In this Ephesians passage, Paul...
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In this Ephesians passage, Paul soars. Here, in a very small space, he says almost everything; but at the center of it all is the Christ, the mystery and the miracle, the universality of his meaning to the world.
Pondering all of this, one must think of some words written long ago by Flavius Josephus. This Jewish scholar and historian was born in A.D. 37, less than a dozen years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Among the things he wrote is this passage from Antiquities of the
Jews:
"About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if it be proper to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works -- a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the instigation of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at first did not forsake him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and many other wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct to this day."
Nor are they yet, nor will they ever be. Paul says that in Christ an eternal purpose has been realized, that in him are "unsearchable riches," and that through him we all have reason to be confident and bold.
-- Mann
Pondering all of this, one must think of some words written long ago by Flavius Josephus. This Jewish scholar and historian was born in A.D. 37, less than a dozen years after the crucifixion of Jesus. Among the things he wrote is this passage from Antiquities of the
Jews:
"About this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if it be proper to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works -- a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Christ. And when Pilate, at the instigation of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him at first did not forsake him. For he appeared to them alive again on the third day, the divine prophets having foretold these and many other wonderful things concerning him. And the sect of Christians, so named for him, are not extinct to this day."
Nor are they yet, nor will they ever be. Paul says that in Christ an eternal purpose has been realized, that in him are "unsearchable riches," and that through him we all have reason to be confident and bold.
-- Mann
