Ted Johnston—Year A Reign of Christ
Anthony: All right, Ted, we’re in the home stretch. We have one final text for the month. It’s Ephesians 1:15–23. It is a Revised Common Lectionary passage for Reign of Christ, the end of the liturgical year on November 22. Would you read it for us please, Ted?
Ted: Sure.
15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Anthony: Wowzer. What a doozy of a text.
Ted: Yes.
Anthony: So, tell us, Ted. Yeah. Please do say. What does this text illuminate about the God revealed in Jesus Christ?
Ted: And by the way, I just love it. In Greek, this is all one sentence.
Anthony: I love that.
Ted: Oh, yeah. I thought I’d try it with only one breath, but I don’t have those, my lungs don’t work that way anymore. Oh, I love this passage. I’d like to take you, though, to verses 1–14 before I read this, but we’ll get to that in a moment. But I do want to note for the sake of those who’ll be preaching this, that this pericope is the epistle reading for the final Sunday of Ordinary Time, which is designated as Reign of Christ Sunday, or sometimes called Christ the King Sunday.
And the reason for this to be put at the end of the year is that we would end the year focused on the supremacy of Christ, and that is surely what Paul is pointing out here, the supremacy of Christ. But I would like to point out that prior to this particular passage, verses 15–23 and verses 1–14, Paul establishes the good news in Christ, that God has included all humanity in his love and life through Christ.
Anthony: Yes.
Ted: And sometimes people get to this, verses 15–23 and say, “Wait a second. Paul gave us all these promises and all of these great proclamations about the grace of God. Is he now trying to take those away?” Is he somehow, like, I didn’t really mean it? Not at all. He’s not …
Anthony: Fake out …
Ted: Yeah. He’s not taking back what he has given. Paul is telling us that what God has in Christ given humanity already becomes our personal possession when we as believers receive these gifts by faith. There’s that theme again that we saw in Matthew. And the faith we’re talking about here, though, as Paul makes clear in his writings, is not our own, but is a sharing in Jesus’ own faith.
Just as we shared the joy of Jesus, we share in the faith of Jesus, the faithfulness of Jesus, the One who makes this all possible. And that faith, that gift from Jesus, is given to us by the Holy Spirit. And I want to point out here that what I’ll be saying in this discussion I’m borrowing heavily from Karl Barth’s commentary on the book of Ephesians, which is very helpful if you can find a copy.
Anthony: Yes.
Ted: So, note that our receiving of this gift by trusting Jesus does not create the gift. That’s an important point.
Anthony: Yes, it is.
Ted: It doesn’t bring about a new reality. Instead, we’re receiving what Jesus has given us. It’s about being given Jesus’ eyes of faith to see what already is true of us because of who Christ is and what he has done on our behalf.
And Paul is making it clear that through the miracle of illumination, having become followers of Jesus, we cannot, we must not remain motionless. Paul’s understanding of what our triune God has done and is doing for our salvation might be stated this way, and this is a quote from Barth, “God wills, then acts, and his action flows down to us, then returns to him in human response.”
And he refers to that as the circle of grace. It’s of grace because every step in this circular movement is fully and only in Christ. And this speaks to the vicarious humanity of Jesus because not only does Jesus show God to us, bring the revelation of God to us, he brings the response of humankind back to God.
Anthony: Hallelujah.
Ted: So, we’re talking about sharing who Jesus is as fully human, the One who has made the perfect human response on our behalf. So, the point is that when we see or we understand or we know who God truly is and what he truly has done for us, and therefore who we in Christ truly are, something powerful is set in motion.
And verse 17 here identifies that as the knowledge of God. So, knowledge of God is not just about facts, acquiring facts about God. It certainly includes that. But it is about a true sharing in the life and the love of God, that to know God is a highly relational idea. And indeed, that’s what Paul is getting at because he apparently sees in some of the believers in Ephesus that their knowledge of God is too limited, too weak, and because of that, their responsiveness to God has been short-circuited.
