Ephesians 3:14-19
Chapter 3
14
The Love of Christ
And now, I kneel in the presence of the Father,15
from whom every family in heaven and on earth has received its name.
16
May he strengthen in you the inner self, through his Spirit, according to the riches of his glory;
17
may Christ dwell in your hearts, through faith; may you be rooted and founded in love.
18
All of this, so that you may understand with all the holy ones, the width, the length, the height, and the depth—in a word,
19
that you may know the love of Christ that surpasses all knowledge, that you may be filled, and reach the fullness of God.
Commentaries
The Love of Christ.
Paul writes this plea on his knees, in an attitude of profound adoration. His prayer is rich and dense with meaning, and for this reason, difficult to translate. Paul prays for the Ephesians, but it seems as if he is imagining the entire human family—its many communities, religions, cultures, and nations. With a clever play on words, the Apostle says that God’s identity as Father—’pater’ in Greek—is the ultimate root that grounds and sustains, and ‘from whom all fatherhood’—‘patria’ in Greek—“in heaven and on earth” (15) proceeds.