Ephesians 1:20

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) Which he wrought in Christ.—The reality of the work of God upon us is insured by the reality of that work upon the true Son of Man, whose members we are, in His resurrection, His ascension, His exaltation over all things at the right hand of God, and His headship of the Church. It is notable that, while it is on the spiritual meaning of the resurrection of Christ that the chief stress is laid in the earlier Epistles (as in Romans 6:4-11; 1Corinthians 15:12-22; 1Corinthians 15:50-57), in these later Epistles the Apostle passes on beyond this, as taken for granted (see Colossians 3:1), and dwells on “Christ in heaven,” exalted far above all created things, but yet vouchsafing to be in a peculiar sense the head and life of the Church on earth. See, for example, Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 1:14-19; and compare the pervading conception of the Apocalypse. In this advance of thought he approaches to the idea of our Lord’s own great intercession (John 17:5 et seq.), constantly connecting the unity of His Church in Him with the glory which was His from all eternity, and to which He was to return—“Now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was. . . . I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory.”

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

1:15-23 God has laid up spiritual blessings for us in his Son the Lord Jesus; but requires us to draw them out and fetch them in by prayer. Even the best Christians need to be prayed for: and while we hear of the welfare of Christian friends, we should pray for them. Even true believers greatly want heavenly wisdom. Are not the best of us unwilling to come under God's yoke, though there is no other way to find rest for the soul? Do we not for a little pleasure often part with our peace? And if we dispute less, and prayed more with and for each other, we should daily see more and more what is the hope of our calling, and the riches of the Divine glory in this inheritance. It is desirable to feel the mighty power of Divine grace, beginning and carrying on the work of faith in our souls. But it is difficult to bring a soul to believe fully in Christ, and to venture its all, and the hope of eternal life, upon his righteousness. Nothing less than Almighty power will work this in us. Here is signified that it is Christ the Saviour, who supplies all the necessities of those who trust in him, and gives them all blessings in the richest abundance. And by being partakers of Christ himself, we come to be filled with the fulness of grace and glory in him. How then do those forget themselves who seek for righteousness out of him! This teaches us to come to Christ. And did we know what we are called to, and what we might find in him, surely we should come and be suitors to him. When feeling our weakness and the power of our enemies, we most perceive the greatness of that mighty power which effects the conversion of the believer, and is engaged to perfect his salvation. Surely this will constrain us by love to live to our Redeemer's glory.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Which he wrought in Christ - Which he exerted in relation to the Lord Jesus when he was dead. The "power" which was then exerted was as great as that of creation. It was imparting life to a cold and "mangled" frame. It was to open again the arteries and veins, and teach the heart to beat and the lungs to heave. It was to diffuse vital warmth through the rigid muscles, and to communicate to the body the active functions of life. It is impossible to conceive of a more direct exertion of "power" than in raising up the dead; and there is no more striking illustration of the nature of conversion than in such a resurrection.

And set him at his own right hand - The idea is, that great power was displayed by this, and that a similar exhibition is made when man is renewed and exalted to the high honor of being made an heir of God. On the fact that Jesus was received to the right hand of God, see the notes at Mark 16:19; compare the notes at Acts 2:33.

In the heavenly places - see the notes at Ephesians 1:3. The phrase here evidently means in heaven itself.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. in Christ—as our "first-fruits" of the resurrection, and Head, in virtue of God's mighty working in whom His power to us-ward is made possible and actual [Alford].

when he raised him—"in that He raised Him." The raising of Christ is not only an earnest of our bodies being hereafter raised, but has a spiritual power in it involving (by virtue of our living union with Him, as members with the Head) the resurrection, spiritually of the believer's soul now, and, consequently, of his body hereafter (Ro 6:8-11; 8:11). The Son, too, as God (though not as man), had a share in raising His own human body (Joh 2:19; 10:17, 18). Also the Holy Spirit (Ro 1:4; 1Pe 3:18).

set him—Greek, "made Him sit." The glorious spirits stand about the throne of God, but they do not sit at God's right hand (Heb 1:13).

at his own right hand—(Ps 110:1). Where He remains till all His enemies have been put under His feet (1Co 15:24). Being appointed to "rule in the midst of His enemies" during their rebellion (Ps 110:2), He shall resign His commission after their subjection [Pearson] (Mr 16:19; Heb 1:3; 10:12).

in the heavenly places—(Eph 1:3). As Christ has a literal body, heaven is not merely a state, but a place; and where He is, there His people shall be (Joh 14:3).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead; i.e. the power God exerciseth toward believers is such as that was whereby he raised up Christ from the dead.

