Father de Piconio’s Commentary on Ephesians Chapter 3

 Text in red are my additions.

Eph 3:1. For this thing’s sake I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.

For this thing’s sake, because you are, and in order that you may remain, fellow-citizens of the Saints, and the household and temple of God (Eph 2:19-22).  I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ. The article is prefixed to prisoner in the Greek. The prisoner of whom you have so often heard, for the captivity of the Apostle was a great political event, well known throughout the Roman empire. I Paul, who have been chosen by Jesus Christ to carry his name before nations and kings. Act 9:15. It was the indignation and anger of the Jews at his assiduous and successful accomplishment of this mission, which occasioned his imprisonment, as appears from the narrative in the Acts of the Apostles, 20-28, and accordingly he describes himself as the prisoner, literally the bound, of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles. It will be observed that St. Paul is not at all ashamed of his imprisonment, or of its cause, but glories in both as a high honour and distinction. This imprisonment was either that of two years at Rome, described Acts 28:30, which is most probable; or that which took place two years later, and ended in the martyrdom of the Apostle, June 29, A.D. 67.

Eph 3:2. If indeed you have heard the dispensation of the grace of God, which was given me towards you.

You will recognize that I am a prisoner on your account, if, which is most probable, you have heard of the Apostolic mission which God has entrusted to me, towards the Gentiles.  St. Paul had resided and taught three years at Ephesus, but the Saints never, unless absolutely compelled, speak of God’s graces shown to themselves, and it was possible that some of the Ephesians, who had been converted since the visit of the Apostle to their city, might not be sufficiently aware of his claims on their attention. He calls his apostolate the dispensation, or economy, of the grace of God. Economy means the prudent management of domestic affairs, or sometimes of the administration of the government of a state. Here it is God’s prudent provision for the extension of the Gospel and the welfare of the Church. Every apostolate, prelacy, or charge of preaching is a grace of God, given gratuitously for the welfare and advantage of others. It should therefore not be sought for personal reasons, or from the favour of man, or for repose or pleasure; but only for labour.

Eph 3:3. That by revelation the mystery was made known to me, as I have briefly written above.

You have heard that the mystery was made known to me by divine revelation. The Vulgate here uses the word sacramentum, and in the next verse mysterium, for the Greek term, which is the word last named. What the mystery is, he explains in the following verses. Here he states that God had directly revealed it to him, as is briefly recorded in the former chapters of this Epistle, especially in Eph 1:9.

Eph 3:4. So that you are able, when }ou read, to understand my wisdom in the mystery of Christ.

When you read what I have already said, and what I am about to say, you will at once perceive the source from which my information is drawn. The Greek has my intelligence, Theophylact, my knowledge. St. Paul does not always meticulously distinguish between prudence, wisdom, intelligence, and science.

Eph 3:5. Which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as now it is revealed to his holy Apostles and Prophets in the Spirit.

The secret was absolutely unknown, in former generations, to the greater part of the nations of the earth. Neither was it known to any one of those nations, or even to their Prophets, with the same clearness and certainty with which it has now been revealed by the Holy Spirit to the holy Apostles and Prophets of the new law. The vocation of the Gentiles is, indeed, mentioned not obscurely by Isaias and other Prophets, but still there was silence as to many circumstances not then fully revealed, as, for instance, that the Gentiles were to be admitted without becoming; Jewish proselytes, without circumcision and obedience to the precepts of Moses. And to many nations the writings of these Prophets were wholly unknown. The truth was only revealed in its fulness to the Apostles and Prophets of the Christian Church. Of these Prophets there were many in the Apostolic age, as is evident from the writings of St. Paul, and particularly his first Epistle to the Corinthians.

Eph 3:6. That the nations are coheirs, and united in one body, and fellow participators of his promise, in Christ Jesus, through the Gospel.

The Gentiles, without becoming Jewish proselytes, are heirs with the Jews of God’s heavenly kingdom, members of the holy Catholic Church, which is the mystical body of Christ, and partakers of the promised benediction of all nations, which was announced of old to the patriarch Abraham. Or else, of the Holy Spirit, which God had promised to pour forth upon mankind. And this inheritance, with all its glorious privileges in the present, and anticipations in the future, they obtain by faith in the Gospel of Christ. Those who listen to the teaching of the Apostles, have, therefore, a deeper insight into the mysteries of God, than was communicated even to the Prophets of the Old Testament.

Eph 3:7. Of which I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which was given me according to the operation of his power.

I was made a minister and herald of this Gospel, not for any merits of my own, for I was a persecutor of the Church of God, but by the grace of God freely given to me. But this grace was efficacious for the conversion of the nations, through the energy (ενεργειαν = energian = operation) of the strength of God, evidenced by the miracles I was able to accomplish.

