Ephesians
Headings
Introduction
The in the introduction to the letter, the Jerome states: “The focus of the letter is the cosmic proportions estabished by God in Christ (1:10), the appeal to maintain unity within this diversity,(4:1-16), and the call to stand unified against the powers of darkness (…) for the failthful believer it is inspiring to believe that all things in heaven and earth are summed up in Christ (1:10,12)…” (1663). The Jerome notes how Ephesians and Colossians are in a sense sister letters, the former, which is the larger letter being seemingly derived from and based upon the latter in the sense that it might be seen almost as a “commentary” on it, but notably adding a section on ecclesiology (Eph.2:11-22; 4:1-16). The Jerome notes the common Christological themes between those two letters: “…Christ as the head of the body (Col.1:18; 2:19; Eph.5:23), (Christ) the fulness of God (Col.1:19; 2:2:9-10; Eph.1:23_; the mystery revealed (Col.1:26; Eph.3:3; 5:32); Christ as a cosmic figure (Col.1:15-20; Eph.5:31)…” (1667).
There is debate regarding Pauline authorship and some of these very features shared with Colossians themselves lend to this debate. Thus the Jerome states in line with the previous paragraph: “only in Ephesians and Colossians is Christ named head of the body (cf. Rom.12:4-8;1Cor.12:12-31) and unlike the other letters the term ekklesia refers to a universal community rather than an assembly. “The Jerome also notes: “on the one hand the leter lacks familiar Pauline themes such as justification by faith (see 2:8-9) and wrestling with the law, on the other hand the author espouses salvation as present (1:3-10; 2:4-10) rather than a future eschatology typical of Paul elsewhere.” (1668)
The Jerome lists this in summarising the main theological themes of the letter, that of “present salvation”: “the robust attention given to the poiwer and wisdom of God, the riches and fulness of Christ and the seaing unction of the Holy Spirit provide a solid foundation for what will, in later Christian tradition be defined as the Trinity (…) God raised Jesus and seated him in the heavens (1:20) and has also raised up believers and seated them in the heavens (present salvation! 4:26)…indeed, Christ gave himself up to sanctify and cleanse the assembly that it “might be holy and without blemish” (5:27). The distinctive and defining characteristic of the faithful is their life “in Christ”, This suggests a mystical connection,…the are created “in Christ” (2:10); Christ dwells in thir hearts through faith (3:17)…”
Again, we see in the Jerome: “God brought believers to life, and seated the in the Heavens (past tense, cf. future tense in Rom.6:4-5). Each of the three Greek verbs has a prefix (syn.), commicating the corporate aspects of God’s actions. Together with one another believers have been given life, raised and enthroned. By bringinf together to life with Christ those who were spiritually dead because of their transgressions (see 2:1), God has dramatically reversed a dismal state of affairs (p1674)…the repeated use of the prefix syn- in several of the compound Greek terms (2:19,21,22) stresses the corporate unity of the members of the household of God. They are sympolitai, “fellow citizens” (2:19), synarmologoumene “held together” (2:22); and synoikidomesthe “built together” (2:22)…” These endeavours take place in the sphere of Christ, in a dwelling place inhabited by God, in the Spirit (2:22)…”. The last quoted verse Ephesians 2:22 reads from v.21 “in him the whole structure us joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God”.
The Jerome says of the Holy Spirit: “the Spirit is the one through whom there is access to the Father (2:18), in whom resides the dwelling place of God (2:22) by whom the mystery of Christ was revealed to the apostles and prophets (3:4-5), through whom the faithful hare strengthened in their inner being (3:16), who is the foundation of unity (4:3)…” (1668)
Other reasons for the debatable authorship are given as “the tone of the author is impersonal, suggesting that the author has little knowledge of his audience (), and personal greetings are lacking (cf. Rom.16). Also, the author uses very long sentences () usually divided up in English translations, further, about 85 words are not found elsewhere in Paul’s letters” (Jerome, 1664)
However the Jermome goes on to stress the overall reliability of the text, and even more, of Colossians, which is a possible source for it: “It is important to recall that regardless of the position on authorship, Ephesians has been deemed authoritatice for Christians as early as the end of the first centuty (note that 1 Clement 46:6, a letter dated in the mid-90s CE, refers to Eph.4:4- and that the prologue to Ignatius’ Ephesians, dated between 107 and 110 CE, refers to Eph .1:4-6)…” (1665).
Chapter 1
Ephesians- Jesus is ascribed all the “Omnis”
St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians effectively predicates all the divine attributes of Omnipotence, Omnibenevolence and Omnipresence and omniscience to Christ, the template for which is laid out in his address at the very beginning of the first chapter.
Omnipotency:
I’ve covered already the portion that deals with “every spiritual blessing” being in Christ earlier.
Faith is itself is defined as “in Christ” (v.1:15, also Gal.2:16-21, Eph.3:12, Phil.1:29; 3:9, Col.1:4, 2:5),
Having “abolished the law” Christ, “creates (in himself) a new humanity”, while through his death on the Cross, he “puts to death” the violence of men toward God, thus “making peace”. Consider the significance of an act of Christ that puts an end to evil, and that the prerogative for such an act could only be divine.
