Ephesians
Chapter 1
Greeting
I Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will,
to the saints in Ephesus, to you who share the Christian faith:
receive grace and peace from God our Father, and from Jesus, the Lord.
Blessings
Blessed be God the Father of Christ Jesus our LORD,
who, in Christ, has blessed us from heaven with every spiritual blessing.
God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world,
to be holy, and without sin in his presence.
From eternity, he has destined us in love,
to be his adopted sons and daughters through Christ Jesus,
thus fulfilling his free and generous will.
This goal suited him:
that his loving-kindness, which he granted us in his beloved,
might finally receive all glory and praise.
In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses
according to the riches of his grace,
that he lavished on us.
In all wisdom and insight,
he has made known to us his mysterious design,
in accordance with his loving-kindness set forth in Christ
as a plan for the fullness of time,
to gather up all things in him,
things in heaven and things on earth.
In Christ we were also chosen,
destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplished all things
according to his own plan and decision,
so that we who first hoped in Christ,
might live for the praise of his glory.
You, on hearing the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and have believed in him
were marked with the seal
of the promised Holy Spirit,
the first pledge of our inheritance
Toward redemption as God’s possession,
to the praise of his glory.
Supplication
I have been told about your faith and love for all the believers, and for this reason,
I always thank God for you, remembering you in my prayers.
May the God of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Father of glory, reveal himself to you and give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know him.
May he enlighten your inner vision so that you may appreciate the things we hope for, since we were called by God. May you know how great the inheritance and glory that God has prepared for his saints are;
may you understand with what extraordinary power he works in favor of those who believe.
He demonstrated his supreme power through Christ by raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in heaven,
far above all rule, authority, power, dominion, or any other supernatural force that can be named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
Thus, God has put all things under the feet of Christ and appointed him above all as the head of the church,
which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Commentaries
Greeting.
The letter is addressed to the “consecrated,” or saints, a title referring to believers called to be part of God’s holy people. The greeting is as usual: “Grace and peace,” with all the new meaning that Christians have already given to the word peace: the salvation that comes freely from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Blessings.
This passage, one of the most challenging to translate in the entire New Testament, should be heard during the assembly’s prayer rather than just read. It reveals the wonder of God’s salvation plan, which is like a “dialogue of love” among the three divine persons, who, emerging from the vast horizon of eternity, overflow into the creation of the world and humanity, and reveal themselves in history “in the fullness of time” (10), through the person of Christ.
Supplication.
This plan of God is already a reality in the Christian life, which Paul summarizes through faith in the Lord Jesus and love of neighbor. Therefore, he gives thanks to God and prays for them. Paul’s prayer of petition for the Ephesians—and for all of us who read the Word of God in these lines—could be none other than the pursuit of the knowledge of the Mystery of salvation that he already outlined in the introduction to the letter; it is the knowledge of God Himself revealed in Jesus Christ.