Ephesians 3:1-6

This is the reason that I Paul am a prisoner for Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— for surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you, and how the mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I wrote above in a few words, a reading of which will enable you to perceive my understanding of the mystery of Christ. In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind, as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: that is, the Gentiles have become fellow heirs, members of the same body, and sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Paul came to understand the mystery of Christ by, as he says, a revelation. It did not come to him because he had studied long and hard, read all the right books and materials, prayed for enlightenment, done all the right things. Paul had been doing all the right things as a devout Jew and none of that led him to faith in Jesus. In fact, it led him to be just the opposite: to believe that the gospel that was being preached by Stephen and the rest of the apostles and disciples was not of God at all. In fact, it was heresy. In fact, it should be stopped.

And that was what Paul was about when he received his revelation. That revelation, like almost all revelations, came as a complete shock to Paul. It was totally unexpected. On the other hand, it could have been anticipated. Paul’s revelation about Jesus came as a direct result of all that he had learned and studied over the years. He had immersed himself in the study of the scriptures. He knew all about the Messiah. He had simply never come to know the Messiah. And when Jesus finally revealed himself to Paul, that revelation came at the point in Paul’s life when he was ready to receive it – and not one moment before.

That is why it is important, necessary even, for us to always be about studying our faith, learning more about it, getting to know Jesus. New understandings, new revelations, come as the result of past understandings, come after those “ah!” experiences we all have had over the years. Those eye-openers come, like they did for Paul, when we least expect them. They surprise us, can literally knock us off our horse, blind us to everything else but the present moment, the new revelation, the new way of looking at our life and especially our faith.

Sometimes, as was the case for Paul, those new revelations can be so strong and so overwhelming that they alter the course of our lives: we are never the same again and tend to demarcate the rest of our lives in relation to that revelation. None of this is to say that everyone will have such a revelatory experience or even should have one. It is only to say that we should not be surprised when we are surprised by one, especially if we have been living out our life of faith as best we can each day.

I pray: Lord, I know I am often surprised when those new learnings, those new revelations of who your are and what my faith is come to me. Thank you for them and help me to do what I can to prepare to receive them thankfully. Amen.