Lesson 3: A Prayer for the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:15-23)
Ephesians has two lengthy prayers. The first is in Ephesians 1:15-19, and the second is Ephesians 3:14-19. The first is followed by teaching material about God’s exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of God (1:20-23), and the second is followed by a doxology (3:20-21). Ephesians 1-3 begins with a doxology (1:3-14) and ends with one (1:20-21).
As we read the first prayer, we can see how the prayer unfolds, and, consequently, what it emphasizes. Paul prays “for you,” that is, you gentiles who live in Ephesus and throughout Asia Minor.
Introduction (1:15-16): Paul remembers the Ephesians, who exhibit both faith in Jesus and love toward the saints, in prayer.
Content (1:17-19): God will give the Ephesians the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know God so that might see God with their hearts and experience the hope to which God has called them, including their glorious inheritance and God’s great power at work in believers.
Proclamation (1:20-23): God worked his power when he raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right God above all other powers in heaven and on earth, not only now but in the age to come as well, and this means that Christ is the head over all things for the sake of the church, which is body that fills everything.
It is important to know that Paul prays for a reason. That reason is the content of the blessing in Ephesians 1:3-14. Paul prays because God has blessed us in Christ with Spirit-blessings. Also, he has heard of their faith and love, and therefore continually prays for them and gives thanks for them. The assumption is that there is both a relationship with Christ and a relationship with the community of believers. The two go hand-in-hand. Faith in Christ entails participation in the community through love.
The prayer assumes the Triune work of God. Paul prays to the Father, that is, the Father of the Jesus who is both Lord and Messiah, and asks the Father to give believers the Spirit. Some translations use “spirit” as if this is a human disposition, but the use of “revelation” (which is a function of the Spirit) indicates this is the Holy Spirit. Thus, God as Father, Son, and Spirit are present in Paul’s prayer and at work in the Ephesian community.
The gift of the Spirit means both the reception of wisdom and revelation which leads to a deeper knowledge or experience of God. The work of the Spirit is not simply a past revelation but an ongoing encounter with the living God whom we come to know more deeply and from whom we gain wisdom for living as the body of Christ.
What exactly does the wisdom and revelation the Spirit gives do? The result is that once the eyes of our hearts have been enlightened or illuminated, we may more deeply experience (know) the hope. This hope gives life in the midst of darkness, and enlightened hearts can experience this hope in a vivifying way. This hope enables us to see at least two things (what Paul specifies): the riches of a glorious inheritance and the greatness of God’s power.
The language of inheritance recalls Ephesians 1:14 that speaks of a believer’s inheritance but here is God’s inheritance. The people of God are God’s inheritance (Deuteronomy 4:20, for example), and when God glorifies them, then they will inherit all that God has promised. The two ideas are intertwined. I take “saints” to refer to the fact that the gentiles, who are now include, will share the inheritance of Israel, God’s saints. Some suggest that “saints” typically refers to Israel throughout Ephesians, and I think it does in this case.
The language of power is important for Ephesians as the last part of this chapter highlights. The people of God will experience the greatness of God’s power. Perhaps this refers not only to the present strengthening of the people of God but also the hope of resurrection since the power of resurrection is part of what Paul describes in Ephesians 1:20. It is the power of resurrection that is presently at work in believers for their transformation and ultimate resurrection so that they, too, might be seated in the heavenlies with Jesus and know the greatness of God’s power. It is a power the counteracts all the “powers” (including the magic and worship of Artemis, cf. Acts 19).
The ground of this prayer—the reason Paul can ask this of God—is because God has already given it to Jesus, and the church is the body of Christ. God has raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at the right hand in the heavenly places (alluding to Psalm 110:1). That declaration cannot be overestimated or overemphasized.
The resurrection of Jesus means he is the new human, the firstborn of new creation. It is a new beginning for Israel and for the rest of humanity. The exaltation to the right hand means he is Messiah, the King of Israel, and he rules over all things—every power imaginable in heaven and on earth. He reigns over the principalities and powers that exercise power on earth and in heaven. His name is above every name, and his authority is supreme. He is the cosmic king, not simply of earth but in heaven at the Father’s side—both now and in the age to come (presumably renewed creation, new heaven and new earth).
This status means he is the “head over all things for the church.” The text does not say that Jesus is the head of the church but head over all things for the sake or in relation to the church. I suggest “head over all things” is an allusion back to Ephesians 1:10 and the summing up of all things in Christ. Christ is not, here at least, the head of the church, but rather the church (which is his body) shares in the rule over “all things.” The church is seated with Christ in the heavenlies and rules with Christ. The headship of the Messiah has been given to the church for the sake of the church. Christ fills his body, just as Christ will ultimately fill all things—already in principle but in the age to come, he will do so in fact (the purpose of his coming, Ephesians 4:10).
Below is a chart that compares the prayers in Ephesians 1:15-23 and Ephesians 3:14-21.