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From: Ephesians 1:11-14
Hymn of Praise
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Commentary:
3-14. Verses 3-14 are a hymn of praise to God for the plan of salvation he has
devised and brought to fulfillment in benefit of men and all creation. It is written
in a liturgical style of rhythmic prose, similar to that in Colossians 1:15-20. In
the Greek it is one long complex sentence full of relative pronouns and clauses
which give it a designed unity; we can, however, distinguish two main sections.
The first (v. 3-10), divided into four stanzas, describes the blessings contained
in God’s salvific plan; St Paul terms this plan the “mystery” of God’s will. The
section begins by praising God for his eternal design, a plan, pre-dating creation,
to call us to the Church, to form a community of saints (first stanza: vv. 3f) and
receive the grace of being children of God through Jesus Christ (second stanza:
vv. 5f). It then reflects on Christ’s work of redemption which brings this eternal
plan of God to fulfillment (third stanza: vv. 7f). This section reaches its climax in
the fourth stanza (vv. 9f) which proclaims Christ as Lord of all creation, thereby
revealing the full development of God’s salvific plan.
The second section, which divides into two stanzas, deals with the application
of this plan — first to the Jews (fifth stanza: vv. 11f) and then to the Gentiles, who
are also called to share what God has promised: Jews and Gentiles join to form
a single people, the Church (sixth stanza: vv. 13f).
Hymns in praise of God, or “eulogies”, occur in many parts of Sacred Scripture
(cf. Ps 8; Ps 19; Dan 2:20-23; Lk 1:46-54, 68-78; etc.); they praise the Lord for
the wonders of creation or for spectacular interventions on behalf of his people.
Inspired by the Holy Spirit, St Paul here praises God the Father for all Christ’s
saving work, which extends from God’s original plan which he made before he
created the world, right up to the very end of time and the recapitulation of all
things in Christ.
We too should always have this same attitude of praise of the Lord. “Our entire
life on earth should take the form of praise of God, for the never-ending joy of our
future life consists in praising God, and no one can become fit for that future life
unless he train himself to render that praise now” (St Augustine, “Enarrationes
in Psalmos”, 148).
Praise is in fact the most appropriate attitude for man to have towards God:
“How can you dare use that spark of divine intelligence — your mind — in any-
thing but in giving glory to your Lord?” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”, 782).
11-14. The Apostle now contemplates a further divine blessing — the implemen-
tation of the “mystery” through the Redemption wrought by Christ: God calls the
Jews (vv. 11f) and the Gentiles (v. 13) together, to form a single people (v. 14).
Paul first refers to the Jewish people, of which he himself is a member, which is
why he uses the term “we” (v. 12). He then speaks of the Gentile Christians and
refers to them as “you” (v. 13).
11-12. The Jewish people’s expectations have been fulfilled in Christ: he has
brought the Kingdom of God and the messianic gifts, designed in the first in-
stance for Israel as its inheritance (cf. Mt 4:17; 12:28; Lk 4:16-22). God’s inten-
tion in selecting Israel was to form a people of his own (cf. Ex 19:5) that would
glorify him and proclaim to the nations its hope in a coming Messiah. “God, with
loving concern contemplating, and making preparation for, the salvation of the
whole human race, in a singular undertaking chose for himself a people to whom
he would entrust his promises. By his covenant with Abraham (cf. Gen 15:18)
and, through Moses, with the race of Israel (cf. Ex 24:8), he did acquire a people
for himself, and to them he revealed himself in words and deeds as the one, true,
living God, so that Israel might experience the ways of God with men. Moreover,
by listening to the voice of God speaking to them through the prophets, they had
steadily to understand his ways more fully and more clearly, and make them
more widely known among the nations (cf. Ps 21:28-9; 95:1-3; Is 2:1-4; Jer 3:17)”
(Vatican II, “Dei Verbum”, 14).