And set him at his own right hand; hath invested him with the greatest honour, dignity, and power, as princes set the next in honour and authority to themselves at their right hands: see Matthew 20:21.

In the heavenly places; in the highest heaven, called the third heaven, 2 Corinthians 12:2, and paradise, 2 Corinthians 12:4.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead,.... There are many articles of faith contained in this passage; as that Christ died, that he is raised from the dead, that he was raised from the dead by God the Father, and that his resurrection was by the power of God: the resurrection of any person is an instance of great power, but Christ's resurrection from the dead was an instance of peculiar and special power; for he was raised from the dead as a public person, representing all his people, for whom he became a surety; and he was raised again for their justification, and to great glory in himself, after he had been brought into a very low estate indeed: moreover, this passage in connection with the preceding verse suggests, that there is some proportion between the power put forth on Christ in raising him from the dead, and that which is exerted in the work of conversion and faith: there is some likeness between the things themselves, as well as in the display of power in them; Christ's resurrection is called a begetting, and he is styled the first begotten from the dead, and the regeneration of men is signified by a resurrection from the dead; as Christ's body was really dead, lifeless, and without motion, antecedent to his resurrection, so men, previous to conversion, are dead in trespasses and sins, and are destitute of spiritual life and motion; and as Christ's human nature could not help itself, could not raise itself, so neither can dead sinners convert themselves, or bring themselves out of that state and condition, in which they are by nature; and as the resurrection of Christ was the pure work of God, and a display of his almighty power, so the work of faith, of grace and conversion, is the entire work of God, which is begun, carried on, and finished wholly by his power; and as Christ's resurrection was in order to his glorification, so is the regeneration and conversion of men, in order to their enjoyment of the heavenly inheritance, as it follows:

and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places; which is expressive of the great honour conferred upon the human nature of Christ, such as never was given to any of the angels, and of the glory it is exalted to; and shows that he has done his work on earth with acceptance, which he came about; and therefore is set down at his Father's right hand, where he enjoys rest and ease from his labours, and is out of the reach of every enemy; will never die again, but live for ever, to intercede for his people, to assist and protect them, and bring them where he is; and in whom, as their head and representative, they are already set down in the same heavenly places.

Geneva Study Bible

{20} Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own {z} right hand in the heavenly places,

(20) The apostle wishes us to behold in our most glorious Christ (with the eyes of faith) that most excellent power and glory of God, of which all the faithful are partakers, even though it is as yet very dim in us, by reason of the shame of the cross, and the weakness of the flesh.

(z) To be set on God's right hand is to be a partaker of the sovereignty which he has over all creatures.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Ephesians 1:20. Ἥν] namely, ἐνέργειαν; see Winer, p. 205 [E. T. 273].

ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ] in the case of Christ.

ἐγείρας] aorist participle, contemporaneous with the act of the verb, like γνωρίσας, Ephesians 1:9.[115]

καὶ ἐκάθισεν] deviation from the participial construction after ΚΑΊ. See Hermann, ad Soph. El. p. 153, and note on Colossians 1:6; Buttm. neut. Gr. p. 327 f. [E. T. 382].

ἐν τοῖς ἐπουραν.] in the heaven (see on Ephesians 1:3), is not to be transformed into the vague conception of a status coelestis, of a higher relation to the world, and the like (Calovius, Harless, Hofmann, and others), but to be left as a specification of place. For Christ is with-glorified body, as σύνθρονος of the Father on the seat where the Divine Majesty is enthroned (see on Matthew 6:9), exalted above the heavenly angels (Ephesians 1:21), in heaven (Php 3:20 f.); so Stephen beheld Him (Acts 7:55), and the seer of the Apocalypse (Revelation 5., al.); and from thence, surrounded by the angels, He will return, even as He has bodily ascended thither (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Acts 1:11; Acts 3:21; 1 Peter 3:21 f.; Matthew 24:30; Matthew 25:31); hence also those who-arise and are changed at the Parousia, are caught up εἰς ἀέρα, to meet the Lord coming from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Up to that time He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father (Romans 8:34). The true commentary on ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὑτοῦ ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρ. is accordingly, Mark 16:19 : ἈΝΕΛΉΦΘΗ ΕἸς ΤῸΝ ΟὐΡΑΝῸΝ ΚΑῚ ἘΚΆΘΙΣΕΝ ἘΚ ΔΕΞΙῶΝ ΤΟῦ ΘΕΟῦ. And our passage itself, Ephesians 1:20 ff. (comp. Ephesians 4:10), is the commentary on Ὁ ΘΕῸς ΑὐΤῸΝ ὙΠΕΡΎΨΩΣΕ Κ.Τ.Λ., Php 2:9.

