Month: December 2023

Week 49  Ephesians 1

My goal in re-reading Ephesians was to see if Paul had one single idea (an Ephesians Focal-Point). Something he talked about through the whole letter. (I also wanted to see if he could talk about that thing without wandering too far off-track.)
Yesterday it looked to me like Paul’s Big Idea was The Lord’s Plan. I felt okay with it and left it at that. But today I’m seeing that The Plan has a lot of moving parts. For instance one element of The Plan was that at some future time the Lord would: bring everything together under the authority of Christ.
I wonder for a bit about what that meant. For one thing I think it’s saying that Before Christ everything was Not Together. That things in-heaven-&-earth were Not Unified. That things were in a state of dividedness or fragmentation or differentiation or friction. That things weren’t consolidated or homogeneous. That the world was a busted-to-pieces Humpty Dumpty place from Genesis to Malachi. Israel. Egypt. Asia. The states of Africa & India & the East. The Americas. All of them in a state of Fracturization.
It’s like there’s two temporal episodes: a) The State of Things Before Christ and b) the State of Things After Christ. In The State of Things Before Christ everything was disconnected. And in the State of Things After Christ? God has put all things under the authority of Christ. A reconsolidation.

Note: quotes from Ephesians 1:10 22 (NLT)

Week 49  Ephesians 1

I’m looking to find Paul’s Central Idea in Ephesians. My basic rule-of-thumb was: if Paul keeps repeating the same idea then that’s probably his Central Idea.
So I’m not too far into the first chapter before I start to see Paul focusing on what he calls the plan. He referred to it half a dozen times (sometimes calling it ‘the plan’ and other times the Lord’s decision or purpose or promise). The Plan seemed to fall off the table in chapter two (boo). But then Paul started talking about it again (maybe another half-dozen times) in chapter three (yay).
The Plan was a long-term purpose that the Lord had. For a lonnnng-time The Plan wasn’t obvious. But – says Paul – God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago…This is his plan: at the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ. Paul expanded on it a bit later: and this is the secret plan: the Gentiles have an equal share with the Jews in all the riches inherited by God’s children…Both are part of the same body.
I’m starting to think that The Plan might be my key to Ephesians 1-3. So now I have to a) confirm that The Plan is Paul’s Central Idea. And b) I have to see if Paul sticks with his Central Idea from start-to-finish.

Note: quotes from Ephesians 1:9-10 & 3:6-7 (NLT)

Week 49  Ephesians

I decided to look a bit more carefully at Ephesians this year. It’s not like I have a bunch of extra time but I’ve been wondering about Paul’s writing style. His habit seems to be: a) start writing about something but then b) charge off in some other direction. It might make perfect sense to him. But I’m left wondering.
So anyway I thought I’d use Ephesians as a test case to see if Paul did – or didn’t – stick to a single central idea.
One thing I see right away is that the letter divides pretty nicely into two big sections. The first 66-verses are mostly what I’d call religious theoreticals. The section is pretty abstract. By that I don’t mean the section is pure imagination. It’s more like this: I see a guy walking down the street. I see a pedestrian. But Paul is thinking about his circulatory & respiratory & skeletal & muscular systems. I just see a guy. Paul is assessing his bio-engineering. That’s what I think I’m seeing in the first three chapters.
The second half of the letter – about 99-verses – is very different. There’s a lot of instructions on how-I-should-live-my-life.
So my first impression carving-up Ephesians is that it’s like a live-theatre performance. I know that behind the curtain a lot of necessary production stuff is going on to make the show work. And then out in front of the curtain under the lights are the performers .
Ephesians 1-3 backstage.
Ephesians 4-6 front-and-centre.

Week 48

December 1…I’m into the last month of the reading year and today I did my last Reading Review progress-check. I know that by November 30 I need to read 92% of the bible. So I’m relieved to see that I’ve read 95%. I’m glad to be ahead. (I’m especially glad since December is the hardest reading-month for me because a) there’s a bunch of preoccupying seasonal busynesses and b) I’ll be faced with Revelation at the end (one of bible-reading’s Heartbreak Hills). But barring some Major Unexpected Event I figure I can finish on time.
There’s one glitch though. I’ve been reading Paul’s letters. Whenever I read Paul I’m faced with a low-grade frustration over the way he writes. He seems to be all-over-the-map. Normally I just accept the annoyance. But this past month a surprising thought came to me. What if Paul is more coherent than I think? What if I’m just not getting it?
So I’m going to go back and re-read the Ephesians letter a couple more times. It’s an add-on exercise I’m giving myself: does Paul have a consistent theme through one whole letter (my suspicion is that he doesn’t – so he’ll have to prove I’m wrong).
I’ve still got to keep up with my December reading – that’s my priority. But I’m curious enough that I’ll be looking at Ephesians for the next couple of days. It’s an extra task during a busy month. So we’ll see.