エフェソの信徒への手紙1:1-2 Ephesians 1:1-2,

しかし、憐れみ豊かな神は、わたしたちをこの上なく愛してくださり、その愛によって、罪のために死んでいたわたしたちをキリストと共に生かし、——あなたがたの救われたのは恵みによるのです—— キリスト・イエスによって共に復活させ、共に天の王座に着かせてくださいました。　　　　　　　　　　（エフェソ2:4-6）

キリスト教の教えによれば、キリストを信じる人が永遠の命の体をもって復活して天の王座に着くことは、終わりの日という未来において実現することなのです。そのことをパウロはあえて「キリスト・イエスによって共に復活させ、共に天の王座に着かせてくださいました」と言って、すでに起こった出来事として述べています。これは、神様がキリストを信じる人を、体ではなく霊において復活させて、霊において共に天の王座に着かせてくださったという意味です。それでは、なぜパウロはあえてこのような書き方をしたのでしょうか？それは、おそらくこの手紙の読者であったエフェソという都市の状況を考えてのことであったのでしょう。

エフェソは現在のトルコの西の端に位置しています。新約聖書の時代には、ローマ帝国のアジア州という州の都として、たいへん繁栄していた都市でした。そして、エフェソではさまざまな宗教が盛んで、50もの神々や女神が崇拝されていました。それらの中でも、ギリシア神話の女神アルテミスへの崇拝が特に盛んでした。アルテミスを祀る神殿はアテネのパルテノン神殿の4倍の大きさがあったと伝えられています。アルテミスは天と地と死者の世界を支配する偉大な力をもつと信じられていました。このようなアルテミスへの崇拝は、エフェソの人々の世界観や生活に大きな影響を与えていました。エフェソの人々はアルテミスを崇拝することによって、この世や死後の災いから守られると信じていました。そのため、エフェソの人々は魔術的な儀式や呪文や祈りによって、アルテミスの霊的な守りを得ようとしていました。使徒言行録を読むと、パウロがエフェソでキリストを宣べ伝えたときに、エフェソの人々に大きな衝撃があったことが記されています。キリストを信じて魔術をやめた人々は、高価な魔術の本を人々の前で焼き捨てました（使徒19:19）。しかし、アルテミスへの崇拝に固執する人々は、アルテミス神殿の模型を作って売っていた銀細工師のデメテリオに煽られて暴動を起こしました。そして、そのときパウロはあやうく殺されそうにもなりました（使徒19:23-40）。

このように、アルテミスなどの神々の霊の支配を信じているエフェソやその周辺の人々にキリストの救いを教えるに際して、パウロはキリストを信じる人が、体においてはこの地上にあるけれども、霊においてはキリストと共に復活して天の王座にあって、神々の霊の支配から解放されているということを強調したのでしょう。

（11月3日の説教より）

Starting today we will listen to the message of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. This letter teaches us many things about Christianity. Of these, perhaps the most significant for people living today is the peace that comes from being united with Christ. In 2:14-16 of this letter we read as follows.

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

“He” is of course Christ. “The two” are the Jews and the Gentiles. And “reconcile us both to God in one body” means that by being united to Christ, Jews and Gentiles are incorporated into the “one body,” i.e., the Christian church, and reconciled to God. In this way, hostility between Jews and Gentiles is broken down and peace is achieved.

However, in today’s world, the tragic reality is that peace has not been achieved. More than two and a half years after the war between Russia and Ukraine began, there is still no sign of a ceasefire. Then, on 7 October last year, a terrorist attack was carried out by the Islamic fundamentalist organisation Hamas against Israeli civilians and foreigners. The conflict in the Middle East, which began with this terrorist attack, has continued to escalate due to Israel’s intransigence. Under the guise of exercising its right to self-defence, Israel carried out a series of severe attacks in the Gaza Strip. As a result, many civilians – more than 40 000 – have been killed. In addition to this, Israel attacked the Lebanese Islamist militant group Hezbollah. Israel bombed the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing a Hezbollah leader, and launched a ground invasion in southern Lebanon. In addition, Israel also killed the operational commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, which supports Hezbollah. In response, Iran fired approximately 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. Israel also launched retaliatory strikes against Iran.