[115] In connection with this, observe the interchange of the perfect (ἐνήργηκεν, see the critical remarks) and the aorist (ἐγείρας): which (working) He has wrought (concluded action, regarded from the standpoint of the writer), when He raised, etc.

Expositor's Greek Testament

Ephesians 1:20. ἥν ἐνήργησεν ἐν τῷ Χριστῷ ἐγείρας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν: which He wrought in the Christ when He raised Him from the dead. The ἣν refers to the preceding ἐνέργειαν. The documentary authorities vary between the ἐνήργησεν of the TR (after [113] [114] [115] [116] [117], etc.) and ἐνήργηκεν which is the reading of [118] [119], etc., and is preferred by LTTr (marg.) WH (with the other in margin). The aorist is more in keeping with the definite historical event referred to; the succeeding aorists on the other hand favour the perfect, making it the more difficult reading to account for. Here again the article with the Χριστῷ may give it the official sense “the Christ”. This is the more probable in view of the use of the ἐν as well as the relation of the statement to the hope and the inheritance. The surpassing power of God was not only manifested in the case of our Lord, but was wrought in Him, and in Him not as an individual member of the race, but as “the Christ,” the Anointed of God, in whom we are represented and have our Head. The result of that working of God’s energy in Him was His resurrection from the dead—an event which, as Paul uniformly teaches, had a power not for Himself only but for us. The ἐγείρας may have the force (coincidence in time) given it by the AV and the RV, etc., “when he raised Him”; or it may be better taken as the defining, explanatory aor. (as in γνωρίσας, Ephesians 1:9), “in that He raised Him”.—καὶ ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ αὐτοῦ: and seated Him on His right hand. The ἐκάθισεν of the TR, supported by such MSS. as [120] [121] [122] [123], the Copt. and Goth. Versions, etc., must give place to καθίσας, the reading of [124] [125] [126] 17, etc., adopted by LTTrWHRV. A few authorities ([127] [128] 17, etc.) insert αὐτόν before ἐν δεξιᾷ. The exaltation to the place of honour and authority following the resurrection is a further witness to what the ἐνέργεια of God can effect.—ἐν τοῖς ἐπουρανίοις: in the heavenlies. That the phrase has the local sense here (cf. on Ephesians 1:3 above) is made abundantly clear by the terms ἐγείρας, καθίσας, ἐν δεξιᾷ—all terms with a local reference. The phrase οὐρανοῖς indeed is found instead of ἐπουρανίοις in a few ancient authorities (B, Hil., Vict.).

[113] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[114] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[115] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[116] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[117] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[118] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[119] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[120] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in 1852.

[121] Codex Augiensis (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Trinity College, Cambridge, edited by Scrivener in 1859. Its Greek text is almost identical with that of G, and it is therefore not cited save where it differs from that MS. Its Latin version, f, presents the Vulgate text with some modifications.

[122] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.

[123] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.

[124] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[125] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[126] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

[127] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.

[128] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

20. which he wrought] The verb is aorist. Another reading, but without equal support, gives the perfect: “He hath wrought.”—The time-reference is to the actual past crisis of the Lord’s exaltation.

in Christ] In the supreme instance of Christ. Cp. “in me” 1 Timothy 1:16.—Olshausen (quoted by Bp Ellicott) remarks that this passage, with Php 2:6-11 and Colossians 1:14-19, gives us “the entire Christology of St Paul.” In them we find His essential and glorious Deity; His eternal Sonship; His immediate action in Creation; His Headship over the created Universe; His Divine free-will in Incarnation and Humiliation; His atoning Death, “making peace by the blood of His Cross;” His Resurrection, and Exaltation as the Incarnate, by the Father’s power; His Headship over the Church, and animation of it with His Spirit. See further, Appendix J.

when he raised him] I.e., in the act of raising Him. This was the act of almighty power, embodying the wonders at once of a triumph over the physical mystery of death, of the manifestation of an “eternal redemption” from condemnation and sin, and of the ministration of the Life of the Risen One to His people.

