Bite 51: Suffering in Ephesians 3:1-13

Suffering

In considering how to begin our conversation today, I thought of different ways we both might have suffered. I thought of references to current events. Or personal trials. But instead, we are diving into the tool box right away and using an original language dictionary immediately.

I’m not saying that we can’t read our Bible without knowing Greek or at least looking up a lot of words in original languages. But remember I said we read our Bibles sometimes for different purposes? Sometimes we read for the fellowship of it all. Fireside, rainy afternoon, pot of tea, relaxing and cozy. That is beautiful and necessary.

But when we get together here in this context, we are determined and ferocious students of the Word. Mining out the depths of Paul’s meaning, getting down and dirty. So we are pulling out the dictionary right out of the gate. What does Paul mean when he uses the Greek that’s hidden behind the English word?

θλίψις (thlipsis)

Knowing my dictionaries, I chose Mounce’s because I simply want a definition and nothing more at this point. Here is what I found:

(The noun) denotes the results of being squeezed

or put into a narrow place—

hence, “trouble, affliction, distress.”¹

Isn’t that descriptive? Results of being squeezed. That helps me to understand Paul’s meaning when he wrote the passage under inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

An Example

Now that I know what the word actually means, examples come to mind.

Side note: You know those people who always talk about basketball or baseball for their examples? I'm not one of those. If you are, oops, you get the privilege of being exposed to some other hobbies. At Bible Study Bites, you get mountain biking and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Or baking...or pottery. Oh. Another example just came to mind from pottery. I'll share that later.

When my beloved training partner puts all that weight on me, I am squeezed. Breathing is difficult. Movement is restricted. At the minimum, a glimmer of panic rises. But in the sport, I want to experience the worst it could possibly be, and to develop a type of comfort in it.

The result of being squeezed? Suffering. What example can you think of in your life where you get squeezed? Or where you have been in a narrow place? Use that to mentally enter into Paul’s suffering as we study this passage.

Our Passage

¹ For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— ² assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, ³ how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. ⁴ When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, ⁵ which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. 

⁶ This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ⁷ Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power. 

⁸ To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹ and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, ¹⁰ so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 

¹¹ This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, ¹² in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. ¹³So I ask you not to lose heart over what I am suffering for you, which is your glory.²

Paul’s Purpose for Writing

We want to keep in mind that Paul’s purpose in writing this passage is conveyance of the gospel. Revealing the mystery and the hope it provides. Bookending his discourse about the gospel, though, are mentions of suffering.

On the front end, that he is a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles. Being a prisoner or in bondage is typically a squeezing situation. On the back end, he requests the audience to not lose heart over his suffering. We all know that watching someone we love suffer is worse than enduring it ourselves. There is suffering all ’round.

Why is Paul spending the papyrus on this?

That question right there lingered on my screen for two days as I poured over the scriptures, pondering. What is the point of Paul’s message when it is laced with comments about suffering? As I virtually experienced the birth pangs of the church reading through Acts, what did I find? There is a lot of suffering in conjunction with the gospel. Let’s walk together through a few events of the book of Acts.

The Early Church

When taking notes in Acts, an exhaustive list wasn’t my objective. I wanted the flavor of the times. Looking for occasions of suffering, I jotted my findings.

As I look over that list, there is a formula for the accounts. Speak truth of the gospel: get persecuted or arrested or have your death plotted. Basically some kind of bad stuff. Proclaim truth: bad stuff happens. In my notes, I see a lot of mention of “name” as well. So for my next step, I went looking for instances where suffering and the “name” came together.

For the how-to? I looked at cross references from some of the above verses in Acts and followed the trail around the NT. These are the ones I noted on my sticky.

Cross References Across the NT

That last one I included in my list even though the specific “name” part wasn’t present because Jesus was giving a command with regard to suffering. In the context, Jesus is giving the Sermon on the Mount and explaining the “upside down” nature of following him. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you… on my account” from Matt 5:11. Upside down from the philosophy of our dog-eat-dog world.

I’m still pondering. Why did Paul spend the papyrus to talk about suffering here precisely? What came to mind was our friend Peter in the context of the couple of verses on our last list.

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial

when it comes upon you to test you,

as though something strange were happening to you. ³

What Did We Learn About Suffering?

