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N e w T e s t a m e n t G u i d e
EPHESIANS
By ANTONIO FUENTES
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This Rock
Volume 4, Number 12
 December 1993 
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TOWARD the end of his second
apostolic journey (in the year 52) Paul stayed for a while in Ephesus
(Acts 18:19ff), one of the great cities of Asia Minor, where he preached
and founded the Church to which this letter is addressed. Shortly
after this, a distinguished personality, Apollos, appeared in Ephesus;
he received instruction from Aquila and his wife Priscilla, two disciples
of Paul (cf. Acts 18:24-26) and he, in his turn, prepared the ground
for Paul's preaching (54-56). Paul's visit was not without incident
(cf. Acts 19-20): He was forced to leave the city because of an uproar
caused by Demetrius the silversmith.
Paul did not forget the Ephesians, and, from Rome, he
wrote them this letter. Some scholars think that this was really a
circular letter, addressed to all the churches--on the grounds
that there are no personal references in it, nor does it have the
opening greeting and the signoff which are so characteristic of the
apostle's letters. Without the heading (which is not included in some
codexes), this theory makes sense. However, the more common opinion,
among ancient and modern scholars alike, is that the letter was addressed
in the first instance to the Ephesians--not just because of the
title it bears but because this is confirmed by Irenaeus, the Muratorian
fragment, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian and others.
Paul's main purpose in writing seems to be to explore
the great mystery of the redemption, of which Christ himself is the
cornerstone (2:20), the foundation of the entire spiritual building
into whom all Christians should be built. The letter therefore divides
into two main parts:
1. Dogmatic section (1:2-3:21): Here Paul shows
that the benefits of the redemption are available to everyone: Everyone
is predestined from before the creation of the world to become a son
of God; both Jews and Gentiles are called, without distinction, to
be one in Christ Jesus, to make up one body, the new people of God,
the Church.
This union of all in Christ is the express will of God the Father;
it is merited through the redemption wrought by the Son and brought
to fulfilment in people's souls through the action of the Holy Spirit.
To proclaim this mystery to the Gentiles, God chose Paul.
A direct implication of this teaching is that Christians should have
an open, universal, ecumenical outlook. "If the Church is to
be in a position to offer all men the mystery of salvation and the
life brought by God, then it must implant itself among all these groups
[people who do not know the Gospel message] in the same way as Christ
by his incarnation committed himself to the particular social and
cultural circumstances of the men among whom he lived."
2. Ethical section (4:1-6:9)
In the second part of the letter the apostle
exhorts all Christians to live one and the same faith, to be consistent
with their faith; that is, he encourages them to practice solidarity,
to seek always what unites, and to avoid anything which gets in the
way of the peace and love which should flow from this solidarity,
this unity, which is one of the characteristics of the true Church.
He specifically reminds them of duties involved in marriage and family
life--teaching which still applies today: Referring to Christian
married couples, Vatican II says that "in virtue of the sacrament
of Matrimony by which they signify and share (cf. Eph 5:32) the mystery
of the unity and faithful love between Christ and his Church, they
help one another to attain holiness in their married life and in the
rearing of their children. Hence by reason of their state in life
and of their position they have their own gifts in the people of God."
Antonio Fuentes teaches Scripture at the University
of Navarre in Spain.
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