From another point of view the Resurrection was the act of the Son’s own will; “I have power to take it again,” John 10:18. But where it is viewed as the Father’s acceptance of the work of the Son, or as the Father’s testimony to Him, it is always attributed to the Father as His act. Cp. Acts 2:24; Acts 3:15; Acts 5:30; Acts 10:40; Acts 13:30-37; Acts 17:31; Romans 1:4; Romans 4:24, &c.; 1 Corinthians 6:14; Galatians 1:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Hebrews 13:20; 1 Peter 1:3.

and set him at his own right hand] The Ascension is directly recorded only thrice (Mark 16; Luke 24; Acts 1), but it is constantly taken for granted and dealt with, in the Acts and Epistles, as a fact as objective and literal as the Resurrection. Cp. Acts 2:33; Acts 3:19-20; Acts 5:31; Acts 7:55; Romans 8:34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Php 2:9; Php 3:20; Colossians 3:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 4:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:7; Hebrews 1:3 and passim; 1 Peter 3:22; Revelation 3:21; Revelation 5:6, &c.

“His own right hand:”—the glorious metaphor betokens a share in the throne (Revelation 3:21), not merely session near it. From eternity the Divine Son had been “with God” (John 1:1); “beside the Father” (John 17:5; A.V. “with thee”); now also as the Incarnate after Death and Resurrection He appears in the same exaltation; “the Song of Solomon of Man at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55). In this Capacity, as well as in that of Filial Godhead, He now “reigns;” wields “all power in heaven and earth.” And this Session, like Resurrection, is the act of the Father’s accepting and glorifying will.—Observe that in Scripture imagery the ascended Lord is always on the throne; “a Priest upon his throne” (Zechariah 6:13); not pleading before, but exalted upon, “the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16). Cp. Psalm 110:1; Psalm 110:4.

in the heavenly places] See note above on Ephesians 1:3. A Region is spoken of, in which the glorified Lord locally is. Local conceptions, indeed, soon fail us in thoughts of the eternal world. But the fact of the Lord’s veritable ascended Body binds us to them, in a real degree; for where body is in question there also is locality.

far above] The same word as in Ephesians 4:10, and in Hebrews 9:5 (A. V., “over”). The Gr. does not necessarily denote distance; see Hebrews 9:5. But the compound form admits the idea, and in St Paul’s style, especially in a passage like this, we are right to see it.—The Saviour’s eminence is measured by the height of the Creator’s throne above Creation.

all principality, &c.] More strictly, all government, and authority, and power, and lordship. For similar phrases cp. Romans 8:38; Colossians 1:16 (a close parallel), Ephesians 2:15; below, Ephesians 3:10, Ephesians 6:12; 1 Peter 3:22 (a close parallel). Two thoughts are conveyed; first, subordinately, the existence of orders and authorities[32] in the angelic (as well as human) world; then, primarily, the imperial and absolute Headship of the Son over them all. The additional thought is given us by Colossians 1:16 that He was also, in His preexistent glory, their Creator; but this is not in definite view here, where He appears altogether as the exalted Son of Man after Death. In Romans 8, Colossians 2, and Ephesians 6, (quoted above,) we have cognate phrases where evil powers are meant; (and see note below on Ephesians 6:12, on the remarkable wording, “in the heavenly places”). But the context here is distinctly favourable to a good reference. That the Redeemer should be “exalted above” powers of evil is a thought scarcely adequate in a connexion so full of the imagery of glory as this. That He should be “exalted above” the holy Angels is fully in point. 1 Peter 3:22 is our best parallel; and cp. Revelation 5:11-12. See also Matthew 13:41 : “The Son of Man shall send forth His angels.”

[32] “The mighty kingdoms angelical,” as S. T. Coleridge (Omniana) has it in a sentence of extraordinary depth and beauty.

We gather from the Ep. to the Colossians that the Churches of Asia Proper were at this time in danger from a quasi-Jewish doctrine of Angel-worship, akin to the heresies afterwards known as Gnosticism. Such a fact gives special point to the phrases here. On the other hand it does not warrant the inference that St Paul repudiates all the ideas of such an Angelology. The idea of order and authority in the angelic world he surely endorses, though quite in passing.

