The Mystery Revealed

Ephesians 3: 1-12

This is the week that many Christians celebrate the Epiphany. The Greek Orthodox branch of Christianity celebrates it the twelfth day after Christmas…the time commonly assigned as the arrival of the Magi to see the Christ child. Much of the Protestant Church views Epiphany as occurring at the baptism of Jesus. Perhaps more important than the timing is the meaning.  What’s the Epiphany all about? Well, Epiphany is the rough equivalent of “revelation.” The revelation here is that God has come to earth…that Christ is to be our salvation. All the Gospels and Paul’s letters talk about this “good news,” that God’s Son has come to earth t save us.

          Of course, Paul had his own epiphany on the road to Damascus. It changed everything for him.  The great persecutor of Christians became the great evangelist to the Gentiles. Epiphany is big. It’s not just a new thought. It’s an eye-opening, big bang, life changing realization. That’s why Christians celebrate the Epiphany, whether it’s the wise men coming to see Jesus or Jesus’ baptism by John. Either way, it’s a life changing recognition to see Jesus as our Savior, the path to our salvation.

          Seminary professors are careful with the word “revelation.” They consider it a term of art. For instance, general revelation is the kind of revelation Paul talks about in Romans 1:21, where he says that anyone can see there is a God just by looking at the world. Creation had to have an author. It couldn’t just happen. There is also special revelation, the Word of God, both living and written. In other words, special revelation takes either the form of Jesus or the Bible. In either case, that special revelation is complete. So in that sense, there is no more revelation. All has been revealed. I buy that. But like Paul, I too have had an epiphany or two. I suspect you have too. So to me, revelation can be both a term of art and a term we use to describe a huge, life changing discovery in our own lives.

In his letters to the Colossians and the Ephesians, Paul talks about the mystery of Christ. Both passages involve the Gentiles, though they are slightly different in their result. In Colossians, the mystery is that Christ is in us, and in that indwelling lies our hope of glory for ourselves. In Ephesians, that mystery focused on the truth of heirship… that Christ came for all who would believe and not just for the Jews, that you and I are fellow heirs. I like the NIV translation here, for it uses the term “together’ three times in the same sentence: heirs together, members together and sharers together. We come from God, we are part of the body of Christ and we claim the same promise.

Paul talks about the mystery that has now been revealed…that Gentiles are included in God’s promise of salvation. Paul seems to say that when the Colossians read this letter, they can perceive that mystery of Christ, not previously made known to mankind, but now made known through the apostles and prophets and revealed by God’s spirit. So Paul and his fellow apostles have had a revelation; they have had an epiphany. They now see the mystery of Christ, which is that we Gentiles are to be included in God’s kingdom if we believe. 

I think this is one of those passages that must be read carefully and in light of Paul’s audience, a group of newly converted Gentiles. His purpose was to keep them in the straight and narrow and reinforce their tender faith. And Paul uses one of those little two letter words that can be so important. He says that the mystery wasn’t known in the past as it has now been revealed. He doesn’t say it wasn’t known, but he does qualify the nature of that knowledge. Think about the words from the Lord’s Prayer: “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” As tells us the nature of the act.

Why is that two letter word so important? Because not recognizing it will take you off in the wrong direction. Paul wasn’t saying that no one in the past understood that the Gentiles were part of the kingdom of God. He couldn’t have been saying that. He knew the Scriptures. He knew Genesis 12:3, where God promises Abraham that “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” He knew the story of Jonah, where God sent Jonah to the Gentile Assyrians in order to convert them. Paul knew, as we should know, that from the beginning, God’s compassion for his creation has been boundless. It was never limited to the Jews. They were God’s instrument to help reveal his identity, not just to them, but to all the world.

In this passage, Paul makes another reference to mystery when he talks about the plan of the mystery in verse 9. He talks about God’s eternal purpose being realized in Christ, through whom salvation is made possible. The mystery to which Paul refers is that God had a plan from before the beginning of time, that salvation was just as much part of that plan as was creation.  This is God’s wisdom, so much higher and deeper than ours that it took centuries for us to be prepared for the message contained in the coming of Jesus. It took centuries more for us to begin to put it all together. The mystery has indeed been revealed, but even in its revelation lies a truth so deep that it is hard to lay claim to. And yet, that is precisely what Jesus calls us to do. His last words to his disciples in the book of Matthew were to go, to teach and to baptize. That mandate was directed not to the Jewish nation, but to all the world.

How important is it to have perspective? Here’s an example. A college coed writes home:

Dear Mom and Dad, just a quick note to get you up to speed. I’ve fallen in love with Jim. He quit high school to get married. He’s been divorced about a year now. We’ve been going steady about 2 months and plan to get married next fall. I think I’ll move in with him ‘til then. I might be in a family way. Anyway, I dropped out last week, but would like to go back sometime.

Page 2: Everything I’ve written to you so far is false. But…it is true that I got a C in French and flunked math. Also, it’s time to pay tuition again.

         

          That young coed knew how to give her parents perspective. When we read Paul’s letters, sometimes we need some of that as well. One can almost hear Paul’s wheels turning as he writes. I found the key to the mystery. The Gentiles are included in the kingdom. I must minister to them. God sent me to do that. Then, as Paul begins to get his perspective, we have the profound statement that God had a plan from before the beginning of time. Creation and salvation are tied together neatly in a bow made by God. It was for us to discover that which was always there. In that lay Paul’s perspective and in that lies our message today. If God had a plan for mankind before he even laid its keel, how much more does he have a plan for me and you!

          It’s not important when we celebrate the Epiphany. It’s important whether we celebrate it. It’s important whether we have had one of our own. Revelation comes in many forms. Some people are like Paul. They get knocked down in the middle of the road and when they see again, they have new vision. Some people get the vision a piece at a time until one day they discover they can see the big picture. Sometimes the revelation comes in a blinding light and sometimes it comes in a still, small voice. It doesn’t matter how the epiphany comes. It only matters whether it does.

The great revelation for each of us is that God made us and that Jesus came for us. Salvation has always been there for each of us to discover. God’s plan is as big as the cosmos and as detailed as one hair on your head. That’s what Paul figured out and told the Ephesians. And that’s quite a revelation!

Let us pray

1/5/13