And these hard-line Israeli positions are supported by the United States of America, which is said to have about 6.5 million Jewish citizens in the country (according to the US Embassy). During the Second World War, Nazi Germany have thoroughly persecuted the Jewish people, killing some 6 million Jews. At that time, it was the United States of America that accepted the persecuted Jews as refugees. Jewish citizens became successful in various fields and became influential in the political, economic and cultural life of the United States of America. US politicians followed the wishes of their Jewish citizens and adopted a policy of support for Israel. As a result, when the UN Security Council proposed a resolution for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, it was rejected because the US vetoed it. Thus, the world today is in a tragic state, far from peace. The Epistle to the Ephesians reminds us of the role of the Christian church in “making peace” in this miserable world.

The Epistle to the Ephesians does not only make us think about peace in the world. It makes each one of us think anew about what salvation is through union with Christ. In 2:3-7 of this letter we read as follows.

We too were once of their number: we were ruled by our physical desires, and did what instinct and evil imagination suggested. In our natural condition we lay under the condemnation of God like the rest of mankind. But God is rich in mercy, and because of his great love for us, he brought us to life with Christ when we were dead because of our sins; it is by grace you are saved. And he raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavenly realms, so that he might display in the ages to come how immense are the resources of his grace, and how great his kindness to us in Christ Jesus (REB).

Christian salvation is the forgiveness of sins and eternal life through faith in Christ. The Apostles’ Creed, which confesses the essence of the Christian faith, also confesses belief in “the forgiveness of sins” and “the life everlasting.” And the salvation of “the life everlasting” is completed by the resurrection of the believer in Christ to a body of eternal life at the Last Judgement on the Last Day. So the Apostles’ Creed also confesses belief in “the resurrection of the body.” In this letter to the Ephesians, however, the resurrection of those who have believed in Christ is written as something that has already happened, as “God raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavenly realms.” In fact, when we read this passage in the Greek original, the words “God raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavenly realms” are written in the form of aorist, which expresses something that happened in the past.

According to Christian teachings, the resurrection of believers in Christ in the body of eternal life and their being seated with Christ on the throne of heaven are future events that will take place at the Last Judgment on the Last Day. Paul himself states in other letters that the bodily resurrection is a future event that will take place at the Last Judgment on the Last Day. For example, in Romans 6:5, Paul states in Greek in the future tense, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” And in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Paul states in Greek also in the future tense, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” “The last trumpet” is a symbolic expression signalling the Last Judgement. As for the believers in Christ coming to the throne of heaven with Christ, Christ himself promises in Revelation 2:26, stating, “The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations.” Even in these words of Christ, “I will give” is Greek in the future tense.

Thus, according to Christian teachings, the resurrection of believers in Christ in the body of eternal life and their being seated with Christ on the throne of heaven are to be realised in the future, on the Last Day. In this letter, however, Paul dares to speak of these as events that have already happened, saying that “he raised us up in union with Christ Jesus and enthroned us with him in the heavenly realms.” This means that God has resurrected believers in Christ, not in body but in spirit, and has put them on the throne of heaven together in spirit. So why did Paul dare to write in this way? It was probably because of the situation in the city of Ephesus, which was the place of recipients of this letter.

Ephesus was located on the western edge of what is now Turkey. In New Testament times, it was a very prosperous city, the capital of the Roman province of Asia. Various religions flourished in Ephesus, and as many as 50 gods and goddesses were worshipped there. Among these, the worship of the Greek goddess Artemis was particularly popular. The temple dedicated to Artemis is said to have been four times the size of the Parthenon in Athens. Artemis was believed to have great power over heaven, earth and the world of the dead. This worship of Artemis had a profound impact on the worldview and life of the Ephesians. The Ephesians believed that by worshipping Artemis they would be protected from the plagues of this world and even after death. Therefore, the Ephesians sought to obtain Artemis’ spiritual protection through magical rituals, incantations and prayers. The Acts of the Apostles tells us that when Paul preached Christ in Ephesus, there was a great impact on the Ephesians. Those who believed in Christ and gave up magic arts burned expensive books of magic arts in front of the people (Acts 19:19). However, those who persisted in their worship of Artemis were incited to riot by Demetrius, a silversmith who had made and sold a model of the temple of Artemis. And Paul was even almost killed at that time (Acts 19:23-40).

