Ephesians 3:1-6

NOTE: The first portion of chapter 3 involves a reconstruction of Paul's status and vision as an apostle. So I have gone through this portion rather quickly.

3:1

For this reason – Because the two have been made one; because the two-made-one is the dwelling place of our holy God; because this is all done in Christ, ergo …

I, Paul, the prisoner – More than one sense of the prisoner. Consensus that Paul was in prison as he wrote this letter. But more than that, he is held captive by the claims of Christ on his life.

of Christ Jesus – He is a prisoner belonging to, owned by, Christ Jesus. Prisoner IN a Roman jail; but owned, albeit willingly, by Christ Jesus. While Rome restricted his movements to a cell or a jail or house arrest or whatever, it was Christ Jesus who ultimately controlled his movements. Am I there? No. Do I want to come to that point? Yes, but it feels scary.

for the sake of – on behalf of, for the benefit of

you Gentiles – the irreligious, whose background was so extremely different from that of Paul.

3:2

Surely – no doubt

you have heard – either from Paul himself or by word of mouth

about the administration [NLT= special responsibility of extending] – God grants grace freely, but how can we ask if we haven’t been told? God gave Paul the mission of proclaiming, announcing the good news of God’s grace to Gentile world.

for you – on your behalf, for your benefit

3:3

that is – to clarify

the mystery – not a riddle to be solved but a secret to be revealed

made known to me by revelation – God opened Paul/Saul’s eyes of the heart to see what was in Scripture all along.

3:4

my insight – God gave Paul special understanding of Scripture. Traditional interpretation had become so convoluted that God’s message was hidden.

the mystery of Christ – cf. v. 6

3:5

was not made known – God deliberately obscured this message from most people in the past; only a few saw partial glimpses

as it has now been revealed – the veil has been lifted, fog dispelled, clearly exposed

by the Spirit – Holy Spirit communicating to, communing with, inspiring the spirits of His messengers

to God’s holy apostles and prophets – message is for all; but apostles and prophets get special insight in order to communicate with others

3:6

This mystery is – now we come near to the heart of Paul’s theology, i.e., his doctrine of the Church

through the gospel – I would have expected him to say “through Christ.” While the gospel is the message, the good news of Christ, it is not Christ himself. There is something about the message itself that effects the ensuing benefits.

Gentiles – see previous discussions regarding Jew/Gentile; Religious/Irreligious

are – present tense; current, already achieved and ongoing condition

heirs together – recipients of all the blessings promised to Israel and the faith children of Abraham. Not second class citizens

members together – without the Gentiles, the Irreligious believers, the Body of Christ would be incomplete

of one body – interdependence

sharers together – on par with believing Israelites. Each needs the other to receive

promise in Christ Jesus – God promised; that cannot change