Eph 3:8. To me of all the saints the least this grace was given, to preach among the Gentiles the untraceable riches of Christ.

In a genuine spirit of humility St. Paul is not satisfied to call himself the last and least of Christians, but coins a comparative of this superlative, ἐλαχιστότερος (elachistoteros) less than the least, behind the last (or, “the leaster”) Yet his trust in God’s power was equal to his sense of his own personal unworthiness. St. Chrysostom says that St. Paul brought three things to his preaching; a dauntless courage, an unequalled wisdom, a blameless life. We are not worthy even to remember him. In fol. gog of this Father will be found some comparisons illustrating the difficulty of imitating him. The grace, or favour, which St. Paul declares to have been conferred upon himself, was the privilege of making known to the nations the unsearchable, inexhaustible, literally the untraceable, riches of Christ. The riches of Christ is his generosity, the infinite richness, splendour, and felicity of the gifts which he has in store for those who believe in him, in the life to come, never to be exhausted or understood, and which he gives in part and in anticipation during this mortal life.

Eph 3:9. And to enlighten all men what is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from the ages in God, who created all things.

To teach all men what is the economy of this mystery. The Economy, in the language of theologians, means the Incarnation of Christ and the work of our redemption. To let all men see how God retained through the ages this great purpose, known only to himself, and how wisely and wonderfully, in the fulness of the times, he has accomplished it, by the Incarnation and death of Christ.

This Economy was a mystery known only to God, and hidden during the ages from all other knowledge than his. Who created all things. The Greek text has: who created all things by Jesus Christ, and this is the reading of Saint Chrysostom and of Theodoret. The last-named writer has, who made all things, his Son co-operating with him.

The same statement is made also by St. John, 1:3, Thorough him (the Word) were all things made, and apart from him was nothing made; and has been incorporated, almost in the expressions of Saint John, in the Creed of Nicæ: By whom, Jesus Christ, our one Lord, per quern omnia facta sunt, through him, or by his instrumentality, were all things made. St. Paul’s introduction of this truth into his argument in this place, is in all probability directed against the heresy of the followers of Simon Magus, who maintained that the corporeal world was not made by Christ, nor by God the Father, but by inferior agents, or Angels of great power, but infinitely removed from the Supreme Deity. The same or similar heresies were still extant when St. John wrote his Gospel, at Ephesus, many years later, for which reason that Evangelist also repeats this wonderful truth. For it is in reality the foundation of the Christian faith, that the Creator of the world is Mary’s Son, that is, its immediate Creator, acting in concert with his Father. But as God created all things by Jesus Christ, so also by Jesus Christ he re-created, restored, and regenerated all things in the great Economy, the Incarnation and death of God the Son.

The office of Apostles, Evangelists, and preachers is to enlighten all men. They are on earth what the higher ranks of angels are among the lower in heaven. Their function is to purify, enlighten, and make perfect. This is why the Angel in Rev 19:20, would not receive worship from an Apostle. See that yon do it not,for I am your fellow-servant.

Eph 3:10. That the multiform wisdom of God may become known to the principalities and powers in the heavenly regions, through the Church,

The statement of the Apostle in this verse is that God had called him to make known the Gospel of Christ to the Gentile nations of the world, in order, doubtless among other reasons, that the multiform wisdom of God may now (this word is in the Greek text) become known, as it never was known before, to the highest spirits of creation, who bear rule, authority, and power, in God’s great empire in the heavens. This revelation is made to them through the fortunes, the history, the extension, and the wonderful permanence and preservation, of the holy Catholic Church, in all which Paul, as one of the founders of that Church, had a special share. And they will now understand, what they could not so clearly perceive before, how throughout all the history of the world in former ages God has been preparing the way for, and disposing the history and migrations of the nations, and the vicissitudes of empires, to the accomplishment of the great purpose he had all along in view, which was, one day to bring the nations to reconciliation with himself and the hope of eternal salvation, in his Son Jesus Christ, the Lord of Creation and second founder and chief of the human race. Thus, says Theophylact, God’s mercy to man teaches his wisdom to the Angels. Paul is the Evangelist of angels, and enlightens them, says St. Chrysostom. The mysteries of God are made known to the highest orders of creation, through the Church; a consideration which adds inconceivably to the dignity and honour of the human species. The Angel in the Rev 19:10, as before observed, would not accept the worship of the Apostle, because the function and office of the Apostle were higher than his own. The statement in the text is doubtless directed against the followers of Simon Magus, who held that the angels, especially the higher orders of the celestial hierarchy, are our mediators with God, and ought to be adored as gods.

