Ephesians·Ephesians 1:15-23
Read in parallel ↗Prayer for Revelation and Resurrection Power
Paul's intercessory prayer for an 'unveiling' that culminates in a portrait of the risen Jesus enthroned over the powers, drawn from Psalm 110, Psalm 8, and Daniel 7. Readings differ over how to relate this cosmic enthronement to the 'fullness' of the church and to Paul's two-age cosmology.
For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints, don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come. He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
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Apocalyptic Enthronement and the Overlap of the Ages
On this reading, Paul's prayer in Ephesians 1:15-23 turns on the request for an apokalypsis — an unveiling of the heavenly enthronement of the crucified Jesus and of what that enthronement means for those joined to him. Paul prays that the 'eyes of the heart' of the believing community would be illuminated to grasp three realities: the hope of God's calling, the glory of the inheritance among the holy ones, and the surpassing power that raised the Messiah from the dead and seated him in the heavenly realm.
The exaltation portrayed in 1:20-23 weaves together Psalm 110:1, Psalm 8:6, and Daniel 7:13-14: Jesus is enthroned at God's right hand, all things are placed under his feet, and the cosmic dominion long awaited for the Son of Man is realized in him. He has been raised above 'all rule and authority and power and dominion,' and his lordship is acknowledged in the ekklēsia, his body, which he 'fills.'
This sits within Paul's two-age framework: the present 'evil age' and the 'age to come' overlap in the resurrection of Jesus, so that the church lives within the inaugurated rule of the Messiah while the powers continue to be resisted. The prayer is therefore not a request for new information but for the kind of perception that lets believers locate themselves inside this cosmic drama.
The triple intertext of Psalm 110, Psalm 8, and Daniel 7 in 1:20-22 is unmistakable. Each text is independently messianic in Second Temple readings, and Paul fuses them to identify the risen Jesus as the true Davidic king (Ps. 110), the true human ruler over creation (Ps. 8), and the heavenly Son of Man receiving everlasting dominion (Dan. 7). The conclusion that Paul is announcing the inaugurated cosmic enthronement of the Messiah follows from the text's own scriptural grammar, which is precisely what the prayed-for apokalypsis is meant to perceive.
- 1.Tim Mackie (BibleProject), Class Notes: Ephesians (2019)copyrighted
Last updated April 28, 2026
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