Ephesians 4:7-16
He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens… (v. 10) There is controversy over this verse. When Paul writes He who descended…, is He referring to Jesus’ descent into hell, as we read in the Apostles Creed or is he referring to Jesus’ leaving heaven to come to earth. It’s not clear cut either way, but my bias is toward the former, that Paul is referring to Jesus’ descent into hell before His resurrection. I go with that understanding because I imagine that if Paul had meant the incarnation (Jesus’ birth), he would have said something more specific that could relate directly to Jesus leaving heaven, something like “He who came down from heaven is also the One who went back far beyond heaven”. But that’s only my guess as to what Paul meant.
Often we see very different translations of the same verse. Here’s verse 11 in the ESV, And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers…, and here it is in the NASB, And he gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be shepherds and teachers…. Other translations change “some to be” to “some as”. I like either of these latter forms better than the ESV – something about this phrasing makes it more personal, that there are actual people out there who are the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. Small point, I know…
…we are no longer to be children, … but … we are to grow up… (vv. 14-15, edited). Paul writes with so many dependent phrases and clauses that I have to re-read to find out what he really is saying. Such is the case with these two verses. By deleting all those interior words and phrases, we read that Paul simply wants us to GROW UP! When you know what he is actually saying to us, GROW UP!, then you can go back and fill in those extra words and phrases in order to find out what it is in our lives that is keeping us from growing up. Try that with a re-read.
Slava Bohu!