'I fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ': Paul's vicarious suffering in Colossians

A discussion on the theological problems about questions related to Christ's sufferings, and how Paul can fill up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the church, is presented. The evidence of extant Greco-Roman materials indicates that both suffering as exhortation and suffering as expiation should be included in the understanding of vicarious suffering, while understanding Paul's sufferings, as the gospel is explicated in Colossians, are acts that possess a mimetic vicariousness in the most natural way.