Ephesians 3:1

1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .

Ephesians 3:1 Meaning and Commentary

Ephesians 3:1

For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ,
&c.] Not actively, whom Christ had apprehended by his grace, and made a prisoner of hope; but passively, who was made a prisoner for Christ, on account of preaching Christ, and his Gospel: he was not a prisoner for any capital crime, as theft, murder and therefore be was not ashamed of his bonds, but rather glories in them; and a prison has often been the portion of the best of men in this world: from hence we learn, that this epistle was written when the apostle was a prisoner at Rome; and the consideration of this his condition serves much to confirm the truths he had before delivered, seeing they were such as he could, and did suffer for; and which must engage the attention of the Ephesians to them, and especially since his sufferings were on their account:

for you Gentiles:
because he preached the Gospel to the Gentiles, which the Jews forbid, that they might not be saved; and because he taught them, that circumcision and the rest of the ceremonies of the law were not binding upon them; which gave great offence to the Jews, who were the means of bringing of him into these circumstances, and particularly the Asiatic Jews, the Jews of Ephesus; who having seen and heard him there, knew him again when in the temple at Jerusalem, and raised a mob upon him, having bore a grudge against him for his ministry at Ephesus, by which means he became a prisoner; so that he might truly say, he was a prisoner for the sake of them; see ( Acts 21:27-33 ) . One of Stevens's copies adds, "am an ambassador", as in ( Ephesians 6:20 ) and another of them, "glory", or "rejoice"; see ( Philippians 2:16 Philippians 2:17 ) .

Ephesians 3:1 In-Context

1 When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles . . .

2 assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles.

3 As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me.

4 As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ.

5 God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

Footnotes

• [a] Paul resumes this thought in verse 14: “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father.”