A Prisoner of Christ Jesus

For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles— assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace that was given to me for you, how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have written briefly. When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, 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. 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.

Ephesians 3:1-6

Here, in Ephesians 3:1, Paul identifies himself as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus.” This is a curious statement and one worth examining a little more closely. Notably, the letter to Ephesus was likely written when Paul was under house arrest in Rome (Acts 28:30-31). Thus, Paul could have just as easily written, “For this reason I, Paul, a prisoner of Emperor Nero…” However, he does not. Instead, Paul says he is a prisoner of Jesus and is so “on behalf of you Gentiles.” This is a deliberate reframing of his unfortunate situation. While the Roman authorities may literally bind him in place, Paul knows who is ultimately sovereign over his imprisonment. His circumstance is not, even for a moment, outside of God’s plan. It is for his Savior that he suffers (Philippians 1:29). In Philippians 3, Paul will explain this paradoxical concept further: 

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:8-10).

This is why Paul can confidently say he is a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Whatever he loses in personal freedoms while in prison, he gains back tenfold in knowing Christ Himself. Whatever defeat he experiences temporally (even his own eventual death) will be overcome by Christ’s victory on the cross. That is the scandalous paradox of the gospel. Jesus turns weeping into rejoicing and destruction into resurrection. This is a reminder for us to consistently reframe our own circumstances in light of the gospel. If you are in Christ, whatever loss, whatever burden, whatever defeat you are presently experiencing need not and will not define you. Instead, “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:16-17).

What’s more, Paul says he gets to share in Christ’s sufferings “on behalf of you Gentiles.” His preaching of the gospel, the very mystery “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus,” was so offensive to his listeners that he was thrown in prison. His message was mysterious in that it completely upended the status quo and defied expectation. No Jewish leader would have fathomed that God’s revelation and salvation might extend to the Gentiles as well. Paul’s preaching of this mystery was the cause of his house arrest, and indeed, will also be the cause of his eventual execution. However, this is not a deterrent in Paul’s perspective. 

Paul knows that in being “a prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles” and even “becoming like Him in His death,” it is by being found in Christ that he might “attain the resurrection from the dead.” This gospel-confidence should empower our everyday faithfulness. It should move us unto mission. Like Paul, we too ought to seek to preach the gospel on behalf of those who have not yet heard. We too ought to take seriously our role as stewards of God’s grace given freely to us. We truly have nothing to fear, not death, not imprisonment, and not persecution. Why? Because in Christ, we have everything we need: we have Him.