Ephesians 3:1-12: A Reflection

Ephesians 3:1-12 has the theme of the mystery proclaimed to the gentiles.

This passage represents an important transition in the epistle to the Ephesians. Up to this point in the letter, the author has been laying out a grand argument, the main point of which is that Christ’s death established one community of faith comprising both Jews and Gentiles.

Now, the author wants to identify the role of the apostle.  

            First, the apostle is "prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles" (3:1) and "servant according to the gift of God's grace" (3:7). In verse 8, he is the least of all the saints.

Several other passages suggest similar assessments of Paul. Paul refers to imprisonment in Philippians 1:13 by referring to the imperial guard and in 1:17 to Christians who intend to increase his suffering during his imprisonment. In Colossians 4:18, he encourages his readers to remember his chains. Philemon 1 and 9 refer to Paul as a prisoner of Jesus Christ. In II Timothy 1:8, we have a reference to not being ashamed of he who is a prisoner of the Lord and in 2:9, we have a reference to keeping him in chains, but the gospel not being chained. Paul refers to himself as being entrusted with the message of the gospel in I Thessalonians 2:4, a minister of the covenant in II Corinthians 3:6 and as a servant of this gospel in Colossians 1:23. Paul is also “one untimely born” in I Corinthians 15:8 and in I Timothy 1:15 the author refers to Paul as the chief of sinners.

The apostle obviously had the responsibility of making known the revelation God gave him, but he does so in the context of surrendering and serving, regardless of what circumstances might come his way.

            Second, by making known revelation that God has given him, the apostle is an instrument of God, who wants to accomplish doing a new thing - "In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit" (3:5).

The role of Paul in making known the “mystery” that “the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body” as part of the people of God along with the Jews (vv. 5-6) is at the center of this passage. Two particular aspects of his biography play clear parts. One is the “revelation” (v. 3) to him about Christ that transformed him from one who opposed the church into one of its “servant[s]” and “saints” (cf. vv. 7-8a). This use of “revelation” is significant. It may have a resemblance to John 14:26, in which the Holy Spirit will teach them everything. The other is the suffering that he endured on account of “bring[ing] to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ (v. 8b).

The revelation of this mystery is critical to both the narrative flow of Ephesians 3:1-12 and the function of Paul's apostleship. Verses 3-5 and 8-10 repeatedly lift up some aspect of revelation in terms of the mystery's being both communicated and comprehended. Through all of this runs the abiding understanding that the apostle is not the source of revelation but serves as a divinely appointed conveyor of this revelation to the Gentiles.

Third, the Greek word oikonomia in 3:2 can be translated "commission," which underscores that apostleship is rooted in "the commission of God's grace that was given me for you." However, an equally, if not more, justifiable translation of oikonomia is "stewardship," whereby 3:2 reads "the stewardship of God's grace that was given me for you." Moreover, the selection of "stewardship" is further reinforced by 3:9, wherein oikonomia appears for the second time in the passage, commonly translated "plan," as in "the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God." Again, perhaps the stronger choice would be "the stewardship of the mystery." Because of the presence of oikonomia, one can understand the role of the apostle as that of being a steward in the household of God, reminiscent of Jesus' parables about stewards whom masters placed in charge of households during their absence.        

If we could tie these two notions together, this notion of “mystery” as a secret divine plan that is revealed at some critical moment is a common one among Jewish and Christian writers in this period. In the New Testament, “mystery” refers to the historical plan of God to include the Gentiles in the salvation that Jesus Christ reveals. I say this, in contrast to Karl Barth, who engages in a dialectical discussion of the words revelation and mystery, which the passage admittedly suggests. It was the inclusion of the Gentiles within the church that was the unforeseen aspect of what God had done in the Christ/Messiah and that that aspect of God’s work had only “now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (v. 5b, emphasis added).

As the passage ends, it is interesting to note that the author names “rulers and authorities in the heavenly places” as being among the recipients of the content of the revealed mystery (3:10). The author identifies these “rulers and authorities” not only with political institutions. They designate spiritual entities as well, reflecting belief in a variety of spiritual beings that inhabited the cosmos and might visit either good or ill upon people (the “angels” and “demons” in more general Christian and Jewish terminology). In the first century it was not uncommon for these political and spiritual nuances to be combined as people saw the actions of the state as influenced or even directed by these beneficent or maleficent beings (depending on how one considered the impact of state actions on them personally). The trend among modern commentators has been much more in the direction of “demythologizing” this language, emphasizing the social and political structures almost to the exclusion of a spiritual realm.

Without literalizing the language of the demonic with references to Hitler, Stalin and their more contemporary ilk, it probably is best to reanimate our understanding of “rulers and authorities” with a spiritual dimension. There can be a cosmic dimension to both the good and the ill that governments and societies do that transcends both the individual and corporate abilities of the human actors. If what God has done in Christ is about more than personal salvation and extends to the redemption of the whole of creation itself (Romans 8:22-23), then surely both the social structures and the transcendent aspects that animate them must also be affected by the mystery that has come into being in Christ’s church.