"When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train
and gave gifts to men."
9 (What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Ephesians4:7-10
Paul is about to tell us about the gifts that Christ gave the church when He ascended into heaven. But the thought of the ascension makes him think of Psalm 68 which is about a king ascending the throne.
For Paul there is a sense of wonder and awe. Jesus isn't simply walking up (ascending) a few steps up to an earthly throne in an earthly palace or temple. Jesus ascends to his _heavenly_ throne. And His victory isn't merely over earthly enemies but over sin, death and Satan.
This leads him to a two verse digression where he wonders and marvels at the wonderful truth of the incarnation. For, how could Christ ascend to the heavens unless He had first descended?
Paul is digressing to remind us of the wonder that Jesus chose to obey the Father's will - to become human and to be incarnate in Mary's womb and incarnate in our lives and in His incarnation to suffer terribly in order to be made perfect (even more than He already was) through His obedience.
So, in Paul's eyes, Jesus loses nothing by taking off all His glory and descending to earth. In fact, this act of descending makes His ascension even greater.
Paul is digressing, but he is allowing himself to pause, ponder and reflect on the great graciousness of the Saviour who "descended into greatness" and ascended to fill the universe with His sacrificial grace.
Paul was distracted with this incredible thought and the same should happen to us!
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
