BRUCE C WEARNE kicks off a new series looking at the New Testament book of Ephesians…
Paul, a commissioned messenger [apostle] of Christ Jesus, by the will of God to the consecrated [at Ephesus], those faithful in Christ Jesus.
May grace and peace be coming to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 1:1-2/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
We should read this by keeping Acts 19:20 in mind. Luke tells us that this was all part of an advance in which “the word of the Lord went on being disclosed and prevailed in a powerful way”.
Luke’s moving account of how Paul and the Ephesian elders parted (contained in Acts 20:17-38), suggests that they were facing up to the distress of seeing each other face-to-face for the last time. A significant bond had been forged. This letter then suggests a follow-up to that parting. If it actually came earlier, it would afterwards be read as a deeply consoling formulation in which Paul’s church policy was pastorally set forth, and included some wonderful liturgical sections. Whatever the time-frame, we can say that as the word of the Lord unfolded – or was rolled out – in their lives, Paul’s writings made a decisive impact upon them. It was his persistent effort.
Opening words. PICTURE: Izabelle Acheson/Unsplash
Indeed 1:15-16 – “And all this being so, having heard of this faith of yours in the Lord Jesus Christ and the love you extend to all those thus consecrated, I do not cease from giving thanks for you, continually remembering you in my prayers” – might even indicate that it had been penned some time between what is recounted in Acts 19:1-7 and Paul’s ongoing ministry in Tyrannus Hall. And if that is the case it would be a follow-up, giving an extended paean, to recount the great blessings bestowed upon them by the hand of the Lord.
Luke’s account of Acts 18-20 tells us of Paul’s relationship with the church at Ephesus and how it came about. It is not clear whether Luke knew in comprehensive detail all that went on, nor whether he knew the precise sequence of events.
“We can compare all of Paul’s greetings in his 13 letters, which are preserved for us in the library of the New Testament. Seen together they are a formal part of his letters and this opening greeting is how they all begin. This seems to have been a letter sent around more broadly than specifically to one church group but, in this case, the copy received by the church at Ephesus is the one by which it has subsequently received its enduring name.”
But here, there are various important points we need to take into account:
• Paul refers to himself as apostle
• Paul refers to himself as prisoner on behalf of the Ephesians or at least of the people he intends to respresent as “ambassador in chains” (6:20).
We should also take note of the interaction between his own work and that of Apollos. It would seem that though Paul would have preferred not to build on another’s foundation, something deeply significant happened to him and to those amongst whom he ministered at Ephesus in which he did actually find he was building on the Spirit’s bequest from the ministry of Apollos (II Corinthians 10:13-16). And in this the Lord did commend Paul’s work, providing an endorsement of his apostolic office (but not so that he and those with him could commend themselves) (Romans 15:20).
We can compare all of Paul’s greetings in his 13 letters, which are preserved for us in the library of the New Testament. Seen together they are a formal part of his letters and this opening greeting is how they all begin. This seems to have been a letter sent around more broadly than specifically to one church group but, in this case, the copy received by the church at Ephesus is the one by which it has subsequently received its enduring name.
But the opening lines of the letter to the “set apart” merge into what follows because what we read after this formal greetings has been penned: “May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be [most heartily] blessed, who has [so lavishly] blessed us with every [conceivable] spiritual blessing from [His store] in Christ in Heaven…”
When we now read what we have in our Bibles as verses one and two, knowing that this update of the Melchizedekian blessing (Genesis 14:17ff) is coming next, it is not too much to suggest that we should read this opening greeting as Paul’s exuberance.
And indeed, we may set aside this opening for special mention in this discussion, but what follows is one continuous paean, we might even call it Paul’s Psalm 103. As much as it is a greeting, it is also a hymn of praise and therefore we hear him joining Zacharias, Mary and Simeon as other New Testament composers of God-honouring poetry. In that sense the Blessing might even be rendered thus: “Let the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be celebrated with our praise and thanksgiving since He has celebrated upon us His own intense happiness with every spiritual celebration of Christ Jesus at His right hand side in Heaven.”
Paul writes delighting in God’s announcement of “very good” (Genesis 1:31-2:3) nature of all that He has made, now confirmed in the rising from the grave of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, Israel’s long-promised Messiah. In that sense, we begin to sense not only why Paul is exhuberant about his calling as a “commissioned messenger”, but he is writing in his capacity as a writer of letters, addressing those set apart – at Ephesus and elsewhere – in what is a God-given opportunity to add his contribution to the historical fulfilment of the Melchizedekian and thereafter of the Aaronic-Levitical blessing that was “updated” in Psalm 67.
We have suggested that when we read the formal greeting, the “opening verses” of the “opening chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians”, we should also be noting what comes immediately after, and so we begin to realise just how delighted Paul was to put pen to paper.
Like a latter-day Melchizedek, he pronounces a blessing upon his readers and the letter bursts free, shall we say, from its needless capitivity to numbered verses and chapters, even as we struggle to rightly insert a comma here, and appropriately and grammatically render a phrase there.
And what follows? This section has often drawn the comment that Paul seems not to have drawn breath, that he has simply continued on and on … and that simply raises the possibility that what we are reading is Paul’s inspired poetry, his psalm, or even that this is the transcription of how he broke into song as he recounted the glory of the Lord. It reads, does it not, as a liturgical paean. And why should it not be?
Part II will be published next week.
