Background
Ephesians appears as the first of the three Prison Epistles, so called because their claimed author, Paul, was imprisoned at the time of writing, probably in Rome (Acts 28:30-31). Thematically, Ephesians closely parallels Colossians in developing the metaphor of Christ as the head of his body the church, thus stressing the churchly unity of Gentile and Jewish believers. Paul may have written the letters around the same time and had his colleague Tychicus deliver them on the same trip to western Asia Minor (cf. 6:21-22; Col. 4:7-9).
Background
Ephesians targets a primarily Gentile audience, but the letter gives few clues as to what prompted its composition. Most of Paul's letters to churches deal with specific issues of Christian belief and practice facing particular congregations. But Ephesians displays a general, theologically reflective character that dominates even the exhortations of chapters 3-6, and the epistle appears not to address any single church congregation, let alone its current problems. That the oldest and best manuscripts of Ephesians lack the geographical designation "at Ephesus" (1:1) combines with the apparent personal unfamiliarity of Paul and the audience (who have only "heard of" each other; 1:15; 3:2) to suggest that the letter did not specifically address the church in the Asian provincial capital of Ephesus - a church founded, nurtured, and intimately known by the apostle himself (Acts 19; 20:17-38). Instead, Ephesians probably served as a circular missive (like Galatians) passed between churches not founded by Paul in the vicinity of Ephesus, to which city Tychicus may have taken the original copy of the letter.
Authorship
Because Ephesians differs distinctively from Paul's other New Testament epistles not only regarding occasion and audience but also literary style, many modern scholars believe that a disciple or admirer of Paul authored the epistle pseudonymously. Although the letter clearly claims authorship by the apostle (1:1), and early church tradition corroborates the claim, the common and accepted ancient practice of ascribing authorship to a prominent figure leaves open that possibility.
1 Celebrating God's Grace
In introducing himself to an ethnically mixed but mostly Gentile audience, the majority of whom he has probably never met, Paul identifies himself solely in terms of his apostleship to Christ. His signature greeting, "Grace and peace," strikes a chord with both Gentile and Jewish "saints" (Christians).
Paul celebrates salvation for eternal life as initiated by the extravagant grace (ill-deserved favor) of God the Father, mediated by the redemptive self-sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and guaranteed by the gift of the Holy Spirit to believers (vv 3-14). Their receipt of "every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" (v. 3) emphasizes the immediacy of their sharing in the exaltation of the ascended Christ, while the serving of the Holy Spirit as a "pledge of our inheritance" promises the full fruition of redemption (ransom) in the form of eternal life. Mosaic law provided for redemption from sins through the sacrifice of animals, the spilling of whose blood (representing life) substituted for forfeiting the sinner's life. The rite prefigures God's ultimate redemption of morally doomed humanity through Christ's self-sacrifice, which suffices once and for all. The doctrine of "elec tion;' God's singling out individuals for salvation, emerges in verses 4-5, 11 but does not of necessity rob elect individuals of their free will or cancel their responsibility to respond to the gospel with faith (v 13). On God's adoption of believers as heirs N. 5), cf. Gal. 4:1-7.
The apostle expresses thankfulness for his audience of believers (vv. 15-23). Spiritual wisdom (the practical outworking of moral knowledge) and understanding form the core of Paul's intercessory prayer for these Christians. He encourages them with assertions of the great power of God conveyed to believers through the resurrection, ascension, and exaltation of Christ, who rules supremely and for eternity. The church as his "body" shares in that rule (cf. Rom. 12:1-8; i Corinthians 12).
