In what ways did St. Paul experience dying in Christ?

The Holy Bible presents us with a splendid model of imitating the Lord Christ — the apostle Paul, who was forced to talk about himself to affirm the authenticity of his apostleship to the Corinthians, that they may also imitate the crucified Christ: “Are they ministers of Christ? — I speak as a fool—I am more: in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often” (2 Cor. 11:23). He cherishes the grace of God that led him and supported him to endure more of the hardships of apostleship than they. As an apostle to the gentiles, he was much hated by the Jews, and they poured more hardships and persecutions upon him than on any other apostle. Whenever the opportunity to oppose him arose, they exerted all their efforts to torture him, and attempted to kill him.

First. “Labors more abundant.” He constantly traveled from city to city and from province to province. On many occasions, he had to escape from those who opposed him and sought to kill him, and travel to other lands to evangelize. However, he experienced the hand of God that transforms hardships into opportunities to broaden evangelism and establish the kingdom of light in place of the darkness that reigned over many places.

Second. “In stripes above measure.” He was beaten by the pagans who had little regulation of the administration of penalties, and so they mercilessly flogged him with many stripes (Acts 16:23).

Third. “In prisons more frequently.” The apostles Paul’s story is full of imprisonments, including being held under house arrest for two years in Rome (Acts 28), yet we never hear of a false apostle being imprisoned.

Fourth. “In deaths often.” (e.g., Acts 14:19) He anticipated death every day because of the abundance of hardships and persecutions he endured. St. John Chrysostom says, “No one else has been granted such a love of the Lord as this blessed spirit. I mean, as though freed from the body and raised on high, so to say, and not considering himself to tread the earth, he delivers himself of all these remarks. You see, desire for God and burning love elevated his thinking from material things to spiritual, from present to future, from visible to unseen. This is what faith is like, after all, and love of God. For proof of his sound attitude, see this man, with his great love for the Lord and his burning desire for him, hunted, persecuted, chastised, suffering countless abuses … and while suffering such things he rejoiced and was glad. You see, he was quite convinced that the labors of the present life proved an occasion of great reward for him and dangers were the source of a crown. After all, if out of love for Rachel, Jacob regarded as a few days the period of seven years, much more did this blessed man count it all of no consequence, on fire as he was with love of God

484 St. Ambrose of Milan, Exposition of the Christian Faith 2.11.95 (NPNF II/10:236).

and prepared to endure everything for the Christ he loved. Let us too, therefore, I beseech you, be concerned to love Christ. Christ looks for nothing else from you, in fact, Scripture says, than loving him with all your heart and carrying out his commands.”⁴⁸⁵

“Isaac’s son, Jacob, you say, is admired in scripture for his strength (Gen. 32:38). But what soul, however adamant, could match the endurance of Paul. He endured slavery not just for fourteen years (Gen. 29:18, 27), but for a lifetime for the bride of Christ, enduring not just the heat of the day and the frost of night, but countless storms of trials — the lash, stoning, fighting with wild beasts, wrestling with the sea, constant hunger day and night, exposure (2 Cor. 11:23f), everywhere avoiding pitfalls and snatching the sheep from the jaws of the devils.”⁴⁸⁶

“He well knew how, on a fitting occasion, to correct his disciples, in a grave and lofty tone: assuredly he had other sources whence to demonstrate the truth of his preaching,—by signs and miracles, by dangers, by prisons, by daily deaths, by hunger and thirst, by nakedness, and the like. Now however that he is speaking not of false apostles, but of the true, who had shared these very perils, he employs another method. For when his discourse was pointed towards false apostles, he institutes a comparison by bringing forward his endurance of danger, saying, ‘Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself) I more; in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, in deaths oft’ (2 Cor. 11:23).”⁴⁸⁷

Fifth. Stripes . The apostle says, “From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one” (2 Cor. 11:24). He was flogged five times by the Jews who, according to the law, were allowed only to administer a maximum of forty stripes (Deut. 25:3), so they flogged him thirty-nine times to ensure that they did not break the law.

According to the Mishnah, if a person is appraised as being unable to bear forty stripes, he may receive eighteen stripes as his full punishment. Also, the flogging was administered by tying the hands of the guilty person to a pole, after which a synagogue official would tear off or rip open his clothing, exposing his back and chest. A stone would be placed behind the criminal upon which the synagogue official stood, holding the whip folded over twice to make four whip strands. A third of the stripes were administered to the chest, while the other two thirds were divided equally among the backs of the two shoulders. The official struck with all his might while the criminal was bowed down, not sitting or standing. No more than one such flogging was permitted, except for extremely insolent criminals.⁴⁸⁸

St. John Chrysostom says, “Do you see that he nowhere glories of miracles, but of his persecutions and his trials? … on every side he found trouble and disturbance, from friends

485 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Genesis (46–67) 55.10–11 (FOTC 87:112–113).

486 St. John Chrysostom, In Praise of St. Paul (Saint Paul Brotherhood Press, 2014) 1: p. 20.

487 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on Galatians Homily 1 (NPNF I/13:9).

488 Mishnah , Maccoth, 3.11–13.

and from strangers. This is the special mark of an Apostle, by these things is the Gospel woven.”⁴⁸⁹

Sixth. Many Trials . “Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep” (2 Cor 11:25). He was beaten with rods according to Roman law in Philippi and on two other occasions in different places. He was stoned in Lystra (Acts 14:19), was shipwrecked, and wound up in the deep (perhaps referring to his imprisonment in an inner cell for a night and a day).