So, this gift of illumination, or call it enlightenment, is the principal gift that Paul wishes for the believers in Ephesus to receive, and in receiving that gift, to be moved forward.
Anthony: Through the years, Ted, you have served as a pastor to several congregations faithfully, powerfully. And I want you to think of those people, those churches, and if you were going to preach this particular text on Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday, and you’ve already done an excellent job of this, bringing in Barth, but what else would you proclaim and herald if given the opportunity to speak to those dearly loved ones of yours?
Ted: I think I’d pick up on that theme of illumination, We’re wanting to understand the supremacy of Christ in all things, that includes in representing God and in representing us both. And as we already have seen, these believers in Ephesus were able to see the truth of their identity in Christ.
But as Paul discerned, to some extent they were still a little bit blind and needing, in their walk with Christ, a deeper and fuller revelation. A revelation that would move them forward with and in Christ to participate more fully in the human action that Christ has made and continues to make on our behalf.
So, Paul wants them and us today to know, and here he lists three great truths concerning who God is and his relationship with us. And I read through those, but let me unpack them a little bit. The first he mentions is the hope of God’s call. This is what God gives us in Christ, the hope of God’s call. The call has to do with the beginning of our Christian lives, but to what did God call us?
So, I would remind people that part of our response to the sovereignty and the magnificence of Christ is a responsiveness to the call that we had. There’s a purpose that God has in mind when he called us, and Paul refers to this as the hope to which he has called you. So, what is it that we hope for when we receive the calling of God?
There’s a long list of things that Scripture points to, but it includes a lot of things like fellowship with God, becoming progressively like Christ, to expect and to receive the peace of Christ, to also expect that there will be resistance, even sharing in Christ’s suffering. But we can expect to receive Christ’s presence in our lives and our help as we go through that.
And we can expect to receive the ultimate source of hope, which is our inheritance, which brings us to the second premise: We receive the riches of God’s inheritance. Paul is referring here to what God will give us for which we are to thank the Father. If God’s call points back to the beginning of our Christian life, God’s inheritance points to its culmination, the final inheritance of which the Spirit at work in our lives is the guarantee. Pick up on some of these, these Biblical themes here.
God’s children are God’s heirs, fellow heirs with Christ, Paul says in Romans 8:17. And one day, by his grace, Jesus’ inheritance will be ours, and Paul wants the believers in Ephesus to know that and to be encouraged by that and to be strengthened by that, to know the glorious riches of it, and thus to be able to anticipate that with great joy.
And no doubt Paul was concerned about that because there were a lot of things he knew in their lives that would be joy killers, not the least of which is the resistance they were receiving from those in Ephesus against their belief in Christ. So, you’ve got this hope of the call, and you’ve got the riches of the inheritance, the beginning and the end, so to speak, but what about the beginning?
That’s the third thing that he points out, and it is the greatness of God’s power which spans that time between our call and the receipt of the fullness of our inheritance when Jesus comes back. Paul is convinced that God’s power is sufficient for the journey.
Anthony: There’s that theme again.
Ted: There’s that theme again of the long period of waiting, and God’s power is needed and is sufficient for that time of waiting, for that journey. And so, he mentions, as verse 19 is literally translated by Barth, he mentions the energy of the might of his strength for us who believe.
The energy of the might of his strength for us who believe. And then Paul goes on to show why we can be confident concerning God’s power, and he points to the evidence of the most powerful thing that you could think of, the resurrection and ascension of Jesus which are the decisive demonstrations of God’s mighty power, overcoming that which no man can control and that which holds us in bondage, namely the power of death and the power of evil, the two great enemies of humankind. In Christ, by the Spirit, God has conquered both, and therefore we are assured that God can, and in Christ has, rescued us from both.
Anthony: Hallelujah.
Ted: It’s like Paul is saying to the believers in Ephesus, “Don’t you get it?”
Anthony: Don’t you get it? Come on, folks.
