Week 47 Ephesians 3
Yesterday I’d decided that chapter three was a side-note from the main letter. And even though I personally don’t much care for digressions I had to admit that Paul said something interesting about where he got his data for his part of the NT.
The four men who wrote the gospels had good knowledge about the Lord. Matthew & John had actually lived with him. By contrast I don’t think that Mark & Luke had personal contact with the Lord but they likely had firsthand contact with the people who did.
Anyway the point is that Paul was a Johnny-come-lately NT writer with no first-hand and maybe not even any second-hand contact with the Lord. So people would have been wondering “Hey…where did you get your data from?” Paul’s reply was: God himself revealed his secret plan to me
Another version said: by revelation there was made known to me the mystery
Another version: the mystery (was) made known to me by revelation.
I don’t know if I noticed this idea today because I’d read Galatians last week. But I paged back and read this: I (Paul) solemnly assure you that the Good News of salvation which I preach is not based on mere human reasoning or logic. My message came by direct revelation from Jesus Christ himself. No one else taught me.
So even though he was a step removed Paul insisted his data was rock-solid.
Note: quotes from Ephesians 3:3 (NLT NASB NIV) and Galatians 1:11-12 (NLT)