Colossians 1: 24 Difficulty

"Who 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." (Col. 1: 24 kjv) 

When this verse is first read it causes the reader to wonder what Paul could mean when he implies that the "afflictions of Christ" are in need of being filled up by Paul's sufferings. The afflictions or sufferings of Christ are ended and are sufficient in themselves and need no addition. Right? Commentators give several ways to interpret Paul's words, but they all agree that what they seem to say is repugnant. But, we should keep in mind that things are not always as they seem to be.

Gill in his commentary wrote the following, and I believe he is correct in his interpretation:

"and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh; by which are meant not the afflictions or sufferings of Christ in his own person; for these were all over, he was now entered into his glory, was exalted at the Father's right hand, and was crowned with glory and honour: there was nothing left behind of his sufferings, to be undergone by any of his people; he had drank of the cup and all the dregs of it; he had sustained the whole of his Father's wrath, and all the curses of the law, being abated nothing, but was made perfect through sufferings; having perfectly suffered all, he suffered once and once for all, he will suffer no more; nor is there any need of his suffering more or again, for he has finished sin, wrought righteousness, made peace, and obtained eternal redemption; nor had he any partner in his sufferings, nor did he need any, or left any part of his sufferings to be filled up by others; for he endured all and the whole, which the law and justice of God could require in his own body, in the body of his flesh through death; of these sufferings the apostle does not speak, but of such which he filled up in "his" own "flesh"; and design the afflictions of Christ in his members, which are called "his", because of that near union there is between Christ and them; so that what befalls them may be predicated of him; when anyone of them suffers, he suffers with him, as the sufferings of a part of the body are ascribed to the whole person; and because of that sympathy there is between them, he has a fellow feeling with his people in all their infirmities; in all their afflictions he is afflicted: if Saul persecutes his saints, he persecutes him; whatever injury is done to them, he takes it as done to himself, who are to him as the apple of his eye. Moreover, hereby they are conformed unto him, and made like him; as he was, so are they in this world; there is a good deal of likeness between the afflictions of Christ and his people, though in some things there is a great disparity; add to this, that the afflictions of the saints are endured for Christ's sake, for the sake of his Gospel, and the profession of his name, and therefore called his, and the more cheerfully bore by them: now of these there were some remains to be filled up by the apostle; not that all the afflictions of the whole body of Christ were to be, or have been filled up by him; there was a great deal left behind by him to be filled up by others, and which has been filling up ever since, and still is, and yet all is not fulfilled to this day, nor will be till the end of time; but he speaks only of that part and measure of them, which was to be filled up in his flesh; he had his measure of afflictions allotted to him, great part of which he had endured already, but some remained, the measure was not yet full, though pretty near being completed, which gave him pleasure..."

By the "afflictions of Christ" or "sufferings of Christ" Paul does not allude to what Christ suffered at the hands of the Romans prior to his crucifixion and including his crucifixion, in his physical body, but rather refers to the sufferings and afflictions of his mystical body, the church, the people of God, which with Christ is identified. 

When the Lord Jesus Christ appeared to the persecuting and murderous Christ hater, Saul of Tarsus, he said to him -- "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" (Acts 9:4) Saul was not personally persecuting Jesus for he was no longer on earth as before. So, in these words, Christ says that in Saul's persecuting of Christians he was persecuting him. 

Of these sufferings of Christians for the sake of Christ, Paul reminded the Christians, saying -- "that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this." (I Thess. 3: 3 nkjv) And, every Christian has his peculiar afflictions ordained for him in life and he will not die until he or she has experienced them to the glory of God. When Christ appeared to Ananias in order to inform him of Saul's conversion and to appoint him to go to Saul so that he might minister to him, he said to him:

"But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9: 15-16 nkjv)

Notice the words "how many" and "must." These words tell us that Saul, who became the apostle Paul, had a certain number of afflictions and sufferings to endure for Christ's sake. These afflictions Christ owns as his own. We see this same truth implied in the following text:

"9 When He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. 10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” 11 Then a white robe was given to each of them; and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer, until both the number of their fellow servants and their brethren, who would be killed as they were, was completed." (Rev. 6: 9-11 nkjv)

There was a certain "number" of martyrs, a certain limit to such persecution, that must be met before the day of the Lord's vengeance and retribution. In Genesis 15: 16 we hear the Lord say of the time when the Lord would punish Israel's enemies and persecutors -- "for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full." Not only is there an ordained amount of iniquity, limited by God, but there is also an ordained amount of suffering for every believer, and when that number has been reached, the believer will be called to his home in glory.