a deutero-pauline mystery? 183
elsewhere say that his ministry benefits those he has never met and never
will meet.”20
sumney’s argument is based on his own interpretation of Col 1:24. he is
unconvinced by the “messianic woes”-interpretation, that there is a prede-
termined amount of suffering that god’s people have to go through before
the parousia. instead, he argues that Paul suffers vicariously, but not as
expiation. Paul’s suffering sets an example for others and is therefore ben-
eficial to them.21 sumney has argued very well for this interpretation, but
he has not shown that this idea is fundamentally different from Paul’s
self-presentation elsewhere. sumney may be correct that Paul “does not
elsewhere say that his ministry benefits those he has never met and never
will meet,” but we do not have any letters (other than possibly Colossians)
that Paul wrote to people he had not or would not meet.
however, it is a stock theme of Paul’s letters that his suffering benefits
others by serving as an example for them. the very nature of his ministry
is always (πάντοτε) to be led in a triumphal procession (2 Cor 2:14). as
several recent studies have shown, Paul compares his role as a minister
to that of a prisoner of war, who is paraded through the city by his captor,
utterly shamed and humiliated.22 this shame has very little to do with
Paul accepting hardship so that he can serve the Corinthians; it has to do
with how he understands the very essence of his ministry. the purpose
is that death may be “at work in us, but life in you” (2 Cor 4:12). For Paul,
this understanding of ministry is rooted in the very nature of Christ’s own
20 sumney, Colossians, 7; similarly, lohse, Colossians and Philemon, 72; Peter Müller,
Anfänge der Paulusschule: Dargestellt am zweiten Thessalonicherbrief und am Kolosserbrief
(atant 74; Zurich: theologischer Verlag, 1988), 229; Frank, Kolosserbrief, 94–98. gerhard
sellin thinks the expression in Col 1:24 refers to Paul’s violent death. he thinks that Paul’s
death here has soteriological significance, an element he also finds behind the phrase
“for the sake of you” (ὑπὲρ ὑμῶν) in eph 3:1 (Der Brief an die Epheser [KeK 8; göttingen:
Vandenhoeck & ruprecht, 2009], 247).
Macdonald also thinks that Colossians reflects a situation after Paul’s death, a situation
where it is necessary to bestow authority on the apostle’s successors, especially epaphras
and tychicus (cf. Col 1:6–8; 4:7–18; see Colossians and Ephesians, 7). however, the recom-
mendation of Paul’s coworkers compares to Philippians (2:19–30) and can be equally well
explained if Colossians was written from prison.
21 Jerry l. sumney, “ ‘i Fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ’: Paul’s Vicari-
ous suffering in Colossians,” CBQ 68 (2006): 664–80.
22 see especially scott J. hafemann, Suffering and Ministry in the Spirit: Paul’s Defense
of His Ministry in II Corinthians 2:14–3:3 (grand rapids: eerdmans, 1990), 19–34. Cf. also
gerhard delling, “θριαμβεύω,” in TDNT, 3:160; Jean-François Collange, Énigmes de la deux-
ième Épître aux Chorinthiens: Études exégétique de 2 Cor. 2:14–7:4 (sntsMs 18; Cambridge:
Cambridge university Press, 1972), 24–25; Murray J. harris, The Second Epistle to the Corin-
thians (nigtC; grand rapids: eerdmans, 2005), 243.