OPEN BOOK – THE PRISONER’S LETTER: OPENING WORDS, PART I
BRUCE C WEARNE kicks off a new series looking at the New Testament book of Ephesians…
Paul, a commissioned messenger [apostle] of Christ Jesus, by the will of God to the consecrated [at Ephesus], those faithful in Christ Jesus.
May grace and peace be coming to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 1:1-2/transliteration by Bruce C Wearne
We should read this by keeping Acts 19:20 in mind. Luke tells us that this was all part of an advance in which “the word of the Lord went on being disclosed and prevailed in a powerful way”.
Luke’s moving account of how Paul and the Ephesian elders parted (contained in Acts 20:17-38), suggests that they were facing up to the distress of seeing each other face-to-face for the last time. A significant bond had been forged. This letter then suggests a follow-up to that parting. If it actually came earlier, it would afterwards be read as a deeply consoling formulation in which Paul’s church policy was pastorally set forth, and included some wonderful liturgical sections. Whatever the time-frame, we can say that as the word of the Lord unfolded – or was rolled out – in their lives, Paul’s writings made a decisive impact upon them. It was his persistent effort.
Opening words. PICTURE: Izabelle Acheson/Unsplash
Indeed 1:15-16 – “And all this being so, having heard of this faith of yours in the Lord Jesus Christ and the love you extend to all those thus consecrated, I do not cease from giving thanks for you, continually remembering you in my prayers” – might even indicate that it had been penned some time between what is recounted in Acts 19:1-7 and Paul’s ongoing ministry in Tyrannus Hall. And if that is the case it would be a follow-up, giving an extended paean, to recount the great blessings bestowed upon them by the hand of the Lord.
Luke’s account of Acts 18-20 tells us of Paul’s relationship with the church at Ephesus and how it came about. It is not clear whether Luke knew in comprehensive detail all that went on, nor whether he knew the precise sequence of events.
“We can compare all of Paul’s greetings in his 13 letters, which are preserved for us in the library of the New Testament. Seen together they are a formal part of his letters and this opening greeting is how they all begin. This seems to have been a letter sent around more broadly than specifically to one church group but, in this case, the copy received by the church at Ephesus is the one by which it has subsequently received its enduring name.”
But here, there are various important points we need to take into account:
• Paul refers to himself as apostle
• Paul refers to himself as prisoner on behalf of the Ephesians or at least of the people he intends to respresent as “ambassador in chains” (6:20).
We should also take note of the interaction between his own work and that of Apollos. It would seem that though Paul would have preferred not to build on another’s foundation, something deeply significant happened to him and to those amongst whom he ministered at Ephesus in which he did actually find he was building on the Spirit’s bequest from the ministry of Apollos (II Corinthians 10:13-16). And in this the Lord did commend Paul’s work, providing an endorsement of his apostolic office (but not so that he and those with him could commend themselves) (Romans 15:20).
We can compare all of Paul’s greetings in his 13 letters, which are preserved for us in the library of the New Testament. Seen together they are a formal part of his letters and this opening greeting is how they all begin. This seems to have been a letter sent around more broadly than specifically to one church group but, in this case, the copy received by the church at Ephesus is the one by which it has subsequently received its enduring name.
But the opening lines of the letter to the “set apart” merge into what follows because what we read after this formal greetings has been penned: “May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be [most heartily] blessed, who has [so lavishly] blessed us with every [conceivable] spiritual blessing from [His store] in Christ in Heaven…”
When we now read what we have in our Bibles as verses one and two, knowing that this update of the Melchizedekian blessing (Genesis 14:17ff) is coming next, it is not too much to suggest that we should read this opening greeting as Paul’s exuberance.
And indeed, we may set aside this opening for special mention in this discussion, but what follows is one continuous paean, we might even call it Paul’s Psalm 103. As much as it is a greeting, it is also a hymn of praise and therefore we hear him joining Zacharias, Mary and Simeon as other New Testament composers of God-honouring poetry. In that sense the Blessing might even be rendered thus: “Let the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be celebrated with our praise and thanksgiving since He has celebrated upon us His own intense happiness with every spiritual celebration of Christ Jesus at His right hand side in Heaven.”
Paul writes delighting in God’s announcement of “very good” (Genesis 1:31-2:3) nature of all that He has made, now confirmed in the rising from the grave of Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world, Israel’s long-promised Messiah. In that sense, we begin to sense not only why Paul is exhuberant about his calling as a “commissioned messenger”, but he is writing in his capacity as a writer of letters, addressing those set apart – at Ephesus and elsewhere – in what is a God-given opportunity to add his contribution to the historical fulfilment of the Melchizedekian and thereafter of the Aaronic-Levitical blessing that was “updated” in Psalm 67.
We have suggested that when we read the formal greeting, the “opening verses” of the “opening chapter of the Letter to the Ephesians”, we should also be noting what comes immediately after, and so we begin to realise just how delighted Paul was to put pen to paper.
Like a latter-day Melchizedek, he pronounces a blessing upon his readers and the letter bursts free, shall we say, from its needless capitivity to numbered verses and chapters, even as we struggle to rightly insert a comma here, and appropriately and grammatically render a phrase there.
And what follows? This section has often drawn the comment that Paul seems not to have drawn breath, that he has simply continued on and on … and that simply raises the possibility that what we are reading is Paul’s inspired poetry, his psalm, or even that this is the transcription of how he broke into song as he recounted the glory of the Lord. It reads, does it not, as a liturgical paean. And why should it not be?
Part II will be published next week.
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