Eph 3:11. According to the purpose of the ages, which he made in Christ Jesus our Lord;

The purpose of the ages which he made in Christ Jesus. There is some ambiguity in this verse, there being nothing either in the Greek or Latin phrase to show whether the antecedent to the relative pronoun which is the wisdom, or the Church, or the purpose. St. Jerome thinks it is the multiform wisdom of God, which he formed or planned in Christ. Others understand that this is made known through the Church, which God founded in Christ. More commonly it is understood of the purpose of the ages, which God from eternity, before the world was, intended to accomplish in Christ.

Eph 3:12. In whom we have trust and access in confidence through his faith.

The result of this eternal purpose of God, carried into effect by the mediation and propitiation of Jesus Christ, and the end and object it was intended to effect, is that we are enabled to draw near to God in full trust and confidence, as children to a Father. We have access with confidence through faith in Christ. And this was God’s purpose from eternity, that for which he created man, and redeemed him.

Eph 3:13. Therefore I entreat that you fail not in my tribulations for you; which is your glory.

But this being so (i.e., what was said in the previous verses), and having God for your Father, I entreat you not to be downcast and afflicted on account of my sufferings and imprisoment in Judea, my being brought a captive to Rome, my detention here, my possible execution and death: as if this could cast any doubt on the ultimate success of my mission, or the genuineness and truth of what I proclaimed in my preaching among you. God’s great purpose, from eternity is not set aside by opposition or persecution from the powers and princes of this passing world. Rather it is your glory, that I, your Apostle, should be counted worthy to suffer like Christ, and with Christ, and the palm of martyrdom, when I receive it, will be the token of your triumph and victory, as well as mine. God so loved us, says St. Chrysostom, that he gave his Son to die, and his servants to suffer, for us. St. Jerome and the Syrian version read it, I pray that I may not fail, or lose courage, but all other interpreters understand it as the Vulgate.

Eph 3:14. For this thing’s sake I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15. Of whom every paternity in heaven and in earth is named,
Eph 3:16. That he will give you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through his Spirit, into the interior man.

On account of all that depends upon the maintenance of your faith and confidence in God under discouragement, and your disappointment and alarm at my imprisonment, I throw myself on my knees in prayer before God, entreating him to strengthen you with his spirit of power. St. Augustine remarks (Serm. 7. de verbis Apostoli) that St. Paul had entreated the Ephesians themselves not to allow their faith to fail, because this was of their free will, but at the same time he earnestly implores of God the aid of his Spirit to strengthen them, because free will is not sufficient, unless aided by the grace of God, to support the soul under trial.

The language of verses 14 and 15 is directed against the error of the heretics, who held that there were two original principles, one good and the other evil, and that it was by the evil principle, and his angels, that the material world was framed. Christ was not, therefore, in their view, the Son of the creator of the world. The Apostle teaches that there is but one God, who made all things, and is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in a different sense the Father also of angels and of the human soul, that is by’ adoption, for these do not spring from his substance, but are the work of his hands. He is the source of all Fatherhood in heaven and earth. And he asks for God’s blessing and the grace of strength for the Ephesian Christians, according to the riches of his glory, the richness of his mercy, kindness, and charity, which is his highest glory, so far as we know, and which is lauded, praised and glorified in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. Gratias agimus tibi propter magnam gloriam tuam (we give thanks to you because of your great glory), for his infinite love and mercy, which is God’s great glory.

Eph 3:17. Christ to dwell by faith in your hearts, rooted and founded in charity.

The Syriac version read these verses: that God would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his spirit, that in your interior man Christ may dwell through faith, and in your hearts through charity, your root and foundation remaining unmoved and firm, so that you may be able to comprehend, &c. The interior man is the mind, will, or resolution, and this, according to the Greek text and the Vulgate, requires to be strengthened by the Spirit of God. Faith is said to dwell in the heart, which in ancient times was figuratively regarded as the seat of the intellectual powers, and faith is an intellectual virtue, to which reason and understanding contribute. Rooted and founded in charity. Charity is a tree which throws its branches towards the skies, in search of the smile of God, and sends its roots downwards, to soothe and alleviate the sorrows of earth. And Charity is a building of which the foundations are fixed firmly in the love of God, and faith in his love and care for us, while the upper chambers afford a refuge for the homeless and the friendless. Only the grace of charity enables the soul to understand and measure, to apprehend and realize the infinite charity of God, to which it is in its measure the response.

Eph 3:18. That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints, what is the width and length and height and depth;

That you may be able to comprehend and understand, with all other Christians, for whom also I implore the same inestimable happiness, the measurement of the divine goodness and charity shown in the mystery of man’s redemption, and the vocation of the nations to the faith and grace of Jesus Christ. Wide as the furthest limits of the inhabited world, long as the ages of eternity through which God’s love for his people will endure, deep as the abyss of misery and ruin from which he has raised us, high as the throne of Christ in the heavens, where he has placed us. The Apostle’s words are indeterminate, since he does not expressly say the breadth and length, the height and depth, of what, and there have been accordingly many interpretations of this passage, which are enumerated by Cornelius a Lapide. The above seems to be that which is most in agreement with the argument of St. Paul in this place. St. Augustine refers to the four members of the cross on which Christ was fixed, the lower end of which was buried in the ground, but it may be doubted whether this is to be regarded as a poetical or rhetorical allusion, on whether he considered this resemblance to be actually in the Apostle’s mind.

