participatio
Christi and not as an imitatio Christi only. The participation must be
understood in terms of the σώμα Χρίστου. Paul's concept of the
παθήματα του Χρίστου is "mystical" or "realistic" in the sense we
have here used those terms to denote that there is a real spiritual bond
which unites believers to the Lord and to one another in the "body of
Christ"—and which enables believers to share really in the ongoing force
of Christ's death and power of his resurrection. One of the ways these
work themselves out is in the believer's suffering, which comes to him in
the faithful pursuance of his discipleship, and in the comfort or life
which accompanies it. But because the relation within the soma is
lateral as well as vertical, "the fellowship of his sufferings" and "the
power of his resurrection" may likewise be mediated through another
believer.
Such an explanation does not imply an automatic benefit or one
achieved by the merit of suffering, for always the underlying "with-
Christ" relationship that makes both the suffering and the comfort-
benefit possible is the relationship that depends upon grace and faith as
well as upon baptism.
 ^ s
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