Introduction to the Letter to the Ephesians - Commentary by Rev. John Schultz

Updated
2001-05-26; 14:30:48utc

EPHESIANS

It is a good thing to first study Philippians and then Colossians before tackling Ephesians. Since Ephesians is considered the summit of Paul's writings, if not of the whole of the New Testament, we are wise not to start at the summit. In these three letters Paul reaches the pinnacle of spirituality. There are many parallels in the history of the fine arts, of men who, at the end of their lives created masterpieces that have stood the tests of the ages. Mozart's last three symphonies, Beethoven's last piano sonata and string quartets, to list just a few. In these three epistles the Holy Spirit is present in a way in which He is not involved in monuments of human achievement on another level. We could not place Mozart's or Bach's music in the Canon of Scripture, no matter how much spiritual value their works may have.

TO WHOM WAS THE EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS WRITTEN?

The question seems superfluous. The answer, however, is not "to the Ephesians of course!" In most manuscripts, the words "in Ephesus" in 1:1 is lacking. In most versions it is in parentheses. Some expositors suppose that we may have here the epistle to the Laodiceans, which Paul mentions in Colossians: "After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea."^{[ 1 ]} I agree with this hypothesis.

There are several instances of resemblance between the Colossians epistle and the one to the Ephesians. This resemblance suggests that Paul wrote the two at the same time. It would strange, however, that Paul, who spent about three years total in Ephesus, would say that he had "heard of their faith," whereas, he witnessed most of it himself.

He arrived for the first time at Ephesus in Act 18:19- "They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews." But according to Acts, when he returned for the second time, he spent most of his time in the hall of Tyrannus and taught the disciples for two years. We read: "But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord."[ 2 ] And when Paul says farewell to the church leaders, he says to them:" So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."[ 3 ] In the Ephesian epistle he says almost literally the same as in Colossians: "Tychicus, the dear brother and faithful servant in the Lord, will tell you everything, so that you also may know how I am and what I am doing."[ 4 ] And in Colossians: "Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord."[ 5 ]

It would also seem strange that the epistle to the Laodiceans would not be preserved in the Canon of inspired Scriptures. Or would we believe that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul when he wrote to Colosse and not when he wrote to Laodecia? There is no definite proof of all this, but it is very plausible, and we will treat this epistle as the one written to Laodicea.

The church in Laodicea is further only mentioned in the book of Revelations as one of the seven churches to which the prophecy is given. In Rev 3:14-16 we read: "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm; neither hot nor cold; I am about to spit you out of my mouth." After Paul's departure for heaven not much of the glory of this epistle, that must have shone upon and from the church at Laodicea, seems to be left. The second and third generation Christians there had lost touch with the reality of the risen and glorified Savior of which this epistle is so full.

[ 1 ] Col. 4:16

[ 2 ] Acts 19:9,10

[ 3 ] Acts 20:31

[ 4 ] Eph 6:21

[ 5 ] Col. 4:7