CHAPTER I
LECTURE 6
Therefore, after hearing of the faithfulness [shown] among you to the Lord Jesus and (of the love) toward all the saints, I, for my part, never cease to give thanks for you. When mentioning you in my prayers [I ask] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the all-glorious Father, give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him. [I ask] that he illumine the eyes of your hearts so that you may become aware of the hope to which he is calling you, what glorious riches are to be inherited among the saints, and how exceedingly great is his power over us believers.
15 Wherefore, I also, hearing of your faith that is in the Lord Jesus and of your love towards all the saints,
16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making commemoration of you in my prayers,
17- That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation, in the knowledge of him;
18 The eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of his calling and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19a And what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us, who believe.
After enumerating the blessings conferred on the Ephesians through Christ (1:13), the Apostle now reveals how his affection for them has grown. This section is divided into three parts:
First, he begins by relating the good reports he has heard concerning them.
Secondly, he gives the thanks due for the blessings they have received (1: 16a).
Thirdly, he adds a prayer for future blessings (1: 16b-19a).
There were two good things which he heard about them. One was their faith by which they were properly orientated toward God; regarding this he remarked: Wherefore, I also, hearing of your faith that is in the Lord Jesus . Indeed, faith makes God dwell in man: “That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts” (Eph. 3:17). Again, it purifies hearts: “purifying their hearts by faith” (Ac. 15:9). Moreover, it justifies without recourse to the Law: “for we account a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). The second good is love by which they are properly orientated toward their neighbor; in reference to this he says and of your love consisting in works of charity. This love is a spirittial sign that a man is a disciple of Christ: “A new commandment I give you: that you love one another, as I have loved you, so also you must love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another” (Jn. 13:34-35). This love , I say, is towards all the saints . For everyone whom we love with charity, we ought to love either because they are holy or in order that they become holy. “While we have time, let us work good to all men, but especially to those who are of the household of the faith” (Gal. 6:10).
Next (1:16a), the Apostle gives thanks for these goods and blessings he has heard about, saying I cease not to give thanks for you . On the contrary, however, he could not have continually offered thanks for them. I reply. In saying I do not cease , the Apostle means at the required times; or, I do not cease because my attitude of thanksgiving for you is withmit intermission habitually with me. “We do not cease to pray for you, and to beg that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col. 1:9). “I remember you constantly, always in my prayers making request” (Rom. 1:9-10).
Consequently, the Apostle prays for the blessings that must be given them in the future. This has three divisions:
First, he sets down certain ones that he asks for them.
Secondly, he explains these (1: 17b-19a).
Thirdly, he discloses the exemplar and form of these blessings (1: 19b ff.).
In regard to the first he says: Not only do I give thanks for past benefits which you have received and for the good reports concerning you, but I also pray that, by all means, these increase in the future, making commemoration of you in my prayers in behalf of these to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory .
It must be acknowledged, at this point, that our Lord Jesus Christ is both God and man. Insofar as be is man, be is related to God, since he is composed of body and soul, both of which, being creatures, are necessarily related to God. But according as he is God, he is related to the Father. “I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and to your God” (Jn. 20:17). Likewise, as God he is the glory of the Father: “who, being the brightness of his glory, and the figure of his substance” (Heb. 1:3). He is also our glory because he himself is life eternal: “We are in his true Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:20). Therefore, he states the God of our Lord Jesus Christ in relation to him as man, and his Father in reference to him as God. I say the Father of glory , that is, of Christ who is his glory. “A wise son makes his father glad [Vul: is the glory of the father]” (Prov. 10:1); * and of our glory, inasmuch as he communicates glory to all.
Then he writes down the two things he asks for: the spirit of wisdom and of revelation . It must be realized here that certain gifts are common to all the saints and are necessary for salvation, such as faith, hope and charity. These they already possessed, as is evident. Then there are other special gifts; be prays that they receive these. First is the gift of wisdom when be says the spirit of wisdom whom no one can bestow except God: “Who ever knew your counsel, unless you had given wisdom, and sent thy Holy Spirit from above” (Wis. 9:17). The second gift prayed for is that of understanding which consists in the revelation of spiritual mysteries that God alone can give: “There is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (Dan. 2:28).
