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Ephesians 1:15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your trust in the Lord Yeshua and your love for all God’s people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you. In my prayers I keep asking 17 the God of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the glorious Father, to give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you will have full knowledge of him. 18 I pray that he will give light to the eyes of your hearts, so that you will understand the hope to which he has called you, what rich glories there are in the inheritance he has promised his people, 19 and how surpassingly great is his power working in us who trust him. It works with the same mighty strength he used 20 when he worked in the Messiah to raise him from the dead and seat him at his right hand in heaven, 21 far above every ruler, authority, power, dominion or any other name that can be named either in the ‘olam hazeh or in the ‘olam haba. 22 Also, he has put all things under his feet[Ephesians 1:22 Psalm 8:7(6)] and made him head over everything for the Messianic Community, 23 which is his body, the full expression of him who fills all creation.(Complete Jewish Bible)
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Alas, more metaphors! The proclamation and prayer in Ephesians 1 leads us decidedly to the resurrected and ascended Christ seated in power next to God in the heavenly places. From here, the author of Ephesians leans into the body metaphor the Apostle Paul brilliantly appropriated to the church. In doing so, a bodily-ness is also ascribed to God. For Christ is seated at God's "right hand," and God has put all things under God's "feet" making Christ the "head" over all things for the church. What holds the metaphor together--a bodied God and an embodied church--is Christ! It is the word incarnate in Jesus that gifts us with a spirit of seeing and knowing the divine promise enfleshed in our lives and the world. We are a bodied church then, imitators of Christ's own body, seeking to reveal the hope to which we have been called, the fullness of Christ who fills all in all. What a metaphor! What a truth!
We pray: "That the God of our savior, Jesus Christ, may give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know God more fully in our lives."
To which God declares, "I have called you in hope, to the glorious inheritance among all the saints and to the immeasurable greatness of my embodied love." Amen.
Justin Lind-Ayres, '03
Luther Seminary Pastor, St. Paul, Minn.; Campus Ministry Team Member, Augsburg University, Minneapolis, Minn.
Ephesians 1:15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.(New Revised Standard Version)
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The Luther Seminary
2481 Como Avenue
St. Paul, Minnesota 55108, United States
Telephone: (651)641-3456-
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