Have you ever listened to a preacher who started one thought and immediately shifted to another? I call that, \u201cpreachers chasing rabbits.\u201d Yes, I\u2019m guilty too. I\u2019m not sure how many of my rabbit trails have ben inspired, but I am confident that the Apostle Paul\u2019s rabbit trail in Ephesians 3:1-13 was inspired.<\/p>\n
Each time I read Ephesians 3:1, 14 I think of the Holy Spirit interrupting Paul\u2019s thoughts as he dictated this letter. Notice how the New King James repeats the same phrase in Greek in these two verses: \u201cFor this reason . . ..\u201d When we read Ephesians 3, we need to notice how Paul manages this digression, how it links to chapters 1, 2, and how it leads him to 3:14-21, one of the most inspiring prayers in the Bible.<\/p>\n
But before we get to the inspiring prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21, let\u2019s reflect on the digression of 3:1-13. To understand the digression, you may want to take a few minutes and as a reminder read Ephesians 1 and 2. Notice that in 2:19 Paul presents a series of metaphors describing the Body of the Messiah to which redeemed Jews and Gentiles belong by faith. First, we \u201care no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens.\u201d The metaphor of being citizens of a new kingdom leads to having a home in this kingdom, a home known as the \u201chousehold of God.\u201d This \u201chousehold\u201d has a foundation and a chief cornerstone. It is a building in construction that becomes \u201ca holy temple in the Lord\u201d that is \u201ca dwelling place of God in the Spirit\u201d (2:20-22). Paul had 2:19-22 in mind when he began 3:1, \u201cFor this reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s clear to me that he meant to move directly into the prayer found in 3:14-21 and an expression of gratitude for the munificence of the love of the Messiah (3:19).[1]<\/a> However, as his thought progresses, Paul reminds the Ephesians that he was a \u201cprisoner of Christ Jesus\u201d for them (\u201cyou Gentiles,\u201d 3:1). As noted in the Introduction to this study, Paul was likely a house arrest prisoner in Rome (Acts 28:17-31) sometime in the early 60s A.D. Seven times in his letters Paul referred to himself as a prisoner (Ephesians 3:1; 4:1; Colossians 4:10; 2 Timothy 1:8; Philemon 1:1, 9, 23) and Luke called him a prisoner four times in Acts (23:18; 25:14, 27; 28:17). It\u2019s important to note that Paul did not refer to himself as a prisoner of the Roman Empire, though it was the Empire that held him. Instead, he referred to himself as a \u201cprisoner of Christ Jesus\u201d (Ephesians 3:1). He was a bondslave of the Messiah (Romans 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1). This meant that Paul saw himself totally under the control of the will of the Messiah. If the Messiah desired him to be a prisoner of Rome, it was only to serve the purpose of the Messiah.<\/p>\n This attitude of servanthood to Jesus the Messiah was consistent with what Jesus said of Himself. In John 10:18 Jesus said of His life, \u201cNo one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.\u201d Later in His trial before Pilate Jesus challenged the power of the Empire: \u201cYou could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above\u201d (John 19:11). The reason for the death of Jesus was not primarily the decision of the Jews or the Romans. It was a decision determined in eternity, whereby the Lamb of God would willingly pay the price for the sins of the entire world.<\/p>\n The Apostle Paul knew these accounts of the life of Jesus, understood the implications of these accounts, and willingly modeled his own life after the One that he served.<\/p>\n The phrase about Paul being a prisoner and why he is a prisoner lead him to the digression in 3:2-13. The Greek text of 3:1 conveys that Paul was speaking of himself, \u201cI, Paul,\u201d or in Greek, \u201cego Paulos.\u201d Not \u201cego\u201d in a modern psychological sense, but in the Greek sense of the first-person personal pronoun, \u201cI.\u201d When Paul referenced himself as a prisoner for the Gentiles the Holy Spirit directed him to remind the Ephesians about who he was among them and what he taught while with them. These thoughts are found in two sections, 3:2-7 and 3:8-13. In the remainder of this Part 1, we will focus on Ephesians 3:2-7.<\/p>\n These verses are Paul\u2019s defense of the primary focus of his theological mission: \u201cthat the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His (God\u2019s) promise in Christ (the Messiah) through the gospel (3:6). Paul received the fullness of this message through God\u2019s grace (3:2) and divine revelation (3:3).[2]<\/a> He argued that this \u201cmystery,\u201d that is, that the Gentiles are included in God\u2019s people, was not made known \u201cas it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets\u201d (3:5).[3]<\/a> Paul is not writing that there were no hints about the Gentiles in the Old Testament. Paul knew from Genesis 12:1-3; Psalms 18:49; 117:1; Isaiah 11:10; 42:1, 6; 49:6; 60:3; 66:12, 19, that the Gentiles would one day be included in the promised blessings of the Messiah. Paul\u2019s point is that it was not until the Messiah came, died, and rose again, and the Holy Spirit was given (Acts 2), that, inspired by the Holy Spirit, first-century apostles and prophets discerned the meaning of the Old Testament references cited above. Just as Paul began this section by indicating this revelation and the ministry given him by God\u2019s grace (3:2), Paul closes this section by returning to the fact of God\u2019s grace as the instrument by which he became a \u201cminister\u201d (3:7).<\/p>\n This section of Ephesians 3 is autobiographical and serves as a defense of Paul\u2019s apostolic calling. We know from 2 Corinthians 10-12 that Paul had to defend his unique call on the Damascus Road as an apostle. Though Paul was present at the death of Stephen (Acts 7:58), there is no indication that Paul ever met or heard Jesus during His earthly ministry. Paul\u2019s apostleship was distinguished from the criteria established by and for the Twelve in Acts 1:21-26. This is partly why Paul\u2019s divine call was often challenged. The other reasons related to Paul\u2019s theological understanding of the law of Moses and divine grace.<\/p>\n While the personal comments continued in Ephesians 3:8-13, these comments serve to draw attention to the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in the church and the Spirit\u2019s purpose in the church. This will be discussed more fully in Part 2.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> I have remarked in earlier thoughts on Ephesians that the New Testament documents did not have chapter and verse divisions as we now have. See https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2025\/03\/05\/lent-and-the-spirit-of-the-age-ephesians-21-3\/<\/a> for more about this.<\/p>\n
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