6:17b I Bear on My Body the
Marks of Jesus
Readiness to Suffer for the
Truth. Marius Victorinus:
Paul’s point is this: “All that Christ experienced on the cross—the imprint of
the nails, the spear thrust in his side, the other marks of the crucifixion—I
bear in my own body. I too have suffered. Therefore you too ought to endure
much—indeed all—adversity, since you will be with Christ if you suffer with
Christ and begin by your own act, in the face of adversaries, to suffer what
Christ suffered.” Through these words Paul reveals what he himself was
suffering, how much he shared with Christ and what we also ought to suffer if
we wish to live in Christ. Epistle to the Galatians 2.6.17.
Bearing the Marks of Jesus. Jerome: Anyone who after Christ’s coming is
circumcised in the flesh does not carry the marks of the Lord Jesus. Rather he
glories in his own confusion. But the one who was flogged beyond what the law
required, frequently was in prison, was beaten three times with rods, was once
stoned and suffered all the other things that are written in his catalog of
boasting—this is the one who carries on his body the marks of the Lord Jesus.
Perhaps also the ascetic today who keeps his body under control and subjects it
to servitude so that he will not appear reprobate as he preaches to others may
in some way carry the marks of the Lord Jesus on his own body. Epistle to the
Galatians 3.6.17.
God’s Strength Perfected in
Weakness. Gregory of Nyssa:
“Rejoicing in these lacerations,” Paul says, “I bear the marks of Christ in my
own body.” He readily yields to his weakness in all these misfortunes, through
which the power of Christ is being perfected in virtue. Oration 12 on Song of
Songs 5.7. (Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, ed. M.
J. Edwards [Ancient Christian Commentary on
Scripture; Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1999], 104)