Why did Paul spend the papyrus? Because that was how a lot of papyrus in the early church was expended. Peter there in that last reference is particularly humorous to me, “Hey, guess what? Bad stuff is coming and it’s normal.”

Suffering in the NT

The follower of Jesus Christ should expect to suffer for his name. To suffer on account of the gospel going out. Let’s make a list of the folks we found as we wandered around the NT. Then our research will be in one place where we can reflect on it. Remember this is not exhaustive, but a few examples and not in chronological order. I’m Hebrew like that.

This is a long list and probably difficult to follow along. I tried to use a table for the data, but this WordPress editor wouldn’t let me use one. My technique is that the “who” is in normal printing. There are 5 examples of individuals or groups we look at and they are numbered. The “did what” is in bold. The “result” is in italics. Hopefully that makes it easier to follow.

Who Did What and the Result

1. Apostles (Acts 5:12-42)
   • Did signs and wonders (Acts 5:12)
   • Healed sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits (Acts 5:16)
     • Arrested and put in public prison (Acts 5:17)
   • Began to teach after angel freed them (Acts 5:21)
     • Brought back before the council (Acts 5:27)
     • Council enraged and wanted to kill them (Acts 5:33)
     • Council followed Gamaliel’s advice: only beat them, told them to stop speaking in Jesus’ name, and let them go (Acts 5:40)
2. Stephen (Acts 6:8-8:1)
   • Did signs and wonders (Acts 6:8)
   • Spoke with wisdom and the Spirit (Acts 6:10, 7:51-53)
     • Thrown from the city and stoned (Acts 7:54-58)
3. Saul/Paul (many instances but here’s one: Acts 9:20-25)
   • Proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus (Acts 9:20)
     • Jews plotted to kill him (Acts 9:23)
4. Disciples (John 15:18-25)
   • Not of the world, chosen (John 15:19)
     • World hates them (John 15:19)
     • Will be persecuted (John 15:20)
5. Dispersion (1 Peter 4:1-19)
   • Living for the will of God (1 Peter 4:2)
   • Using gifts of the Spirit (1 Peter 4:9-11)
     • Fiery trial coming (1 Peter 4:12)
     • Insulted for the name of Christ (1 Peter 4:14)
     • Suffers as a Christian (1 Peter 4:16)

That was a long list and it wasn’t even scratching the surface of all the suffering on account of the gospel in the NT. However, I wanted enough data in front of us to demonstrate that this is common for believers and has been since the advent of the church. And Jesus isn’t even on the list. The one man (God-man, I know) who did all the good and then suffered all the worst.

Suffering in Ephesians 3:1-13

Paul is a prisoner on behalf of the Gentiles (Eph 3:1) because he did what he was called to do. Share the gospel. He went out among those who didn’t know Jesus or didn’t like him and proclaimed the truth. Some people don’t like that. So he’s under house arrest for it. Squeezed. In a narrow place.

At the end of the passage, in Ephesians 3:13, Paul asks his audience not to lose heart over what he’s suffering on their behalf. Based on our study from the NT, why does Paul say this? What does he have firmly in mind that his audience might not know or remember? (Which would be why he’s telling them.)

It’s normal for one thing.

For another, we saw in a number of places, there is glory and honor in suffering as Christ did. Jesus said in the Beatitudes that those who suffer are blessed. In John he also said that there will be sorrow and lament but then there will be joy that no one will be able to take away. Disciples in Acts rejoiced that they were persecuted in Jesus’ name. Peter told the Dispersion that when they are insulted for the name of Jesus they are blessed. If they suffer as believers, Peter went on to tell them there is no shame but that they can glorify God in Jesus’ name.

In Ephesians, when we look at the context and see what is up next, Paul is praying for the believers to whom he’s writing that they would be strengthened with power through the Spirit. We aren’t there yet in the text (Ephesians 3:14-21), but why would Paul be praying, calling on all members of the trinity to be active in hearts, minds, and souls of his audience if there wasn’t adversity ahead?

Reflection

What can I walk away with today as a bit of application? If you remember, this is something that I’m trying to be better about in my own study efforts. The majority of my time will still be spent discovering the meaning of the text, but I will spend a larger percentage of my time finding significance for my own life.

