The Glory in the Temple - Week 6

Ephesians 3:14-21

Note: The study related to these questions may be found at Catholic Exchange. Please go to their site for the complete material concerning this study. Below are my thoughts on the questions presented for the given study (Please see disclaimer at bottom).

1. Read verse 14. What is the significance of "bowing the knee"? Why does Paul choose this point in the letter at which to describe himself as bowing his knees" (see 1 Kings 8:54)?
(a) The significance of "bowing the knee" is that it shows supplication and reverance. When Paul is on his knees, he is physically illustrating his submission to God in both body and soul. (b) Paul chooses this point to describe himself as "bowing his knees" to underscore the sacred nature of this act, especially in regards to how the Church is the fulfillment of the Temple. In 1 Kings, we see an example of this type of supplication:

Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven (1 Kings 8:54, RSV)

2. Read verse 15. How is it that every family on heaven and earth is "named" for the Father (see Point to Ponder)?
(a) This is play on words, specifically ancient Greek words. Family, or patria, comes from Father, or pater.

3. Read verse 16. What is Paul asking God to do? How does the "glory" of the Lord in 1 Kings 8:10-11 reflect upon the "glory" Paul sees in the true Temple which is the Body of Christ?
(a) Paul is asking God "that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with might through his Spirit in the inner man". (b) In order to understand what Paul means by the "glory" of the Lord, let us examine another passage from 1 Kings:

And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. (1 Kings 8:10-11, RSV)

This serves to illustrate the purity and power of God's glory and why the glory of God is so precious to behold. It is the pure and powerful glory that Paul relies upon to strenthen our "inner man". This term, the "inner man" is a reference to the whole interior life, commonly called the "heart". Paul uses similar terminology in Romans:

For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. (Rom 7:22-23, RSV)

4. Read verse 17. How is Christ to dwell in our hearts? What two allusions to the Temple are in this verse (see Points to Ponder)?
(a) Christ is to dwell in our hearts through faith. (b) The first allusion to the Temple is in the use of the term "dwell" for the Temple was the dwelling place of the Lord. He continues with another illusion with his use of the term "grounded in love". The Greek used here relates to "laying the foundation for a building".

5. Read verse 18. What is Paul alluding to by the "breadth and length and height and depth" (see Points to Ponder)?
(a) When Paul speaks of the "breadth and length and height and depth" he is alluding to the Holy of Holies located at the heart of the Temple. The reason is that the implied equality of the different dimensions typifies the cubic nature of the Holy of Holies:

The inner sanctuary he prepared in the innermost part of the house, to set there the ark of the covenant of the LORD. The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty cubits wide, and twenty cubits high; and he overlaid it with pure gold. He also made an altar of cedar. (1 Kings 6:19-20, RSV)

6. Read verse 19. How can we know what surpasses knowledge? In the Old Covenant where is the place that is filled with the fulness of God?
(a) It is only through Divine revelation that we can know what surpasses knowledge. (b) In the Old Covenant, the place that is filled with the fullness of God is the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies, or Kodesh Kodashim, was center of the Temple and housed the Ark of the Covenenant. It was, quite simply, the holiest place on Earth.

Doxology

Read Ephesians 3:20-21

7. Read verse 20. Where, according to Paul, is the power of God at work? Is the power of God proportional to our understanding of him?
(a) The power of God is at work "within us". (b) The power of God is not proportional to our understanding of Him. Paul makes this pointing by stating that God can "do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think".

8. Read verse 21. Where is God glorified, according to Paul? For how long?
(a) God is glorified in the Church. (b) This glorification is "for ever and ever". This implies that the Church must exist forever in order to glorify God.

Disclaimer: I do not wish to present myself as an expert in either theology, history, or scriptural interpretation. I am merely someone who is attempting to answer the call of Christ. The ultimate authority and interpreter of scripture is our Holy Catholic Church. If at any point I deviate from the teachings of the Church, please correct me, alfredo@nevarez.net, as this is my shortcoming and in no way meant to be an expression of my views superceding those of the Church founded by Jesus Christ.

San Jose Bible Study
Alfredo Nevarez
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