FOR I WANT
YOU TO KNOW HOW
GREAT A STRUGGLE I HAVE ON
YOUR BEHALF AND FOR THOSE WHO ARE AT LAODICEA: Thelo (1SPAI) gar humas eidenai (RAN)
helikon agona echo (1SPAI) huper humon kai ton en Laodikeia:
(Colossians 4:12,
Lu 22:44,
Gal 4:19
Php 1:30
1Th 2:2
1Ti 6:12
2Ti 4:7
Heb 12:1)
(Colossians 4:13
4:15-16
Rev 1:11 ,
3:14)
"For I woulde ye knewe what
great fighting I haue for your sakes" (Geneva)
Want (2309)
(thelo) expresses a desire that comes from one’s
emotions and represents an active decision of the will which implies volition and purpose.
Wuest says a better translation of this verse is “For I desire
you to know”.
Thelo is in the
present tense
which means that Paul
continually had this desire for the saints at Colossae.
Struggle
(73)
(agon gives us our English "agony"
something we can all identify with to help understand what Paul is
saying) (Click for an in depth word study of
agon) was a word well known to the Greek
"sports crazed" culture.
Agon pictured the struggle of
the Greek athletes in the Olympiad agonizing to win at boxing,
running, wrestling, etc. The idea is that of an athletic contest which is strenuous
and demanding.
Eadie comments that
"The division
of chapters is here unhappy, for this verse is but a supplementary
explanation of the preceding one. “I am in an agony,” he had said, and
now he adds, “I would ye knew what an agony I am in about you.” The
noun agon means deep and earnest solicitude, accompanied with toil and
peril."
The struggle here is not the
struggle against God, but although not directly stated appears to be
most likely the intense effort of the one praying. At the time he
wrote these words he could not move beyond the walls of his "rented
house" (Acts
28:30) being continuously held by the chain linking him to
a Roman soldier. But even under these circumstances he could engage in
the combat of prayer. As additional support that the "struggle" Paul
refers to involves prayer, there is another use of the related verb
agonizomai, from agon, in Paul's description
of
"Epaphras, who is...always laboring earnestly (agonizomai) for you in his prayers, that you may stand perfect and fully
assured in all the will of God." (See note
Colossians 4:12)
Earlier
in this epistle, Paul reminded the Colossian saints that since the day
he had heard about their love in the Spirit, he and others had
"not
ceased to pray for (them) and to ask that (they)
may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom
and understanding so that (they might) walk in a manner worthy
of the Lord..." (See notes
Colossians 1:9;1:10;
1:11;
1:12)
Moule writes that the powers that wrestled with Paul for the ruin of
his work were real and resolute; he therefore had to "meet them,
foot to foot, force to force, in Christ".
The supreme
example of the "struggle" of prayer is our Lord in the garden of
Gethsemane where Jesus
"in agony (agonia)...was
praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood,
falling down upon the ground." (Lu 22:44)
Application: We all know from personal experience
that persistence in prayer is a continual struggle. Is there anyone you are
"struggling" in prayer for today? Have you let them know to encourage their soul?
(See
topic of prayer)
Stedman writes...
I want to stress again the
tremendous importance of praying for one another. You can do all the
right things to help someone, but if his attitude is wrong nothing you
do will serve to assist him. What can change that? It is your praying
for him! Prayer can change the heart and mind, the inner attitude. It
is a powerful force to transform an atmosphere and make something
acceptable when otherwise it would appear to be dull and
uninteresting. Paul prayed ("agonized" is the word) for these
Colossian Christians over and over again, even though he had not
personally met most of them. Also, it is evident from his letters that
he was alert to every word of information about them. When Epaphras
brought news to the apostle in Rome about the church at Colossae, Paul
questioned him and extracted from him all the information he could in
order that he might know how to pray for the Colossians. That is an
indication of his special concern for them. (Read full message
Colossians 2:1-7 The
Overflowing Life)
Vine adds that
"Prayer is such a mighty force that the spiritual powers of
darkness are opposed to it in every possible way; see especially (See
notes
Ephesians 6:12;
Ephesians 6:16;
Ephesians 6:17)
And why was Paul struggling?
From the context, it is clear that Paul knew false doctrines were
already beginning permeate the church. Paul had been agonizing (verb
form of
agon -
agonizomai in
1:29) to present every man complete in Christ and now he is
explaining that this involved a great struggle.
In (1Cor 11:1)
Paul exhorted us all to
"Be (present
imperative =
continually be)
imitators of me
just as I
also am of
Christ."
What an example he
set as he agonized in prayer for these saints, most of whom he had
never seen face to face! Paul's heart
was like that of the shoemaker William Carey, some
eighteen centuries later, who made a leather globe so he could pray
for a world still unseen to him. Ultimately Carey’s “world-class”
heart propelled him to India, and to a legacy as founder of the modern
missionary movement. Have you ever prayed for someone that you've never met face to
face? Has God's Spirit laid on your heart a hidden people group who
have never heard the gospel? What an
example for all of us to imitate!
It seems that the church at Laodicea was deluded by "persuasive
argument" for only 30 years later Jesus declared
"So because
you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My
mouth." (Rev 3:16)
In this same warning passage Jesus declared
"Behold,
I
stand at the
door and
knock;
if
ANYONE
hears My
voice and
opens the
door, I will
come in to him and will
dine with him, and he with Me." (Rev 3:20)
The Laodiceans had become so deluded that there appears to not even be
one genuine believer to "hear
what the
Spirit
says to the
churches."
Paul knew the
inherent dangers of false teaching, which is surely in part why he agonized "on
their behalf".
Paul's frequent use of
agon
in his epistles pictures our Christian life variously as a conflict, a
contention, a fight, a race and a contest. Yes we know that victory has
been won at Calvary (cf
1Jn 5:4-5).
And yet our daily task is to stand firm, holding fast to His Victory,
by faith (synonymous with obedience). Why do we think that
the struggle is not going to cost us anything (Lu14:33)?
We have a mortal enemy both within (the old man, the old
Adamic nature, the flesh, the sin nature) and without (Rev 20:10)
and the conflict will continue until we see Jesus face to face. In the meantime we are called to fight the
good fight
(agon) of faith. (1Ti 6:12)
AND FOR ALL
THOSE WHO HAVE NOT PERSONALLY SEEN MY FACE: kai hosoi ouch eorakan
(3PRAI) to prosopon mou en sarki:
"and as many as have not seen my face in the flesh [fig., have not
met me personally]" (Analyzed Literal)