2 Salvation by Grace
Paul showcases the spiritually enlivening grace of God, motivated by his love for humanity and facilitated by his merciful character. Moral deadness - the condition of humans resulting from the initial transgression of Adam - enslaves every person to sin and subjects them to the "ruler of the power of the air" (Satan). Because of people's "disobedience [to God]" by automatically indulging their sinful inclinations, all deserve God's righteous "wrath" - ultimately, consignment to eternal death. Yet in exchange for faith alone God bestows on doomed sinners the gift of spiritual enlivenment and exaltation with the resurrected and ascended Christ - the very gift of which sinners' actions prove them not just undeserving but actually ill deserving, and a gift whose acceptance obtains for them eternal life. While their deeds do not earn for them this ill-deserved favor (grace), their gratefulness results in good works. Note that the ultimate goal of God's graciousness consists not in benefiting humanity but in demonstrating his own exaltedness (v 7).
The gift of God's grace should make a particularly deep impression on Gentiles, for whom the self-sacrifice of Christ widened the door to salvation (vv. tiff.). Though the Old Testament demonstrates that Gentiles could participate in the covenant established through Moses at Mount Sinai, their membership was not automatic (v. 12; cf. Lev. 19:33-34; Josh. 6:22-26; Ruth). Since before Moses, male circumcision distinguished the chosen Hebrews as the heirs of God's promises to their forefather Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3; 17:9-14). By rendering obsolete the exclusive Mosaic covenant, however, the "blood of Christ" (on the cross) gives Gentiles (the "uncircumcision") equal status as members of "God's household" and therefore equal entitlement to inherit his promises. In the temple precincts, a dividing wall separated the outer court of the Gentiles from the inner court, immediately adjacent to God's dwelling place and admissible only to Jews; "breaking down" this wall by Christ brought Gentiles "near" to God (vv. 13-14). Paul further pictures the unity of Gentiles and Jews who exercise faith in Christ as the building blocks of a holy temple (the church) founded on the apostles and prophets, themselves linked by Christ, the pivotal cornerstone (cf. Isa. 28:16).
3 Persecution a Privilege
Paul acknowledges his current imprisonment as part of his apostolic privilege. As the apostle to the Gentiles, he celebrates their newly enabled participation in the promises of the gospel through the previously veiled "mystery" of Christ, God's plan to redeem through him Gentiles as well as Jews (vv. 3-6). So Paul's suffering for the sake of the Gentiles' salvation should not spawn in them discouragement but celebration (v. 13; cf. 1 Cor. 1:23-24). The apostle's petitionary prayer for his audience concentrates on their grasp of the limitless love of God (vv. 14-18). The closing "Amen" means, "Let it be so."
4:1-16 Unity of the Body
By recounting his imprisonment in the service of the Lord, Paul cultivates in his audience a sense of responsibility to honor through their Christian conduct his suffering for their sake. That he lacks a founder's authority (though not apostolic authority) over his target congregations may lead him to frame his exhortations as a plea (v. 1). The fact of Christian unity (vv. 4-6) provides the basis for acting accordingly (vv. 2-3). The task of the church as a whole consists in growing up theologically for effectiveness in further building itself up (vv. 13-16). Leaders and laypeople share responsibility for this task as they perform their variously vital ministerial functions (vv. 11-12). On believers' receipt of spiritual gifts after Christ's ascension to heaven (vv. 7-10), compare the advantage of the Holy Spirit cited by Jesus to comfort the apostles concerning his imminent departure from earth (John 15:26-16:13).
Women in the Early Church
Attitudes toward women in the 1st-century church were heavily influenced by two major sources - the history of Judaism and the example of Jesus. Jewish Christians knew, and Gentile Christians were quickly taught, the major themes of the Old Testament. On the one hand, God had created man and woman alike in his image to rule over the rest of creation (Gen. 1:26-31) and had created Eve to be a suitable helper for Adam (2:18), an expression that suggests equality more than subordination. On the other hand, the first couple fell into sin, after which God promised the woman, your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you" (3:16). No debate surrounds the fact that after this point gender relations throughout the Old Testament were highly patriarchal.
