SUFFERING IN II TIMOTHY

 I have previously outlined the literary structure of this epistle of Paul. Below is only the portion of it which contains three teachings on suffering, which alternate between sections dealing specifically with Paul and his various associates and acquaintances within the church body. It is of interest to see what others have to say regarding the subject of suffering as revealed by Paul in this letter to Timothy.

A. Suffering (1:8-14)

B. Paul and acquaintances (1:15-18)

A'. Suffering (2:1-10)

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B. Paul and acquaintances (4:9-15)

A. Suffering (4:16-18) – hymn ending in “Amen”

B'. Paul and acquaintances (4:19-21)

II Timothy 1:8-14

It is here in the letter that Paul begins his instructions to Timothy. He states in no uncertain terms that this younger man should not be ashamed of Paul's status as a prisoner suffering for the sake of the Gospel, but in fact should be prepared to suffer with him (v. 8). And in vv. 11-12 two key terms of v. 8 are repeated, suffer and ashamed, as Paul explains that this is his appointed fate as an apostle and teacher.

Gartner: “A further important example of fellowship in suffering is that existing between the apostle on the one hand and the local church (2 Cor. 1:6f) or an individual disciple (2 Tim. 1:8; 2:3) on the other...True suffering [like evildoers] is called suffering 'according to God's will' (1 Pet. 4:19), suffering 'in the name' of Jesus Christ (Acts 9:16; Phil. 1:29), 'for the gospel' (2 Tim. 1:8)...”

“There is in fact a fellowship of suffering and this is what the apostle had in mind. The Greek verb which gave rise to the rendering take your share of suffering might be translated by one word in English to correspond to the one word in Greek: co-suffer. It is a 'fellowship' word. Such 'co-suffering' is one part of fighting the good fight of the faith. Our Lord himself is not absent from this company. Paul could speak of 'the fellowship of his sufferings' (Phil. 3:10) and could rejoice in his own sufferings and in his flesh 'complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions' (Col. 1:24). The suffering of the atonement is not inadequate...But how could the exalted Lord suffer? He could suffer in the suffering of sympathy but not 'in the flesh.' That joyous experience was left to the apostle to 'complete.'” (Ward)

II Timothy 2:1-10

The gist of this passage is encapsulated in the opening (vv. 1-2) and closing (v. 10) verses. Paul first mentions the things Timothy has heard from him and other witnesses. These are to be passed on to others by teaching them. And at the conclusion to this passage, he mentions his own situation of suffering imprisonment so that others might be saved.

Much depends on the exact translation of “witnesses” (marturon) in v. 2. As Hendricksen states, “The word used in the original has various shades of meaning,” but in this case he feels the intended meaning is one who actually gives testimony. Hendricksen adds that “often the faithful witnesses became martyrs.”

Guthrie points out that the “statement, among many witnesses, is somewhat obscure and has proved a complexity to commentators.” He reviews four basic possibilities of interpretation, each with minor variations, without coming to any definite conclusion on the subject.

II Timothy 4:16-18

We read in these verses about another form of suffering Paul endured, the emotional suffering caused by being abandoned by those he trusted during his “first defense.” Towner says that here the theme is escalated “from the sense of isolation and negligence just expressed to the more shocking sense of culpable abandonment.” As to the specific circumstance to which an allusion is being made, Towner replies that “whether 2 Timothy envisages his first or second imprisonment...we would assume that the outcome was not the dismissal of charges against Paul.”

But then Towner adds that the Greek word for 'forsaken' is the same one appearing in the Septuagint version of Psalm 21:2, the identical OT text that Jesus quoted while on the cross ('My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'). “With this allusion Paul (however obliquely) taps into the psalmist's puzzled question and to the theme of messianic sufferings. His intention is to link up the somber statements of abandonment in the letter, identifying the experience as being symbolic of the cruciform path walked by the Messiah...”

“The pregnant construction sosei eis, 'bring safely into'...with 'the heavenly kingdom' as the object of the preposition [in v. 18] implies deliverance from this world with all its evils and from death in all its aspects...” Only then does Paul envision a complete cessation of his sufferings. (Knight)

II Timothy 3:11-12

Neither is mention of suffering ignored in Chapter 3. Witness the reference to suffering in conjunction with “persecution” in 3:11a. And that latter word is repeated in 3:11b and 3:12.

Nute: “The list of qualities in v. 10 [which had guided the apostle's life] continues in v. 11 with persecutions, sufferings, and in one sense these can be regarded as just as much the result of personal purpose as the rest. “The example he has given consists in his determination to continue his work for God despite the afflictions which this must inevitably bring. Paul selects for mention those occasions which occurred immediately prior to Timothy's conversion, and which probably profoundly influenced him at the time...On the one hand he encourages Timothy with this word, and on the other proceeds to warn him that everyone who is determined to live a godly life must anticipate persecution (cf. Ac. 14:22; I Th. 3:4).”