Eph 3:19. To know also the charity of Christ, which exceeds knowledge, that you may be filled to all the plenitude of God.

That you may know the charity of Christ, which exceeds all human knowledge, and cannot be fully measured and comprehended by any finite intelligence, not even in the ages of eternity. St. Paul uses the word know in the sense of learn or advance in the knowledge of. This infinite charity Christ exhibited in offering himself for us to God the Father, a sacrifice on the cross, and will exhibit farther by the manifestation of his love to the Saints in heaven.

That you may be filled to the fulness of God. The fulness of God is the complete perfection of Deity, reflected and represented to creation in Jesus Christ. The fulness of all perfection, the infinite holiness of God. It pleased the Father that in Christ all the fulness should dwell (Col 1:19). In him dwelleth all the fulness of Deity, (Col 2:9). God gives the Spirit to Christ without measure, (see John 3:34,), but this fulness Christ imparts to his faithful people, as he makes them partakers of all his privileges and all his glory. Of his fulness all we have received, (John 1:16). That the Saints receive God’s grace in different degree, according to their measure and capacity, is certain; but vessels of different capacity may all be full. That you may be filled with the knowledge and love of God, and the fulness of all divine gifts. We have in this passage a complete description of the reward of the spiritual life. Strengthened with the might of the Spirit, Christ dwelling in the heart by faith, charity immovable and unfailing, a complete understanding of the full extent of the love of Christ, which exceeds all human knowledge. The Greek word πληρωμα, used in these passages by St. Paul and St. John is borrowed from the vocabulary of the heretics, who designated by it the abode of the angels or celestial spirits who presided over the destinies of man and the order of the universe. This is why St. Paul says that the whole  πληρωμα dwells in Christ.

Eph 3:20. And to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand, according to the power which operates in us;
Eph 3:21. To him be the glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus, to all generations of the age of ages. Amen.

The consideration of the infinite love of God prompts the Apostle to this ascription of glory and thanksgiving. God is able to do for us infinitely more than we can either ask or understand, and this, in some degree, we know by our own experience, by his grace which operates or is effectual in us. And as he is able, he is also ready, and what he does is not limited by what we ask. We may, therefore, in full confidence, leave our future to him. To him, therefore, be the glory in the Church which has been redeemed and saved by Jesus Christ; not to us, the Apostles, who are his ministers and messengers. The Greek text omits the word and before in Christ Jesus. The Syriac has: To him be glory in his Church through Jesus Christ for all the ages of the world of worlds. The Greek and the Vulgate have to all generations, which indicates that the benediction extends to the end of this world, through all generations of the Church on earth.

COROLLARY OF PIETY.

To know the love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, is the great study of our mortal life, and will
continue to be our occupation for eternity. We are not to find fault with the Apostle for telling us to know that which can never be known. No science can be fathomed to its depth, no past events recalled in their completeness, no philosophy comprehend and explain the mysteries of existence; and yet science, and history, and philosophy exercise, and will continue to exercise, the powers of the human intelligence, and may certainly be known. So may the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. It was known to his most Blessed Mother, and to Saint Joseph, who guarded his childhood; to Saint Peter, who could not speak of it without tears; to Saint John, who reclined upon the bosom of Christ; to Saint Paul, who assigns this study as the task of our existence, here and hereafter; to Saint Francis, who devoted himself to poverty in acknowledgment of it; to Saint Francis Xavier, who nearly lost his sight with weeping at the thought of it; to Saint Ignatius, who groaned all through his agony in physical pain from the torrent of joy with which it overwhelmed him ; to Saint Philip, whose heart it broke while he was still alive; to many other Saints who lived in this one thought, and some of whom died under its weight. Christ’s love for his creatures is known to the Holy Angels, though never so fully as when they witnessed the extent of his love for man. To the Princes of Heaven, Christ’s love was made known by the happiness he has prepared for the Saints in eternity, and this is the great distinction of our race, that to the highest orders of Creation the depth and intensity of the love of Christ is revealed in what he has done, and purposes to do, for us. It can never be revealed fully, to Seraph or Archangel, Apostle or Religious, not even to the holy Mother of God, because the Finite cannot apprehend the Infinite. Yet as the aged Simeon took the Almighty Creator of the world into his arms, and blessed God, so may we, if we will, and by God’s grace, get to know that which passes all created knowledge, or possibility of knowing, the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.