But Jesus came to reverse the effects of the fall, and his teaching and example regularly challenged the conventions that had come to characterize 1st-century Judaism. He regularly treated women with a dignity that surprised or upset men in his culture. Perhaps the two most dramatic examples involved his conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42) and his acceptance of Mary of Bethany in the role of a rabbi's disciple (Luke 10:38-42). Jesus risked the perception of scandal by allowing women to travel with him and his disciples (and to support them financially; Luke 8:1-3), and one of these, Mary Magdalene, for
merly demon-possessed, became the first witness to the resurrection and an "apostle to the apostles" (John 20:1-2, 18). Still, Jesus did not choose a woman among his 12 closest followers, though the significance of this observation remains disputed.
Mosaic of Saint Perpetua from the Euphrasius basilica in Porec, Croatia. (Wikimedia Commons)
The book of Acts contains no instructions regarding gender roles, but it does present a significant number of examples of women in prominent positions. Women as well as men prophesy (Acts 2:17-21), Priscilla (with her husband Aquila) teaches Apollos the Way
of God more accurately" (18:26), and Paul is willing to preach to an all-female assembly, from which the first European convert, Lydia, emerges (17:11-15). From the epistles we learn of numerous other prominent women leaders in the church and coworkers with Paul during this first Christian
generation: Phoebe is a deacon and a patron (Rom. 16:1-2); Junia is an apostle, in the broader sense of missionary or church planter (v. 7); Chloe and Nympha and their (apparently fatherless) households figure prominently (1 Cor. 1:11; Col. 4:15); and Euodia, Syntyche, and others are fellow laborers in the gospel whom Paul values (Phil. 4:2-3; cf. Rom. 16:6,12).
Paul does continue to command women to submit to their husbands, not simply as a vestige of the old order but comparable to the church's submission to Christ (Eph. 5:22-24; Col. 3:18). But he also commands mutual submission (Eph. 5:21) and radically redefines male authority as not greater privilege but greater responsibility (vv. 25-33). The most probable interpretation of Peter's reference to married women as "weaker vessels" (1 Pet. 3:7) highlights their greater vulnerability in their voluntarily adopted role of subordination. On the other hand,1 Cor. 12:7,11 makes clear that God's Spirit gives his gifts as the Spirit determines, none of which appear to be gender-specific. Galatians 3:28 clearly declares that in Christ "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female." At the very least, these texts suggest that men and women, as in creation, are equally valuable in God's eyes; neither is inherently inferior to the other.
Whether Paul means more than this and is in principle abolishing all role differentiation in the church remains debated. At least in his world, he never takes this step. He commands women to cover their heads as a sign of respect in worship (1 Cor. 11:3-16). He assumes that women may pray and prophesy in church (11:5), but instructs that they should refrain from specific kinds of speech (14:33b38) - perhaps asking questions during the evaluation of prophecy or expressing views contrary to his own. "Prophecy" in ancient Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts could refer to spontaneous utterances of messages believed to be from God (or a god) but also to thoughtfully prepared addresses equally attributed to the divine. Apparently Paul allowed women to do what today would be called preaching.
In the most scrutinized text of all, Paul forbids women from teaching or exercising authority over men (1 Tim. 2:12). But the grammatical construction used
here, coupled with the observation that teaching and exercising authority are two distinctives of the office of elder/overseer in 1 Timothy (3:2; 5:17), suggest that Paul is merely prohibiting women from the single office of elder or overseer. A discussion of the criteria for overseers and deacons immediately follows, with probable references to women deacons but not to women elders (3:1-13). Nevertheless, the word for having authority in 2:12 is found nowhere else in Scripture and in other Greek literature can mean to domineer," so perhaps Paul is prohibiting only an overly harsh use of authority, especially in light of the false teaching with which Timothy's church in Ephesus was infected.
Debate also continues over Paul's reasons for his various prohibitions. On the one hand, he regularly refers to the order of
creation to buttress gender role distinctions, suggesting that his teaching cannot be dismissed as limited to his time and culture (1 Cor. 11:8-9; 1 Tim. 2:13; cf.1 Cor. 14:34). On the other hand, it is possible that new creation in Christ goes beyond even original creation (Gal. 3:28), so the question of contemporary application is by no means settled.
