The Hope of Glory in Us: Making Sense of Colossians 1
Wrestling with a Tough Verse
When people talk about theological controversies in Colossians, most of the energy gets directed at Colossians 1:20—"all things being reconciled in Christ." And fair enough, that's a big one. But there's another tricky line just a few sentences later that deserves some attention. In verse 24, Paul writes that he is "filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions." It's not the flashiest controversy, but it has certainly stumped more than a few theologians over the centuries.
Is Paul really suggesting that Jesus didn’t finish the job? That somehow his own suffering is required to complete Christ’s work? Let’s dig in.
Reading the Text Closely
Colossians 1:24 says, "Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church." Just a few verses earlier, Paul is speaking in cosmic terms—the universe, foundations, the Logos. And then, suddenly, he’s talking about his own body, his pain, his suffering. It’s a jarring shift.
He goes on to talk about presenting "the word of God in its fullness" and here, as in John 1, the word "word" (logos) isn’t a reference to scripture. It’s a reference to Jesus himself—God’s final word made flesh. The "mystery" that has now been revealed, Paul says, is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."
What Could Paul Possibly Mean?
So what is Paul saying when he talks about suffering to "fill up what is lacking" in Christ’s afflictions? Is this theological overreach? Is Paul suggesting his suffering completes what Jesus left unfinished?
It’s certainly a confusing phrase, but there are a few interpretive paths we can take, each with its own precedent in church history.
One popular Protestant take is to read the phrase through what's called an "objective genitive" lens. In Greek, possessives work differently than in English. So "Christ's afflictions" could also mean "afflictions for Christ" or "afflictions aimed at Christ." In this view, Paul isn’t saying Jesus’s suffering was deficient. He’s saying that his own suffering, endured for Christ’s sake, is part of his dedication to live like Jesus. It’s not salvific; it’s imitative.
Another view leans on what's called a "genitive of quality," which is less common but no less interesting. Here, Paul could be saying that his suffering is a kind of reflection or echo of Christ’s own suffering. Again, not equal to it, not salvific, but an alignment—a way of saying, "I want to live like Jesus, and that includes sharing in his pain."
Still, a third way of reading this is through the lens of mystical union. Christ has already reconciled the world (Colossians 1:20). That work is done. But the working-out of that reconciliation? That continues. And we who are "in Christ" are now part of that ongoing unfolding.
You in Christ, and Christ in You
So no, Paul isn’t claiming that Jesus failed and he’s picking up the slack. He’s saying the world has been reconciled in Christ, and now our lives are swept up in that story. Every act of kindness, every costly moment of love, every time we pay even a small price to do what is right—that becomes part of how Christ's work becomes real in the world.
We aren’t bystanders to God's repair of the cosmos. We are participants. And that brings us back to Paul's central claim: Christ in you, the hope of glory.
The Suffering Servant as a Model
This idea is actually deeply rooted in scripture. The "suffering servant" songs from Isaiah (chapters 51-53) have long been read by Christians as foreshadowing Jesus. Verses like, "he was oppressed and afflicted... the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all" sound like direct references to the passion of Christ.
But historically, Jewish readers have also seen these passages as representing the suffering of the righteous in general. And the New Testament embraces both views. Christ is the suffering servant—yes. But he’s also the model for us. Not so we can avoid suffering, but so we can follow him through it, toward reconciliation.
That means even our smallest acts of courage and care, our tiniest bits of suffering for the sake of others, are part of something much bigger. They are part of God's great repair.
The Mystery Revealed
So what is the mystery Paul keeps talking about? It’s this: Christ in you. That the work God is doing to restore all things includes you. That even your ordinary life, when aligned with the way of Jesus, becomes extraordinary.
You don’t need to complete Christ’s work. You get to participate in it. And that, friends, is the hope of glory.
Amen.