St Paul emphasizes that even before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
just of the Old Testament acted in line with their belief in the promised Messiah
(cf. Gal 3:11; Rom 1:17); not only did they look forward to his coming but their
hope was nourished by faith in Christ as a result of their acceptance of God’s
promise. As later examples of this same faith we might mention Zechariah and
Elizabeth; Simeon and Anna; and, above all, St Joseph. St Joseph’s faith was
“full, confident, complete”, St. Escriva comments. “It expressed itself in an ef-
fective dedication to the will of God and an intelligent obedience. With faith went
love. His faith nurtured his love of God, who was fulfilling the promises made to
Abraham, Jacob and Moses, and his affection for Mary his wife and his father-
ly affection for Jesus. This faith, hope and love would further the great mission
which God was beginning in the world through, among others, a carpenter in
Galilee — the redemption of mankind” (”Christ Is Passing By”, 42).
13-14. If St Paul recognizes the magnificence of God’s saving plan in the fulfill-
ment, through Jesus, of the ancient promises to the Jews, he is even more awed
by the fact that the Gentiles are being called to share in God’s largesse. This call
of the Gentiles is, as it were, a further blessing from God.
It is through the preaching of the Gospel that the Gentiles come to form part of
the Church: faith coming initially through hearing the word of God (cf. Rom 10:17).
Once a person has accepted that word, God seals the believer with the promised
Holy Spirit (cf. Gal 3:14); this seal is the pledge or guarantee of divine inheritance
and proves that we have been accepted by God, incorporated into his Church, and
given access to that salvation which had previously been reserved to Israel. Here
we can see a parallelism between the “seal” of circumcision which made the Old
Covenant believer a member of the people of Israel, and the “seal” of the Holy Spi-
rit in Baptism which, in the New Testament, makes people members of the
Church (Rom 4:22; 2 Cor 1:22; Eph 4:30). The “efficient cause” of our justification
is “the merciful God, who freely washes and sanctifies (cf. 1 Cor 6:11), sealing
and anointing with the Holy Spirit of the promise, who is the pledge of our inheri-
tance” (Council of Trent, “De Justificatione”, chap. 7).
A seal or pledge was the mark used in business to betoken or guarantee future
payment of the agreed price in full. In this case it represents a firm commitment
on God’s part, to grant the believer full and permanent possession of eternal bles-
sedness, an anticipation of which is given at Baptism and thereafter (cf. 2 Cor 1:
22; 5:5). Through Christ, St Basil comments, “Paradise is restored to us; we are
enabled to ascend to the kingdom of heaven; we are given back our adoption as
sons, our confidence to call God himself our Father; we become partakers of
Christ’s grace, and are called children of light; we are enabled to share in the
glory of heaven, to be enveloped in a plenitude of blessings both in this world
and in the world to come [...]. If this be the promise, what will the final outcome
not be? If this, the beginning, is so wonderful, what will the final consummation
not be?” (”De Spiritu Sancto”, 15, 36).
The gift of the Holy Spirit, who, through faith, dwells in the soul of the Christian
in grace, represents, in this last stanza of the hymn, the high point in the imple-
mentation of God’s salvific plan. The Holy Spirit, who gathered together the
Church at Pentecost (cf. Acts 2: 14), continues to guide and inspire the aposto-
late of the members of the new people of God down through the centuries. The
Magisterium of the Church reminds us that “throughout the ages the Holy Spirit
makes the entire Church ‘one in communion and ministry; and provides her with
different hierarchical and charismatic gifts’ (”Lumen Gentium”, 4), giving life to
ecclesiastical structures, being as it were their soul, and inspiring in the hearts
of the faithful that same spirit of mission which impelled Christ himself. He even
at times visibly anticipates apostolic action, just as in various ways he uncea-
singly accompanies and directs it” (Vatican II, “Ad Gentes”, 4).
God has acquired his new people at the cost of his Son’s blood. This people
made up of believers in Christ has replaced the people of the Old Testament, re-
gardless of background. As the Second Vatican Council puts it, “As Israel accor-
ding to the flesh which wandered in the desert was already called the Church of
God (cf. 2 Ezra 13:1; Num 20:4; Deut23:1ff), so too, the new Israel, which advan-
ces in this present era in search of a future and permanent city (cf. Heb 13:14),
is called also the Church of Christ (cf. Mt 16:18). It is Christ indeed who has pur-
chased it with his own blood (cf. Acts 20:28); he has filled it with his spirit; he
has provided means adapted to its visible and social union. All those who in faith
look towards Jesus, the author of salvation and the principle of unity and peace,
God has gathered together and established as the Church, that it may be for
each and every one the visible sacrament of this saving unity” (”Lumen Gentium”,
9).
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.