For Further Reading
Belleville, Linda L. Women Leaders and the Church. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.
CRAIG L. BLOMBERG
4:17-5:20 Christian Conduct
Paul disparages the spiritually unenlightened, "impure" behavior of non-Christian Gentiles (4:17-19) and exhorts his audience of believing Gentiles to abandon their own similar, preconversion conduct. The renewal of their minds should issue in actions characterized by Godlike righteousness and holiness. The practical specifics of such living include telling the truth; getting properly angry (at unrighteousness) without letting such anger fester and lead to sin; working hard and sharing with the needy the fruits of one's labor, instead of stealing; refraining from vulgar talk, and instead uplifting others with one's speech (4:29; 5:4,19-20); shedding divisive feelings and conduct toward fellow Christians and instead extending to them Godlike kindness and forgiveness; filling one's heart with the Holy Spirit rather than overindulging in alcohol (as typical during Hellenistic religious orgies; 5:18) - in short, imitating God as children do their parents. Paul warns against the foolish notion that sinners who persist in their disobedience to God will inherit eternal life anyway. On the contrary, they will incur his wrath - incentive enough to "awake" from spiritual deadness (5:14) and "live as children of light;" not "darkness." Behaving wisely means translating one's moral knowledge into action and requires making the most of one's time to do so (5:15-16).
Agora of Ephesus, a large square marketplace bordered on three sides by a vaulted colonnade and shops. (www.HolyLandPhotos.org)
5:21-6:24 Mutual Subjection
Reverence for Christ requires of his followers their mutual subjection. Paul approaches the idea of subjection not from an authoritarian, top-down platform, but from the standpoint of the subject's voluntary compliance in a hierarchy of authority - one that demands showing mutual respect across the board. The metaphor of Christ as the head of his body, the church (described in bridal terms; 5:26-27), provides the model for marital relationships, in which husbands and wives similarly become "one flesh" Paul's admonition that wives subject themselves to their husbands, as required of the church toward Christ, carries no more or less weight than the exhortation that husbands treat their wives with self-sacrificial love, as Christ did by dying for the church. Thus for husbands and wives mutual subjection takes different forms of the same command.
The principle holds true in the relationships of children with their parents and slaves with their masters. Paul does not aim at evaluating the moral justice of slavery, practiced throughout biblical history, but at addressing the relationships resulting from the existing practice. Contemporary society can apply Paul's instruction to the relationship of employees and employers. Children should obey their parents simply because it is the right thing to do. Fathers should treat their children reasonably and rear them according to biblical principles. Slaves or servants should obey their masters as a sincere offering of service to God, the impartial heavenly Master and Rewarder of all. Overbearing human masters had better take note.
Paul weaves throughout this section some of the benefits of voluntary subjection in its various forms. A husband does himself a favor by treating his wife in a loving way (5:28-29). Children obtain divine blessing by obeying their parents (6:2-3). Slaves store up heavenly reward by rendering their service to please God (6:7-8). But note that Paul assumes individual obedience to his instructions, reward or no reward. He attaches no conditions for compliance with them, and he does not consider the possibility of Christian relationships that lack mutual subjection. The implication? Just do it.
Nevertheless, Paul is no fool. He knows that his exhortations are hard to take and his instructions difficult to obey, for the Devil directs a host of spiritual forces focused on preventing Christian conduct. So perhaps with the living reminder of Roman soldiers in and around his place of imprisonment, Paul commends to his audience their preparation to the hilt with the spiritual armor that will keep them alive in the battle for their obedience.
In closing, Paul requests prayer on his behalf, but prayer petitioning his boldness in spreading the gospel while a prisoner, not the alleviation of his troubles. Instead, by sending his colleague Tychicus to deliver the letter and give a verbal report concerning Paul's personal circumstances, he takes the initiative to allay the anxieties of his audience.