“He has abolished the law together with its commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new humanity (between Israel and the unbelieving Gentiles) in place of the two, thus making peace, and might reconcile both groups to God through the Cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it.” (2:15,16).
Christ is equated to God- those who are “without Christ” have “no hope” and are “without God in the world” (2:12), these godless people are “brought near” to God “in Christ” (2:13), he himself is “our peace” (2:14, also 2:15,17) who breaks down the hostility that the godless bear.
In giving himself up for her, Christ the Savior and “Head”(v.5:23) of the Church washes the Church through the water and word (the gospel about Christ), thereby that it may be in splendor, without spot and wrinkle, holy and without blemish to present it to himself (vv.5:25,26). This is repeated “so that you may be holy and blameless…children of God without blemish…on the day of Christ” (Phil.2:15,16), once again showing an that this blamelessness God desires for his children is the manner in which they are presented to his Son. The inference would be that we are to be made holy for God, who alone is holy and worthy of receiving the purity of our sacrifice, therefore Christ must be God to be its recipient as “presentable to”. Again, Here the it is Christ, not the Father who is the subject of the entire passage from verse 15 so that when it says “…before him” (v.22) , it should be quite obvious that the “him” refers to Christ: “he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him” (Col.1:22).
Next we see a trinitarian verse, “Through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.” (2:18), and the assertion that the very “Household of God” (2:18) or the “Holy Temple of the Lord” (2:21) and the “dwelling place for God” (v.2:22) is “in Christ” (2:21), who is its “cornerstone” (2:20) “in whom” the rest are “built together” (v.2:22).
The oneness of God himself is equated with the oneness of Christ, the oneness of our hope which is in him, the Oneness of true religion (4:4,5):
“4 there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”
Again it is clear that Christ is being acquainted with God here, since it has been repeatedly said that we must be in the likeness of Christ, attain to “the measure of the Full stature of him”, and to the “full knowledge of the Son of God” (v.4:13) “growing in every way into Christ who is the Head, into Christ” (v.4:15). Thus “putting away…your old self” (v.4:22) to be “renewed in the spirit of your minds and to clothe yourself with the new self” is to be “created in the likeness of God” (v.4:24). This clearly equates Christ and God.
Omnibenevolence:
In Christ is holiness and blamelessness. Further, it is “in love” that we are given these spiritual blessings in Christ:
“just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love.” (v.4)
“Through” the Divine Child we too are God’s children, so also “through him” it is that we receive the inheritance of due to children. This means that it as though we are truly divinized in Christ, after all only that which is of the same nature and dignity as another can receive the inheritance of the other. But if we are to be “divinized” is Christ can only mean that Christ is divine himself. The “pleasure” (v5) which God has in his Son (Matt.3:17) is therefore the same as that which he has in making us his sons and daughters:
“He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ” (v.5)
“In Christ we have … obtained an inheritance…” (v.11)
Jesus redeems us to God, this redemption is to do with “the riches of God’s grace”, which itself is “in Christ”. Only God redeems, and here, God redeems in Christ, so Christ is God:
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace which he lavished on us” (v.7)
Omnipresence:
God’s will is to gather up literally “all things”, “in Christ”: “…his will, according to his good pleasure that he set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fullness of time, to gather up all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.” (vv.8-10)
He again equates Christ to God, stating that He fills the whole Universe (4:8-12):
“8 Therefore it is said (…) 10 (Christ)…ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)
Omniscience:
God’s Will which is hidden from “all things”, cannot possibly be hidden from Christ since it is “in Christ”/”set forth in Christ”. Truly, we can ascribe to Christ “all wisdom and insight”, and God’s own will is “in Christ” (v.5- “his will…through Christ”; v.9- “his will…in Christ”; v.3- “God chose…in Christ”; v.6- “freely…in Christ”; v.8 “his will/plan (v.10)…in Christ”; v.11-“destined…according to his counsel and will…in Christ”):
“with all wisdom an insight he has made known to us the mystery of his will…that he set forth in Christ” (v.8)
In Ephesians Ch.3 (also see the separate section on Ephesians), we have a comment on Christ’s omniscience again:
The “mystery of Christ” (vv.3:4,9), as “the plan…hidden for ages in God” (v.9), “not formerly made known to humankind” (v.5), “has now been made known to his apostles and prophets…” (v.5), “by revelation” (v.3) “by the Spirit” (v.5) and even to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” (v.10). That mystery deals with the way for those that are hitherto unbelievers, “Gentiles”, which means for all the world to avail in God’s “promise”, “in Christ Jesus through the Gospel” (v.6).
Regarding predestination:
The CCC states (600) “To God, all moments of time are present in their immediacy. When therefore he establishes his eternal plan of “predestination”, he includes in it each person’s free response to his grace”. The Jerome, while noting this, adds further in the commentary to Ephesians, “Having been destined by God (1:5), the “holy ones” have an essential role in this scheme; they have already received their divine inheritance (1:11). The past tense of the verb “destined” in verse 11, literally “appoint by lot” suggests that God’s benefits, specifically salvation, have already been realised and granted to believers, Though not without a future dimension, Ephesians emphasizes what has already taken place, a perspective called “realized eschatology”…” (1671).