Epheser 3

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Ephesians 3 is Paul's explanation of his own calling and his prayer for the church. He interrupts his own prayer to explain the "mystery" entrusted to him: that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of one body, and sharers in the promise in Christ. The church exists, he says, so that the manifold wisdom of God may be displayed to the rulers in the heavenly realms. Then he kneels and prays that his readers be strengthened in their inner being, that Christ dwell in their hearts, and that, rooted in love, they grasp the breadth and length and height and depth of Christ's love. A doxology closes it: to him who is able to do far more than we ask or imagine.

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Ephesians 3 starts a sentence it does not finish for thirteen verses. "For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles," Paul writes, and then the word Gentiles stops him, because it is the word his whole life has been about. So he explains. God gave him a secret to steward, one hidden for ages and now announced: that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members of the same body, sharers in the same promise. Not guests, not second class, not converts on probation. He knows how strange this sounds from a former Pharisee, which is why he calls himself less than the least of all the saints, and he knows how large it is, which is why he says the church exists to show God's many-colored wisdom to the powers in the heavens themselves. Then, having explained the reason, he picks the sentence up again. For this reason I bow my knees before the Father. What follows is one of the great prayers of the Bible, and it asks for nothing visible. Strength in the inner being. Christ at home in the heart. Roots and foundations in love. The power to take in, together with all the saints, how wide and long and high and deep the love of Christ is, a love that is bigger than knowing, and to be filled up to the fullness of God. Paul ends by admitting that even that prayer is too small: God is able to do far beyond anything we ask or imagine, and the glory is his, in the church and in Christ, forever.

مقاطع رئيسية

Ephesians 3:1-6 Ephesians 3:8-12 Ephesians 3:14-19 Ephesians 3:20-21 Ephesians 2:11-22 Colossians 1:25-27

Historical and literary context

Ephesians was written from prison, traditionally Rome around AD 60 to 62, and was probably a circular letter to churches in the province of Asia; the words "in Ephesus" are missing from the earliest manuscripts. Its central concern, Jew and Gentile united in one body, was the great controversy of Paul's career, settled in principle at the Jerusalem council of Acts 15 and still raw in practice. The word "mystery" was used by Greek religious cults for secrets revealed to initiates; Paul uses it for a secret God has now announced to everyone. Kneeling to pray in verse 14 was unusual, since Jews normally stood; it signals intensity. Some scholars think a disciple of Paul wrote the letter in his name, a debate that does not change how the chapter reads.

How the chapter unfolds

Verse 1 begins a prayer that breaks off after "for the sake of you Gentiles." Verses 2 to 13 are the digression: the stewardship of grace given to Paul, the mystery revealed by the Spirit and defined in verse 6, Paul's unworthiness and commission in verses 7 to 9, the church as God's display to the heavenly powers in verses 10 to 12, and the plea not to be discouraged by his sufferings in verse 13. Verse 14 resumes the prayer with "for this reason." Verses 16 to 19 ask for inner strength, Christ's indwelling, rootedness in love, comprehension of the four dimensions of Christ's love, and fullness. Verses 20 and 21 are the doxology.

Why this chapter matters

The prayer of verses 14 to 21 is among the most prayed passages in the New Testament and has shaped Christian language for the interior life: "strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being," "that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith," "rooted and grounded in love." The four dimensions of Christ's love have been preached for two millennia. The doxology, "to Him who is able to do so much more than all we ask or imagine," closes services around the world. Verse 10 gives the church a cosmic purpose, to show God's wisdom to unseen powers, and verse 6 is the New Testament's most compact statement that Gentiles belong on equal terms.

Interpretive tension to watch

Paul says the mystery "was not made known to men in other generations," yet the Old Testament repeatedly promised blessing to the nations; his qualification, "as it has now been revealed," suggests the novelty lies in the equality and the one body rather than in the inclusion itself. "Every family" in verse 15 translates a word that can also mean "all fatherhood," and translators divide. The prayer asks that believers be filled with "all the fullness of God," a request so large that readers have wondered whether it can be meant literally. And the digression itself, an unfinished sentence resumed thirteen verses later, has led some to ask whether verses 2 to 13 were an insertion.

أسئلة لهذا الفصل

Paul calls the equal inclusion of Gentiles a "mystery" now revealed. Who are the people your community would find hardest to call fellow heirs?
The prayer asks for strength in the inner being before anything visible. Why does Paul start there?
Paul prays that we grasp a love that "surpasses knowledge." How can something be known and beyond knowing at once?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

أضف للملاحظات

1 Deshalb ich, Paulus, der Gefangene Christi Jesu für euch, die Nationen – 2 (wenn ihr nämlich gehört habt von der Verwaltung der Gnade Gottes, die mir in Bezug auf euch gegeben ist, 3 dass mir durch Offenbarung das Geheimnis mitgeteilt worden ist – wie ich es zuvor in kurzem beschrieben habe, 4 woran ihr im Lesen merken könnt mein Verständnis in dem Geheimnis des Christus – 5 das in anderen Geschlechtern den Söhnen der Menschen nicht mitgeteilt worden ist, wie es jetzt offenbart worden ist seinen heiligen Aposteln und Propheten im Geist: 6 dass die [aus den] Nationen Miterben seien und Miteinverleibte und Mitteilhaber [seiner] Verheißung in Christus Jesus durch das Evangelium, 7 dessen Diener ich geworden bin nach der Gabe der Gnade Gottes, die mir gegeben ist nach der Wirksamkeit seiner Kraft. 8 Mir, dem allergeringsten von allen Heiligen, ist diese Gnade gegeben worden, [unter] den Nationen den unausforschlichen Reichtum des Christus zu verkündigen 9 und alle zu erleuchten, was die Verwaltung des Geheimnisses sei, das von den Zeitaltern her verborgen war in Gott, der alle Dinge geschaffen hat; 10 damit jetzt den Fürstentümern und den Gewalten in den himmlischen [Örtern] durch die Versammlung verkündet werde die vielfältige Weisheit Gottes, 11 nach dem ewigen Vorsatz, den er gefasst hat in Christus Jesus, unserem Herrn; 12 in dem wir die Freimütigkeit haben und den Zugang in Zuversicht durch den Glauben an ihn. 13 Deshalb bitte ich, nicht mutlos zu werden durch meine Drangsale für euch, die eure Ehre sind. 14 Deshalb beuge ich meine Knie vor dem Vater [unseres Herrn Jesus Christus], 15 von dem jede Familie in den Himmeln und auf [der] Erde benannt wird, 16 damit er euch gebe, nach dem Reichtum seiner Herrlichkeit mit Kraft gestärkt zu werden durch seinen Geist an dem inneren Menschen; 17 dass der Christus durch den Glauben in euren Herzen wohne, indem ihr in Liebe gewurzelt und gegründet seid, 18 damit ihr völlig zu erfassen vermögt mit allen Heiligen, was die Breite und Länge und Tiefe und Höhe sei, 19 und zu erkennen die die Erkenntnis übersteigende Liebe des Christus, damit ihr erfüllt sein mögt zu der ganzen Fülle Gottes. 20 Dem aber, der über alles hinaus zu tun vermag, über die Maßen mehr, als was wir erbitten oder erdenken, nach der Kraft, die in uns wirkt, 21 ihm sei die Herrlichkeit in der Versammlung in Christus Jesus auf alle Geschlechter des Zeitalters der Zeitalter hin! Amen.) –