Thus, in teaching the salvation of Christ to those in and around Ephesus who believed in the dominion of the spirit of gods and goddesses such as Artemis, Paul emphasised that those who believe in Christ, while even on earth in body, are resurrected with Christ in spirit and enthroned in heaven with him in spirit, free from the dominion of the spirit of gods and goddesses. Some people may think that being freed from the dominion of the spirit of the gods and goddesses is a story that is 2000 years old and has nothing to do with us living in the age of science in the 21st century. But is this really the case? In this country of Japan, the reality that many people visit shrines and worship the gods and goddesses enshrined there is very similar to Ephesus 2000 years ago. And the situation in which those in charge of national politics take the initiative in praying to the gods and goddesses of shrines for protection for themselves, their people and their country, is the very situation in Ephesus, where Artemis was worshipped as the guardian goddess of Ephesus. And in Japan there are people who, despite their Christian baptism, continue to worship the gods and goddesses of shrines. Shouldn’t such people learn well by this letter to the Ephesians what salvation is for those who believe in Christ?

Let us now consider the context in which Paul wrote this letter. Paul was captured in Jerusalem because of the persecution of the Jews and sent to the Roman capital on appeal to stand trial by the Roman emperor. Paul was then confined as an unsentenced prisoner awaiting trial, but the circumstances of his confinement were very lax. In Acts 28:30-31, we read that “he lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” And it is presumed that it was during this period that the letter to the Ephesians was written.

To go into technical detail, some of the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament do not have the words “in Ephesus” in 1:1. That is, when this letter was transcribed as one of the documents in the New Testament, int some of the earliest handwritten manuscripts, the words “in Ephesus” are curiously absent. In the Bible as we read it today, it says “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus.” But in some of the earliest manuscripts it says “Paul, who by the will of God was made an apostle of Christ Jesus, To those being holy and believing in Christ Jesus.” This is very strange. Some Bible scholars have speculated that the letter was originally written to be circulated and read in Christian churches in various cities in what is now western Turkey, so it was purposely not named by place. Then, after the letter was circulated, it was linked to Ephesus, the capital of the province of Asia, and the words “in Ephesus” were probably added to the letter’s address. It may then have been passed on as the letter to the Ephesians.

This letter to the Ephesians has much in common with the letter to the Colossians. These include Christ’s dominion over all supernatural powers, that the believer in Christ is one with him and has been resurrected with him, and that he is the head of the Church, which is the body of Christ. Colossae was a city about 190 km east of Ephesus. Heretical teachings that distorted the Christian faith were prevalent in the churches of Colossae. According to Colossians, those who believed in that heretical teaching were “insisting on asceticism and worship of angels” (Colossians 2:18) and were “promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body” (Colossians 2:23). Paul wrote his letter to the Colossians to criticise those heretical teachings and to lead the Colossian believers to the right faith. Then, to prevent the heretical teaching from spreading to the churches in the cities in western Turkey, he probably wrote a letter to be circulated and read in the churches in those cities, using the content of the letter to the Colossians. This would have been the letter known as the Epistle to the Ephesians.

In the past, Japan unified the spirit of the people and drove them recklessly into war by Shinkoku ideology, i.e., the divine nation ideology that Japan was ruled by the Emperor, a descendant of the goddess Amaterasu, and was a special country protected by the Japanese gods and goddesses. Are such ideas only in the past and irrelevant to people today? I do not think so. In the wake of the war in Ukraine and the conflicts in the Middle East, “defending the country” has become a popular claim by politicians. And on the surface, these claims appear to be made through rational arguments about national security. However, behind this lies the irrational divine nation ideology that the Japanese gods and goddesses will protect Japan. In the minds of Japanese politicians and many people, the idea that the supernatural spirit forces of the gods and goddesses are protecting the people is still alive today. This letter to the Ephesians teaches that people are freed from the power of the spirit of the gods and goddesses by the grace of Christ and that peace is realised in the community of the church. It is our hope that by carefully studying the teachings of this letter, we will develop the right way of thinking and living as Christians, not being influenced by the ideas of the times.