Ephesians 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.

章の解説を開く

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.

主要な箇所

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.

この章のための質問

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.

ノートに追加

1 こういうわけで、あなたがた異邦人のためにキリスト・イエスの囚人となった私パウロが言います。 2 あなたがたのためにと私がいただいた、神の恵みによる私の務めについて、あなたがたはすでに聞いたことでしょう。 3 先に簡単に書いたとおり、この奥義は、啓示によって私に知らされたのです。 4 それを読めば、私がキリストの奥義をどう理解しているかがよくわかるはずです。 5 この奥義は、今は、御霊によって、キリストの聖なる使徒たちと預言者たちに啓示されていますが、前の時代には、今と同じようには人々に知らされていませんでした。 6 その奥義とは、福音により、キリスト・イエスにあって、異邦人もまた共同の相続者となり、ともに一つのからだに連なり、ともに約束にあずかる者となるということです。 7 私は、神の力の働きにより、自分に与えられた神の恵みの賜物によって、この福音に仕える者とされました。 8 すべての聖徒たちのうちで一番小さな私に、この恵みが与えられたのは、私がキリストの測りがたい富を異邦人に宣べ伝え、 9 また、万物を創造された神の中に世々隠されていた奥義を実行に移す務めが何であるかを明らかにするためにほかなりません。 10 これは、今、天にある支配と権威とに対して、教会を通して、神の豊かな知恵が示されるためであって、 11 私たちの主キリスト・イエスにおいて実現された神の永遠のご計画に沿ったことです。 12 私たちはこのキリストにあり、キリストを信じる信仰によって大胆に確信をもって神に近づくことができるのです。 13 ですから、私があなたがたのために受けている苦難のゆえに落胆することのないようお願いします。私の受けている苦しみは、そのまま、あなたがたの光栄なのです。 14 こういうわけで、私はひざをかがめて、 15 天上と地上で家族と呼ばれるすべてのものの名の元である父の前に祈ります。 16 どうか父が、その栄光の豊かさに従い、御霊により、力をもって、あなたがたの内なる人を強くしてくださいますように。 17 こうしてキリストが、あなたがたの信仰によって、あなたがたの心のうちに住んでいてくださいますように。また、愛に根ざし、愛に基礎を置いているあなたがたが、 18 すべての聖徒とともに、その広さ、長さ、高さ、深さがどれほどであるかを理解する力を持つようになり、 19 人知をはるかに越えたキリストの愛を知ることができますように。こうして、神ご自身の満ち満ちたさまにまで、あなたがたが満たされますように。 20 どうか、私たちのうちに働く力によって、私たちの願うところ、思うところのすべてを越えて豊かに施すことのできる方に、 21 教会により、またキリスト・イエスにより、栄光が、世々にわたって、とこしえまでありますように。アーメン。

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