In the compilation of data where we looked at who did what and the result, we found different kinds of believers were all doing mostly similar things. Either speaking or doing God’s will or they had God’s will done to them (the chosen ones in John 15:19). The result was nothing that I would personally look forward to as part of my daily life. Hatred, persecution, incarceration, and assassination attempts and successes. In fact, sitting here and meditating on that brings tears of fear to my eyes and my heart to cringe with dread. It may not be far off for us in the United States anymore where orders are in place making it a crime to meet together for the foreseeable future.

I saw two reasons for Paul’s writing. This is normative and there is blessing in suffering for the name of Christ.

In Suffering, Rehearse Truth

For my own life, I shouldn’t be surprised when there is a squeeze on account of the gospel. When there is a narrow place. It is normal and part of the course of the believer’s life. Normal for my life. Within that suffering, from the passage I know that I’m a fellow heir, member of the same body, and partaker of the promise in Christ. In addition to knowing that suffering is normal and a blessed condition, I also know that I belong to the family of God. Part of the plan that was hidden for ages but now revealed.

Then Paul also asked his audience not to lose heart. If his readers/hearers are asked such a seemingly impossible thing, Paul himself must be following his own advice. Is he preaching to himself? I don’t know. I can’t know his motivations from here in place and time. But sandwiched between I’m a prisoner on your behalf and don’t lose heart is Paul rehearsing truth. Truth of the gospel, truth of his commission by God to proclaim said gospel, and truth of the result of that gospel. What comfort to have this reality preserved for us here in the Word. Yes, there is going to be squeezing but with Paul we have boldness, access with confidence to the Father.

Consider Jesus

In our study today, I only briefly touched on the life of our Savior with regard to suffering. But think about the fact that he was perfect. He was perfect to death. Will I be perfect? Hah. Then I really need to listen to Peter and not be surprised.

If we keep the context of the whole book in mind, Ephesians 4:11-16 talks about the body growing and being equipped for ministry. Change and growth, we know from the world around us, happens very often from times of squeezing. That brings to mind an analogy from pottery, the one I mentioned earlier in our time together.

A Video Example from Pottery

When I throw a pot on my wheel, I vigorously smack a lump of clay onto the wheelhead to make it stick. Then I proceed to center the lump using my hands in opposition to each other to direct it in the way it needs to go in order to not wobble anymore. Once it is stable, I open the center of the lump by pressing my thumbs into the middle and dragging them to the outside. Compressing the base and the rim of the piece multiple times throughout the throwing process prevents cracking. Then I draw the walls of the piece up from the base through even pressure and consistency of clay volume between my fingers. There is more narrowness of place as I direct the clay into the shape I desire.

I’m super uncomfortable on video so it’s a slightly humorous view because I am a silent potter…and a timer goes off…comedy of errors… But I wanted to show you what I meant.

Can you see the squeezing, the opposition, the pressing, the compression as the clay is transformed into a piece of artwork? There is even pressure to prevent future flaws and damage.

This isn’t in the text, of course, but since I believe God created the world and the laws that govern it, I believe we can see truths in nature that illustrate truths from scripture. For me in my own determination of significance from what Paul wrote, I can take comfort that because of the purposeful motions of the Potter, I will be made more like the beautiful piece of art he has intended me to be from the beginning.

That is my attempt to find significance from the texts we examined today.

Wrap Up

Our Bible Study Bite for today, I would like us to remember that sometimes our non-Greekiness can lead us slightly off course. As I’ve said, we can read our English Bibles and be confident in the scholarly translations. But being able to understand what the biblical authors meant by the Greek words they used is more on course. And as students of the Word, that is our heart’s desire.

The definition of the Greek that Paul used isn’t made clear in our English word suffering, is it? This is a great example of how translation is not a word-for-word code. There are often no exact equivalents available to go from one language to another.

Part of this Bite is simply being aware of the deficiency of studying entirely in English. The other part is how do we overcome it?

NET Bible Online for Free

This was an impactful study for me and I shared a little about why in Basics 17 which you could look at here, if you’d like. The current events that are swirling are hitting me pretty hard in the head. I pray for you, like Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19, that you would be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Rest in the truth. Preach the gospel first to yourself. I say these things for myself as much as for you. Blessings.

1. Mounce, W. D. (2006). Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words (p. 10). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
2. Ephesians 3:1–13 (ESV)
3. 1 Peter 4:12 (ESV)