The New Testament · The Letters of St. Paul · Book 56 of 73
Prophecy in Ephesians
Ephesians is the letter of God's plan seen whole. Its key word is “mystery”: a purpose hidden for ages and now made known, to gather all things under Christ. In between lies the age of the Church, a temple still being built and a bride still being made ready.
In progress: 6 passages so far
Home › The Bible › Ephesians
The book at a glance
The letter presents itself as written by Paul from prison (3:1; 4:1; 6:20). Many modern scholars think a disciple wrote it in his name; the Church receives it as inspired Scripture either way. Some early manuscripts lack “in Ephesus” (1:1), so it may have been meant for several churches.
The first half (chapters 1–3) sets out God's plan; the second (chapters 4–6) shows the life that fits it. It has no visions and no timetable. It looks forward through promises and images, and most of what it describes is unfolding: the Church's life between Christ's resurrection and return.
Key to the labels
How a passage stands
Fulfilled Accomplished in history, above all in Christ.
Unfolding Being worked out now in the life of the Church.
Future Clearly still to come at Christ's return.
Mystery Its meaning or moment is not yet settled.
What kind of passage it is
Prophecy God's word through a prophet, or Christ, about what will come.
Promise A pledge God makes, kept over generations.
Type A person or event that foreshadows Christ or the Church.
Image A picture Scripture returns to and completes at the end.
Apocalypse A vision unveiling history from heaven's side, in symbols.
More on the labels
| Passage | Subject | Standing |
|---|
| 1:9–10 | All things summed up in Christ | Future Unfolding |
| 2:19–22 | Built into a dwelling place of God | Unfolding |
| 3:3–6 | The mystery made known: the Gentiles coheirs | Fulfilled Unfolding |
| 4:11–13 | Building up the body until we all attain | Unfolding |
| 5:25–32 | Christ and the Church, the great mystery | Unfolding Future |
| 6:10–17 | The armor of God | Unfolding |
The passages
“…as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth.”
- Reading
- God's “mystery” is not a riddle but a plan, once hidden and now revealed: to bring everything under Christ as its head. St. Irenaeus taught from this verse that the Word made man sums up all things in himself (Against Heresies 3.16.6). The Catechism reads it the same way: Christ is Lord of the cosmos and of history, and in him human history and all creation are fulfilled (CCC 668). The new heavens and new earth will be “the definitive realization” of this plan (CCC 1043).
- Why two labels
- The summing up is complete only at the end, when Christ returns. But the Church is where that goal is already made known and begun (CCC 772).
- See also
- 1 Corinthians 15:28; Revelation 21:5.
“Through him the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord; in him you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”
- Reading
- Those who were once “strangers and sojourners” are now “fellow citizens with the holy ones and members of the household of God” (2:19). The house rests on the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus as the capstone (2:20). The verbs are present tense: the structure grows, you are being built. The Catechism calls the Church God's building and holy temple, with believers as living stones (CCC 756), made God's dwelling by the Holy Spirit (CCC 797).
- Why unfolding
- The temple is under construction until the end. Revelation shows it complete: the holy city in which there is no temple, because God and the Lamb are its temple (Revelation 21:22).
- See also
- 1 Peter 2:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16; Matthew 16:18. Fr. John's own reflection on this building, offered as a reflection and not as Church teaching: The Temple of His Body.
“…that the Gentiles are coheirs, members of the same body, and copartners in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”
- Reading
- Hidden in other generations, the mystery is now revealed: the nations share Israel's inheritance. This fulfills the promise to Abraham that all the families of the earth would find blessing in him (Genesis 12:3), and the prophets' vision of the nations streaming to Zion (Isaiah 2:2–3).
- Why two labels
- Fulfilled when the Gospel first reached the Gentiles (Acts 10–11; 15). Unfolding while the Gospel still goes to every people, and while the Church awaits the full number of the Gentiles together with the full inclusion of Israel (Romans 11:25–26; CCC 674).
“…to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of faith…”
- Reading
- The risen Christ gives ministers so that the whole people of God can do its work. The goal is “the full stature of Christ” (4:13): the whole Body grown to its fullness. Christ provides for this growth through the gifts of his Body (CCC 794), and the Catechism links that full stature to the end of history (CCC 674).
- Why unfolding
- The word “until” sets the whole age of the Church between gift and goal. The Body is still growing.
- See also
- 1 Corinthians 12:28; The Temple of His Body.
“This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.”
- Reading
- Christ “loved the church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word” (5:25–26), so that he might present her “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle” (5:27). Paul then reads Genesis 2:24, “the two shall become one flesh,” as pointing to Christ and the Church. The Catechism draws on this text for the Church as bride (CCC 796) and for Christian marriage (CCC 1616); Scripture ends with “the wedding-feast of the Lamb” (CCC 1602).
- Why two labels
- The bride is being washed and made holy now, through baptism and the word. She is presented in splendor at the end, when the wedding day of the Lamb comes (Revelation 19:7–9; 21:2).
- See also
- Hosea 2:21–22; John 3:29; on the wedding of the Lamb, The Lamb's Victory: Revelation 19.
“For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers…”
- Reading
- Paul's last image is a soldier: “Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil” (6:11). The armor is truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation and the word of God. The enemy is not any human being. The Catechism describes human history as a battle with the powers of evil, to the last day (CCC 409).
- Why unfolding
- The struggle runs through the life of the Church in every age. The “evil day” (6:13) is any hour of trial, not a date to be calculated. Christ has already despoiled the principalities and the powers (Colossians 2:15), so the call is to stand firm, not to be afraid.
- See also
- Isaiah 59:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:8; Revelation 12:7–11.
Still to come on this pageFurther passages to add: the Spirit as “first installment of our inheritance” (1:13–14), Christ seated above every principality and head over all things for the Church (1:20–23), the manifold wisdom of God made known through the Church to the principalities (3:9–10), and the ascent and descent of Christ (4:8–10).
Continue