Theories of Angelic Orders, more or less elaborate, are found in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, cent. 1–2; Origen, cent. 3; St Ephrem Syrus, cent. 4. By far the most famous ancient treatise on the subject is the book On the Celestial Hierarchy, under the name (certainly assumed) of Dionysius the Areopagite; a book first mentioned cent. 6, from which time onwards it had a commanding influence in Christendom. (See article Dionysius in Smith’s Dict. Christ. Biography.) “Dionysius” ranked the Orders (in descending scale) in three Trines; Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers (Authorities); Principalities, Archangels, Angels. The titles are thus a combination of the terms Seraphim, Cherubim, Archangels, Angels, with those used by St Paul here and in Colossians 1.

Readers of Paradise Lost, familiar with the majestic line,

“Thrones, Dominations, Princedoms, Virtues, Pow’rs,”

are not always aware of its learned accuracy of allusion. The Dionysian system powerfully attracted the sublime mind of Dante. In the Paradiso, Canto xxxviii., is a grand and characteristic passage, in which Beatrice expounds the theory to Dante, as he stands, in the ninth heaven, in actual view of the Hierarchies encircling the Divine Essence:

“All, as they circle in their orders, look

Aloft; and, downward, with such sway prevail

That all with mutual impulse tend to God.

These once a mortal view beheld. Desire

In Dionysius so intensely wrought

That he, as I have done, ranged them, and named

Their orders, marshal’d in his thought.”

Cary’s Dante.

and every name that is named] Cp. Php 2:9, “the Name that is above every name.” To the words suggestive of celestial ranks in detail, St Paul adds this more absolutely inclusive phrase, like the “any other creature” of Romans 8:39. “Name,” in such a phrase, is, practically, state and place of dignity. Whatever such there are, and however justly recognized (“named”), the exalted Christ sits infinitely above them.

not only in this world, but &c.] Lit. this age, aiôn. The word is used in the following passages more or less kindred, Matthew 12:32; Luke 16:8; 1 Corinthians 1:20; 1 Corinthians 2:6; 1 Corinthians 2:8; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Galatians 1:4; 1 Timothy 6:17; 2 Timothy 4:10; Titus 2:12. See also on

Bengel's Gnomen

Ephesians 1:20. Ἣν, which) viz. ἐνέργειαν, working; ἐνεργεῖν ἐνέργειαν, as ἀγαπᾷν ἀγάπην, ch. Ephesians 2:4.—ἐγείρας—καὶ ἐκάθισεν, having raised—He set Him) Often from the participle the sentence is turned to the indicative; ch. Ephesians 2:17; Colossians 1:6; Revelation 3:7.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead. The same power that produced the marvelous miracle of Christ's resurrection now works in the hearts of believers. To appreciate this, we must bear in mind the apostle's full doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus, embracing not only the revivifying of his dead body, but the transformation of that body into a spiritual body, and the constituting of Jesus a second Adam, who should transmit or communicate to His spiritual seed both a renewed soul and a glorified body, as the first Adam transmitted a sinful nature and a corruptible body to his natural seed. The power that accomplished all this now works in believers, and can surely work in them all needed transformation. And set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, effecting on him a change alike sudden and marvelous: from the cross and the tomb to the throne of glory, from being as a worm and no man, to be higher than the kings of the earth - King of kings, and Lord of lords. It is frequently represented in Scripture that Jesus in heaven is at the right hand of God. There must be a spot in the heavens where his glorified body exists, in immediate contact with some manifestation of the glory of the Father. There Stephen saw him; thence he came to meet Saul on the way to Damascus; and his promise to his people is Where I am, there shall ye be also (John 14:3). Ephesians 1:20

Vincent's Word Studies

Which (ἣν)

Refer to working (Ephesians 1:19).

He wrought (ἐνήργησεν)

The best texts read ἐνήργηκεν, perfect tense, He hath wrought. The verb is kindred with working (Ephesians 1:19).

In Christ

In the case of Christ. Christ's dead body was the point on which this working of divine power was exhibited. See Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 4:14.

When He raised (ἐγείρας)

Or, in that He raised.

And set (καὶ ἐκάθισεν)

Rev., made Him to sit. The best texts read καθίσας having seated, or in that He caused him to sit.

Right hand

See Acts 7:56.

In the heavenly places

See on Ephesians 1:2. Local. Not merely of a spiritual state, which does not suit the local expressions made to sit and right hand.