Section 85
208The θλίψεɩς τοῦ Xϱɩστοῦ are identical here with Paul’s αθήματα ὑπὲϱὑμѽν (“for you Gentiles,” not only “for you Colossians”). Nowhere in the NT is the θλίβω word-group used of the personal passion of Christ. W. Michaelis takes θλίψεɩς τοῦ Xϱɩστοῦ here to mean “afflictions for Christ” (TDNT 5, p. 933 with n. 20, s.v. πάθημα). Cf. E. Best, One Body in Christ, p. 132 (“the sufferings of the Messiah . . . are sufferings which his disciples are enduring, persecutions direct or indirect”); L. P. Trudinger, “A Further Brief Note on Colossians 1:24,” EQ 45 (1973), 36-38.
209Cf. E. Best, One Body in Christ, p. 136; R. J. Bauckham, “Colossians 1:24 Again: The Apocalyptic Motif,” EQ 47 (1975), 168-70.
210Cf. J. A. T. Robinson, The Body, p. 70, where the prefix ἀντί is taken to indicate Paul’s willingness “to fill up in their stead . . . the tax of suffering still outstanding to them.” C. F. D. Moule (IBNTG, p. 71) allows his interpretation (ἀντί “may anticipate the force of the ὑπέϱ which follows”), but he admits the view preferred in n. 204 above, that ἀντί “may merely imply that fullness replaces lack.” Ignatius (Eph. 8.1; Trall. 13.3) speaks of his imminent martyrdom as an offering on behalf of his Christian friends, but does not describe it as part of the suffering of Christ. On the other hand, the Letter from the Churches of Vienne and Lyon (Eusebius, HE 5.1) expressly speaks of Christ as suffering in the martyrs.