{"id":6135,"date":"2025-04-03T10:27:06","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:27:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=6135"},"modified":"2025-04-03T10:27:06","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T15:27:06","slug":"nearer-my-god-to-thee-ephesians-213","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2025\/04\/03\/nearer-my-god-to-thee-ephesians-213\/","title":{"rendered":"Nearer, My God, to Thee – Ephesians 2:13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Those of you of a certain age reading this post likely recognize the title of this essay. It\u2019s also the title of an English hymn composed in 1841, one that has been sung in churches for nearly two hundred years. It is famously associated with the Titanic,<\/em> as it was reported the band played the hymn while it was sinking. It was also reported that a Confederate Army band played it as the survivors of Pickett\u2019s Charge returned following their disastrous charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863.<\/p>\n

Growing up, I remember it being played or sung at funerals, though the biblical text for the hymn is from Jacob\u2019s dream in Genesis 28:10-17. The connection with Jacob\u2019s dream places the hymn in the context of moving forward in this earthly life rather than in a funeral hymn reflected in its mournful melody.<\/p>\n

It is this sense of drawing near to God that is reflected in Ephesians 2:13, in the sense of moving from death to life: we \u201chave been brought near.\u201d[1]<\/a> This idea of drawing near to God is expressed in these passages:<\/p>\n

Psalm 73:28\u2014\u201cIt is good for me to draw near to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebrews 7:19 \u2014\u201cThere is a better hope, through which we draw near to God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hebrews 10:22 \u2014 \u201cLet us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.\u201d<\/p>\n

James 4:8 \u2014 \u201cDraw near to God, and He will draw near to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I recognize the connection of this single verse to what follows in Ephesians 2, but we can focus on this verse considering Paul\u2019s comments in Ephesians 2:11, 12.[2]<\/a> As noted last week, Paul used a sharp contrast in Ephesians 2:1-3 with the rich provisions of mercy and grace in verses 4-10. There is a sense of \u201cBut God\u201d in 2:4 that gives eternal hope to those \u201cdead in trespasses and sins.\u201d That same contrast motif occurs in Ephesians 2:11, 12 and the opening words of Ephesians 2:13. This time the contrast is made with the English words \u201cBut now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s refresh our memory of Ephesians 2:11, 12. It\u2019s the condition of Gentiles outside divine blessings given to Israel. Paul referred to the Gentiles as the \u201cuncircumcision,\u201d a derogatory expression used by Jews in Paul\u2019s day to differentiate between the essentially universal two groups of people in God\u2019s eyes: Jews and Gentiles. Gentiles are \u201cwithout, aliens from, strangers, no hope, and without God,\u201d descriptive words found in verse 12.<\/p>\n

Ephesians 2:13 is the divinely given bridge that offers Gentiles the way to draw near to God by faith. It is the bridge over the troubled waters that divide humanity. It is the bridge that God built as His only begotten Son laid down His life on the Cross. The body of Jesus on the Cross is the plank upon which the Gentiles and the Jews can become the One Body of the Messiah for the sake of the whole world and the glory of God!<\/p>\n

The language of being \u201cbrought near\u201d or \u201cdrawing near\u201d to God in Ephesians 2:13 is based on Isaiah 57:19. Paul knew the context of Isaiah 57, a chapter that is filled with warnings and judgment against a disobedient people in Babylonian exile.[3]<\/a> Isaiah 57 speaks to Jews who are being punished by God for their unfaithfulness to the covenant, an unfaithfulness punished in the Babylonian conquest (586 B.C.). But these same Jews are given an opportunity to hear God\u2019s good news. The section in 57:15-19 reveals God\u2019s desire to heal His people (57:18, 19), to revive His people (57:15), to guide His people (57:18). It is God who gives people the capacity to make a faith declaration from their lips of \u201cshalom, shalom,\u201d or \u201cpeace, peace\u201d (57:19).<\/p>\n

This double message of peace in verse 19 announces the certainty of reconciliation \u201cto him who is far off and to him who is near.\u201d I think of Romans 5:1, 2, \u201cTherefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. . . .\u201d Ephesians 2:13 takes up the same language with a variation of the Romans 5:1, 2 passage.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut now,\u201d Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:13, the message of Isaiah 57 has been expanded to include the Gentiles, the defamed \u201cuncircumcision,\u201d who can draw near, or are brought near, because of the blood of the Messiah. It is the Messiah of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 16, 22, whose shed blood on the Cross is greater than the blood shed by Jewish male circumcision. The blood of the Messiah is that healing, reconciling blood of the Lamb that includes men and women, Jew and Gentile, everyone who experiences the despair of being isolated from a healing community.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

It is the blood of the Messiah that makes reconciliation possible between lost and divided humanity with God and with one another. As we move forward into the remainder of Ephesians 2-6, verse 13 is the transition, the textual bridge, that enables us to discern God\u2019s purposes through this significant letter.<\/p>\n

NOTE: There are many good books on the blood of Jesus. But here are three that I want to mention to you: The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ<\/em> by Fleming Rutledge; Giving Blood: A Fresh Paradigm for Preaching<\/em> by Leonard Sweet; The Blood Covenant<\/em> by H. Clay Trumbull.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> I recognize there is a distinction between \u201cbrought near\u201d and \u201cdraw near.\u201d The first, which is used in the Ephesians text, implies a passive element on the one being brought near. Clearly it is the Holy Spirit who brings us near God by the blood of Jesus. The second, \u201cdraw near,\u201d implies an action of one\u2019s initiative. In this sense, it is our response of faith in what Jesus has done that enables us to be brought near. I think of these as the two sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2025\/03\/27\/we-remember-ephesians-211-12\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> See Walter Brueggemann, Isaiah 40-66<\/em> (John Knox Press, Louisville, KY, 1989) pp. 175-186.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Markus Barth in the previously cited commentary in the Anchor Bible Series has a lengthy discussion of Isaiah 57 and Paul\u2019s use of it on pages 260-262, and especially 276-279.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":5833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bishops-blog","8":"entry"},"title_es":"","content_es":"","author_name":"Bishop Doug Beacham","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2024\/10\/Bishop-Doug-Beacham-A-Greeting-to-Ukraine.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-1AX","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}