St. John Chrysostom says, “Men marvel at Isaac for many things, chiefly his patience. For he dug wells (Gen. 26:18) and when he was evicted from his possessions, he did not quarrel but allowed his wells to be stopped and always moved to another place, not mustering his forces against his enemy but quitting and leaving his possessions until they satisfied their desire for injustice. Paul, when he saw not just his wells filled with earth, but his body assailed by stones, did not quit like this man, but went after those that pelted him and strove to lead them to heaven. The more the well was choked up the more he gushed forth, bursting into more rivers of endurance.”⁴⁹⁰

The apostle also says, “in journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren” (2 Cor. 11:25). He speaks here of his journeys of preaching and care for churches. When he says, “in perils of waters,” it could be understood from the Greek word potamos ( ποταμός ) that these were rivers. Ambrosiaster says that the apostle was in danger of the rivers in winter when rain would cause the rivers to flood and break their banks.

When he says, “in perils of robbers,” he is most likely referring to robbers and bandits; but being poor and owning nothing, he was not harmed in any way, but was nonetheless in great danger. When he says, “in perils of my own countrymen,” he is referring to the Jews who viewed him as the most dangerous apostate from the faith and opponent of the law of Moses, so much so that they plotted to kill him (Acts 23:12). When he says, “in perils of the Gentiles,” he is referring to those among whom he preached.

When he says, “perils in the city,” he is referring to the various plots that were hatched against him, especially in Jerusalem, Ephesus, and Damascus. When he says, “perils in the wilderness,” he is referring to the deserts he needed to cross as he traveled from one city to another, while being in danger of bandits, wild beasts, biting cold by night, extreme heat by day, and possibly also hunger and thirst. When he says, “perils in the sea,” he is referring to pirates as well as fierce storms. When there is a danger of shipwreck, the soldiers kill all the

489 St. John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Second Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians 25 (NPNF I/12:396).

490 St. John Chrysostom, In Praise of St. Paul (Saint Paul Brotherhood Press, 2014) 1: p. 19.

prisoners on the ship lest they swim away and escape. However, when he was a prisoner in such a situation, the captain carried out everything he said (Acts 27:42–44).

Finally, when he says, “perils among false brethren,” he is referring to those who appeared to believe in Christ and joined the church, not to build the Church but to destroy her, and that they may find fault with the apostle Paul and so cause a revolt in the church of Corinth against him. He also suffered from those who left the faith.

St. John Chrysostom says, “All men you say, admire Job. And very properly so. For he fought a great fight and can stand comparison with Paul for his patience, his purity of life, his testimony to God, his courageous struggle with the devil, the victory in which his struggle ended. But Paul’s struggle lasted not just a matter of months, but many years; he was constantly running into the mouth of the lion, wrestling with countless temptations, and proved more resilient than any rock throughout. He was reviled not just by three or four friends, but by all the infidel false brethren, calumniated, spat upon and reviled.”⁴⁹¹

“The fact that in the excess of his zeal he did not feel the pains involved in being virtuous is not the only marvelous thing about him. There is also the fact that he had no ulterior motive in his virtue. We are reluctant to endure pains to acquire virtue even when rewards are on offer, but he lovingly embraced it even without rewards and endured with all meekness whatever seemed to stand in the way of virtue. He did not chafe at bodily weakness, or pressure of engagements, or the tyranny of habit, or anything else. Yet his responsibilities exceeded those of generals or earthly kings. Nonetheless he increased daily in virtue; increasing the threats of danger only served to increase his zeal. He tells us as much in the words, ‘forgetting what is behind, I strain to what is before’ (Phil. 3:13).”⁴⁹²

St. Augustine says, “There are, therefore, some who hold the honorable office of shepherds in order that they may provide for the flock of Christ; others occupy that position that they may enjoy the temporal honors and secular advantages connected with the office. It must happen that these two kinds of shepherds, some dying, others succeeding them, should continue in the Catholic Church even to the end of time, and the judgment of the Lord. If, then, in the times of the apostles there were men such that Paul, grieved by their conduct, enumerates among his trials, perils among false brethren, and yet he did not haughtily cast them out, but patiently bore with them, how much more must such arise in our times, since the Lord most plainly says concerning this age which is drawing to a close, that because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall grow cold (Matt. 24:12–13). The word which follows, however, ought to console and exhort us, for He adds, ‘He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.’”⁴⁹³ And, “What great complaints the Apostle Paul makes of

491 St. John Chrysostom, In Praise of St. Paul (Saint Paul Brotherhood Press, 2014) 1: p. 20.

492 St. John Chrysostom, In Praise of St. Paul (Saint Paul Brotherhood Press, 2014) 2: p. 30.

493 St. Augustine of Hippo, Letters 208.2 (NPNF I/1:558).

false brethren! (2 Cor. 11:23–27). Yet he was not defiled by their physical companionship, because he was set apart by the distinction of a pure heart.”⁴⁹⁴

St. Augustine observes that in refuting the false apostles, the apostle Paul employs wisdom and eloquence, even though he says, “I speak as a fool”: “But wisdom is his guide, eloquence his attendant; he follows the first, the second follows him, and yet he does not spurn it when it comes after him.”⁴⁹⁵

Seventh. The hardships which he voluntarily accepted . “In weariness and toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor. 11:27). Hardship was his constant companion wherever he went. The apostle Paul spent many sleepless nights: sometimes voluntarily, praying for the service, evangelists, and preachers; at other times involuntarily, in times of persecution. The apostle suffered cold weather when he was shipwrecked on the island of Malta and the people had to rescue him (Acts 28:1–10).

St. John Chrysostom says, “You say: John the Baptist ate locusts and wild honey (Matt. 3:4). As for Paul, even though he lived in the world and not in the desert, he did not eat locusts or wild honey but was content with simpler and more ascetic food, ignoring even the necessities because of his zeal.”⁴⁹⁶