Speaking about the Mystery (Ephesians 3:1-6)

It does make something of a difference where someone is when he writes a letter. After all, a postcard from the sunny Mediterranean might sound different than one sent from the shores of the Minch. So we would expect that Paul would be affected by where he was when he wrote this letter – he was in prison, most likely in Rome. A first-century prison was not like our prisons for comfort and food and retraining. Instead a first-century prison was a place of abandonment, and usually it was a short stay before execution. Paul was waiting for a verdict after his trial.

Of course, it is also the case that the writer’s perspective on himself will make a difference to difficult surroundings. Paul tells us his perspective. First, he recognised Jesus had put him there – he was a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and he recognised, second, that he should continue his calling to serve the Gentiles. Providence was under Christ’s control, but Paul did not interpret it as a sign that he should cease serving.

What could he do in prison for Jesus and what could he do in prison for the Gentiles? He could speak to fellow prisoners and to the guards about Jesus, and no doubt he did, because he tells us in another letter (Philippians) written around the same time as Ephesians that the whole palace guard knew why he was there. And he could write letters to Gentiles, whether to churches or individuals. We know that he wrote three letters to churches during this imprisonment – to Ephesus, to Phillips, and to Colosse. He also mentions in his letter to the Colossians that he had written a letter to the church in Laodecia. And it is also possible that he wrote the letter to Philemon at this time.

It was not easy for Paul to write. He usually had to have a scribe. So he was dependant on someone coming in to see him with a pen and a scroll and take down what Paul dictated. But he was determined to serve, so he sent letters. This was how he fulfilled his stewardship from God – he felt compelled to do it.

What did he write about?

He wrote about what he describes as a mystery. The term that Paul used was common in religious terminology. It described a truth or belief that could not be discovered by human research. Instead it had to be revealed by God. The fact that it was revealed is very important. A New Testament mystery is not a BBC mystery. In the latter, no one knows what is happening, but in the former we have been told what is happening.

The way we have been told is through the apostles and prophets. There is some debate as to who are covered by the description ‘apostles and prophets’. One suggestion is New Testament apostles and New Testament prophets (the apostles are those commissioned by Jesus for this role and the prophets are people like Agabus and Silas). Another suggestion is that the prophets are Old Testament prophets (people say this because it would combine the Old and New Testaments). A third suggestion is that the phrase means the apostles who are also prophets (because there is only one definite article in the phrase).

What is clear from those suggestions is that the apostles were definitely involved. It is not hard for us to work out when Jesus revealed spiritual truth to the apostles he chose when he was on earth. He taught them for three years before he died, and he also instructed them about the kingdom of God after he rose from the dead. 

It is not so obvious as to when Paul was informed of those details by divine revelation. One possibility is that it occurred after his conversion in Damascus when he went away into Arabia for a while. We know that when he returned to Damascus, he was able to teach the doctrines of the faith. No doubt, he also gleaned information from the other apostles when they met.

He stresses that what was essential for those men to understand the Faith was the activity of the Spirit. We can see this from the way the original apostles failed to understand what Jesus was teaching them. He promised them that after he returned to heaven the Holy Spirit would come and enlighten them in the things of Christ, which he did. What is striking about his teaching is that when he does it people learn quickly, as we can see from the way Peter at Pentecost understood so much within a period of forty days after the resurrection of Jesus.

We should observe the way that those men are described. An apostle is basically an appointed messenger with special authority. In their case, they were the agents of Jesus, his ambassadors who did what he told them to do and said what he told them to say. They are also holy, which means that they were set apart to this role and equipped with the Spirit to fulfil it. This twofold description means it is very serious to ignore what the apostles have passed on.

The mysteries in the New Testament
Paul uses the term ‘mystery’ on several occasions and it is important when we read the usages that we realise he is speaking about revealed truth and not about something strange. When we read them, we should say, ‘Wow, so that is what God did or is doing or will do!’

There is the mystery of Israel: ‘Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in… (Rom. 11:24).

There is the mystery of the person of Christ: ‘Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory’ (1 Tim. 3:16).

There is the mystery of union with Christ: ‘the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (Col. 1:26-27).

There is the mystery of the glorified bodies of believers: ‘Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet’ (1 Cor. 15:51).

What is the mystery here?

Paul here says that the ‘mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.’ He points out that this mystery ‘was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.’ 

There are predictions in the Old Testament that the Gentiles would be blessed when the Messiah came, but no-one really knew how they would be fulfilled. The common misconception was that somehow they would be fulfilled literally in the land of Israel, with Gentiles travelling there to worship. But Paul makes clear that was not how they would be fulfilled. 

Instead, it would all occur in numerous places through union with the ascended Christ. Paul mentions three ways where this can be seen and in each of them they have equal privileges with Jewish believers. They belong to the same family (fellow heirs), they belong to the same new humanity (the body of Jews and Gentiles who are united to the head, who is Jesus), and they have been given the blessings of the divine promise (probably those connected to the covenant with Abraham). And those are the things that he writes about in this letter.