Next, he explains what he asks for:
First, what pertains to the gift of wisdom.
Secondly, what pertains to the gift of understanding (1: 18b).
To the gift of wisdom belongs the knowledge of divine realities. Hence, to ask for the gift of wisdom is to ask that they enjoy a knowledge of God. He begs for this in saying in the knowledge of him , as if to say: I ask that, through the spirit of wisdom, you may have the eyes of your heart enlightened in a clearer knowledge of God. “Look at me, answer me, Yahweh my God! Enlighten my eyes; turn away the sleep of death” (Ps. 12:4). This is the opposite of those whose eyes are enlightened only with respect to temporal reality when it is more necessary and more glorious to know God. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom... and let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let anyone who boasts glory in this, that he understands and knows me” (Jer. 9:23-24).
Three aspects pertain to the gift of understanding, one of which has reference to the present life, and two to the future. Hope, which is necessary for salvation, belongs to the present condition: “for we are saved by hope” (Rom. 8:24). Concerning this he says that you may know what , that is, how great the hope is of his calling , meaning the virtue of hope and what an immense reality it is concerned with. This [hope] is of the utmost importance because it concerns the greatest realities: “He hath given us a new birth to a living hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Pet. 1:3). It is also the strongest of the virtues: “that we who have fled for refuge may have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. This we have as a sure and firm anchor of the soul, which enters [the sanctuary] behind the veil” (Heb. 6:18-19).
Yet, since what we hope for concerns the future life, the other two aspects [of the gift of understanding] pertain to the future. One, the essential reward, is common to all the just; regarding which he says what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints . Here he writes down four characteristics of those gifts. First, they are most abundant, which he implies in riches . “He who obeys me will dwell secure, and be at ease without fear of evil” (Prov. 1:33); “Glory and wealth shall be in his house” (Ps. 112:3); “Riches and honor are with me, enduring wealth and prosperity” (Prov. 8:18). Secondly, they have the greatest clarity, regarding which he says of glory , “Glory, honor and peace to everyone who does good” (Rom. 2:10). Thirdly, they are the most enduring, in reference to which he states of his inheritance , for what is hereditary is possessed permanently. “His goods will be established” (Ecclus. 31:11); “Yahweh, you have portioned my cup of smooth wine; you have cast my lot. The lines have fallen on rich land for me; the Most High has marked out my estate.” (Ps. 16:5). Fourthly, he indicates that they will be most profound, as in the saints . “The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18); “for this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an incomparable eternal weight of glory” (2 Cor. 4:17).
The other aspect [of the gift of understanding] which be sets down in reference to the future glory pertains especially to the Apostles. Hence he asks that you may know... what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us , the Apostles. He seems to say: Although he bestows the riches of his glory abundantly on all the saints, he grants them in an exceedingly great measure to the Apostles. For the greatness of a power is gauged by what it does. Hence, the more the divine power accomplishes in someone, the more is that divine power revealed there—even though it is one and undivided in itself. Therefore, since a greater effect of the divine power is present in the Apostles, the greatness of this power will reside in them.
He shows what this greater effect present in them is by saying we who believe ; we who are the first-fruits among those who believe. “We also believe. For which cause we speak also, knowing that he who raised up Jesus will raise us up also with Jesus” (2 Cor. 4:13). “I know whom I have believed and I am certain that he is able to keep what I have committed unto him until the last day” (2 Tim. 1: 12).
Those among you, therefore, through whom others are taught and called to the faith—such as the doctors [of the sacred sciences]—will be rewarded in a preeminent way. Thus a Gloss * states how “the great doctors will enjoy a certain increase in glory above that commonly possessed by all.” For the same reason, in Daniel 12 (3), the educated are likened to the brightness of the sky, while the doctors are the stars themselves: “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the sky: and those who turn many to justice, as stars for all eternity.”