EPHESIANS - Week 3
As Pauline mentioned in her talk last weekend (listen again here!), the writer of Ephesians seems to open this letter with prayer, then doctrine, and then goes on to application and Ephesians 3 seems to mark the end of this first prayer/doctrine section of the letter.
There is an enigmatic air to much of Ephesians 3, as it speaks of the mystery of Christ, which ‘in former generations…was not made known to humankind’
”that is, the gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.” – Ephesians 3:6
If you’ve been doing these daily readings for a little while, and have been paying close attention, you might recognise that it isn’t strictly true to say this was only now being revealed.
Isaiah 49:6 says
“It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
The heart of salvation for all people (or, if you’re following the NT Wright small group resource, the rescue of all creation) was clearly present in the time of Isaiah 49.
It makes sense in the context of this part of Isaiah being written at the end of the Babylonian exile, as is the scholarly consensus, where the Jewish people had been dispersed across vast areas and each community in diaspora would have had a different look and feel to each other. The hope of rescue, or salvation, would have looked different in that context to previous generations. We know that there were challenges as different sections of the Jewish community re-connected but found differences between their ideas and practices. Some even stayed where they were and never returned to Israel.
Salvation in Isaiah, then, begins to embody a broader meaning than pre-exile Jewish understanding.
So, Ephesians is not ideologically far removed from that, but does offer new information about the mechanics of this process. How is it that salvation may reach to the end of the earth?
Well, it’s that Jews and gentiles will be united in Christ!
Not just united, as two things coming together, but the gentiles are being brought into the family. There is language of inheritance and heirdom. In our first sermon in this series, Emily spoke about the language of adoption that is used and how adopted children are given the same rights as birth children.
This, it seems, is part of the greater mystery described in Ephesians 1:10, to ‘gather up’ all things in heaven and on earth, under Christ!
This is a big deal! It is, you might say, good news for the gentiles, to whom this chapter is addressed.
And this is the great mystery that has been revealed.
Now, the follow up questions is this;
Why does this need to be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places? (Eph 3:8-10)
First thing to note is, as mentioned in the first reflection on Ephesians, the phrase ‘Heavenly places’ or ‘Heavenly realms’ is not one that is found in any of the undisputed letters of Paul. This suggests that this is either not Paul writing, or that perhaps Paul had undergone some change or development in his theological thinking over time.
Second, then, is to ask who these rulers and authorities are.
There are allusions to such things in other texts, but on closer examination, not many are from texts where the consensus is that they are authentically written by Paul. A lot of the most direct mentions of ‘rulers’, ‘authorities’, ‘principalities’ or ‘powers’ are in either Ephesians or Colossians (which, again, we mentioned in the first reflection about the similarities between these two texts and the questions that raises – you really should read that blog… here if you want to!)
Romans 8, which is about as confidently Pauline as it comes, does mention aspects of what is referred to in Ephesians 3;
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." – Romans 8:38-39
Irrespective of the authorship of Ephesians, Paul does appear to speak about what we might frame under ‘spiritual warfare’ or the role of angels, demons and powers etc. That would also make sense in the context of the time, as Jewish apocalyptic thinking and writing was becoming more prevalent. This embraced newer ideas about spiritual forces, both good and bad, that were at work in the spiritual realm and on earth. This grew out of a search for meaning in the face of the continued oppression of the Jewish people.
So, it might be that the ‘rulers and authorities in the heavenly places’ are angels and demons, or other spiritual forces.
The remaining question, then, is this;
Why do they need the wisdom of God revealed to them?
I would have thought that any being in the heavenly realms would have knowledge of, or at least insight into, the ways of God that are mysterious to humanity. Some other New Testament texts, however, suggest that this might not be the case;
‘the things that have now been announced to you through those who brought you good news by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look!’ – 1 Peter 1:12
It could be that the church has the role of making known these mysteries and wisdom to the rest of the spiritual beings because they simply don’t know it. This establishes an understanding that God alone is ultimately wise, even among non-earthly beings.
If these rulers include demonic powers, the church’s unity of Jews and Gentiles demonstrates their defeat under Christ’s rule. In this view, the church serves as a living testimony of Christ’s triumph, proving that these powers no longer have ultimate control.
It isn’t made clear, and so we can only speculate, but it is clear that the author of Ephesians 3 feels strongly that the church is the revelation of God’s glory.
And that is something in which we can still share today. But Ephesians is clear that this is the case when we express unity!