Ted: Don’t you realize? I’ve often thought I don’t really want Paul as my pastor because he gets harsh sometimes. And I don’t mean to disparage Paul by any means, but I think sometimes he probably got a little frustrated. He’s going, “Don’t you see? Don’t you get it?”
Anthony: Don’t you see?
Ted: I want you to see. Open your eyes! See the depth of the glory of Jesus Christ and what that means for you! So, note that Paul sets forth here a demonstration of divine power accomplished in Christ, and notice that it’s not what’s accomplished in Christ’s followers. It’s his power, not ours.
Anthony: His power, that’s right.
Ted: Which that’s a good thing is to see. I think there are times in our lives, and this would include me, where I thought, “Oh, I’m doing pretty good.”
Anthony: Yeah.
Ted: It would’ve been when I was younger. I wasn’t facing so many physical limitations but it’s humbling, dude, at times when you know … And I think of Paul when he had the thorn in the flesh and he said, “My grace,” God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, so don’t worry.” It’s what he’s saying here. Yeah. He’s like, “Folks, I know life can be difficult.”
Anthony: Yes.
Ted: But you again, you need to get a clearer vision of the grace and the power of God, which is a gift to you, not of yourself. It’s not from you. You don’t have to gin it up inside of yourself. It’s something that comes to you in and through Christ, who is with you. And so, because of that, because of knowing that, being confident of that, we do not fear death, we do not fear evil, and there is great joy in that, great assurance, great peace.
Anthony: Amen.
Ted: And man, human life in this fallen world brings all sorts of things to tear that peace and that assurance and that joy down.
Anthony: Oh, don’t we know.
Ted: So, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus.
Anthony: Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus.
Ted: I love Graham Kendrick’s song. He talks about, “For this, I have Jesus.” And I forget what theologian he was quoting. I would want to say, “For this, Jesus has me.”
Anthony: Yes.
Ted: But it goes in both directions. For this issue you’re facing, you have Jesus. You have all that Jesus is and does and shares.
Anthony: Amen.
Ted: And be confident in that, be trusting in that. And he knows if they can get a glimpse of the supremacy of Jesus in those ways, they’ll have all they need for the journey.
Anthony: Amen. And that’s what we mean by Christocentric, friends. We have Jesus, who is the center of all things. We don’t put him there; we don’t place him there. We just acknowledge what is already real and true, and the most significant thing about this existence. And because of who he is and what he’s done for us and in us and on our behalf, as you said, Ted, there’s no fear of death, no fear of evil.
You mentioned earlier in this podcast that fear in and of itself is unbelief. And I heard a quote recently that “Fear is a good scout, but a terrible leader.” In other words, God has given us the gift of being able to acknowledge danger and trying to protect ourselves. That’s good.
But when it becomes the way that we think and live and act and make decisions out of fear — that’s not what God has for us, because we know his good, perfect love casts out the fear that does not belong. And so, Lord, help us in our unbelief because you have done it all.
Ted: Yes.
Anthony: Amen and amen.
Ted, I want to thank you. You are a gift to me personally, and I’m so thankful for you and Donna and the friendship that we have shared through the years. Thank you for your words of encouragement here today, and I also want to thank our team that put this podcast together. It’s not just me. I’m just the voice, but a lot of people are in action to make this possible. Thank you one and all.
Ted: Yes.
Anthony: And Ted, as is our tradition here, we like to end with a word of prayer, and we’d be grateful if you’d pray for us.
Ted: Sure.
Heavenly Father, as Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, my prayer for all listening to this podcast, and many of them who serve as pastors and other leaders in the Body of Christ, is that we as adopted children of God will know you, experience you, and embrace you as our Father more fully, and that as Paul teaches us, we will understand the hope of your call, the riches of your inheritance for us, and the greatness of your power on our behalf. And then secure in this knowledge, may we, through the leading of the Holy Spirit, be set in motion, sharing what Jesus is doing in our world for the sake of the world. In this we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.