Now that we’re half way through our study of Ephesians, I thought I’d do something different to wrap up the first half and prepare us for the second. What I’d like to do is a targum, an extended paraphrase of the Scriptures applied to contemporary circumstances. This is an ancient rabbinic practice, but has been … Continue reading A Targum on Ephesians 1-3
The first two chapters of Ephesians have been pretty heavy; Paul has covered a lot of material and used a lot of different images to talk about it. Here at the start of chapter 3, we get a breather, an opportunity to look back at the ground already covered before we continue on. Here is … Continue reading A Matter of Meaning: Ephesians 3.1-13
As we saw the other day, Ephesians 2.11-22 contains a wonderful message of unity and the breaking down of barriers between peoples: in Christ the old dividing lines between insiders and outsiders have been torn down, and we are all built up together into one community. But, he gets to that message, Paul has some … Continue reading Dividing Lines in Ephesians 2.11-13
These days, Paul is often seen to be something of a conservative, playing around with ideas of freedom and equality, but not willing to apply them in any way that would disrupt the status quo. There’s some truth to this assessment — and we will have to reckon with this aspect of Paul before this … Continue reading Christ our Peace: Ephesians 2.11-22
The focus of Ephesians 2.1-10 is on how God has lovingly included us in the salvation plan enacted through Jesus of Nazareth. But before we get to that message, the first three verses describe our ‘natural’ state of affairs ‘outside of’ Christ, which he describes as ‘death in sin’, subject to the influence of spiritual … Continue reading Bad Influences in Ephesians 2.1-3
Matthew Root 