Ephesians 1:1 – apostle through the will of God

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God…

Letters in the bible usually begin with mentioning the sender. Logical, that’s the first you want to know when you receive a letter. The name Paul stands for the one who was sent to the nations because of Israel’s stumble. Paul was an apostle, i.e. a delegate of Christ Jesus. Not as “the twelve”, who were commissioned by Jesus Christ on earth. Nee, he was called from the heaven, by Christ Jesus in a blinding glory. Called, when it became clear that Jerusalem had rejected also the Evangel of the risen Lord. “Yet, last of all (…) He was seen by me also”, Paul wrote later (1 Corinthians 15:9).

Something élse is said about Paul’s representation. He didn’t seek or choose it. More than that: Saul of Tarsus was enemy number one of Jesus of Nazareth on earth. He was terror-leader against an, in his view, pernicious cult. And how remarkable, Christ Jesus appeared to him to commission him to the nations. It was an overwhelming experience (1 Timothy 1: 14). Paul didn’t choose, he was chosen. Therefore, Paul writes: apostle “through the will of God”. Not his.

Delen: