The Inner Man

Pentecost 10 – July 28, 2024

2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 145:10-18
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21

Greek can sometimes be a difficult language to translate. Some passages can be interpreted in different ways by the choices you make. One reason for this is that when the New Testament was written no one put spaces between words and punctuation had not been invented. The reader, at that time, and the translator had to decide where each word begins and how they are related. For most of the New Testament this is no longer an issue. Scholars have edited the old manuscripts and have placed spaces and punctuation where they belong. But, every so often the meaning of the text is difficult to discern. Our text from Ephesians is one of those places. The question is who does the word “inner” refer to? The translation we read today refers to us individually – our inner selves. “Inner” may also apply to the Messiah calling us to move or grow toward the inner man. Most translators choose the first of these possibilities since Paul does not refer to Jesus as the inner man anywhere else. But absence of something is not proof of anything. Another argument for accepting the first interpretation is that the second does not seem to make sense – how can we move to the inner man Jesus?

But if we remember last week’s text about being built up as the dwelling place of God and Jesus as the keystone we can start to think about what it might mean to move or grow toward the inner man Jesus. To “grow” toward the inner man may be what Paul is thinking here since he tells us that we are being rooted and grounded in love. Paul, in his other letters, does talk about this in a different way when he calls us the Body of Christ. Here, in Ephesians, the image is the dwelling place of God. Both images remind us that the world meets God through us. It is through our words and deeds that people experience God and God’s salvation. 

We also note that this issue of growing toward the inner man is the first petition in a prayer. The second petition is that we are able to discern God’s will – the breadth and length and height and depth. Paul lists four dimensions here instead of three to make sure you understand he is talking about our whole life and world, not just one aspect of it. The final petition in this prayer is that we know the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God. Something that we will need if we are to grow into the inner man and to share God’s gifts with the world.

John gives us an example of what we, the people of God, are to do. In our story Jesus does three things. He begins by providing for the physical needs of those who followed him. While we know that the number of people is most likely an exaggeration due to the fact that this story was handed down through oral tradition, it is still an amazing story. Jesus, out of what was available, was able to feed a large crowd of people. He did not do it alone; a boy provided his gifts as well. After feeding everyone Jesus went off to be by himself. This was to prevent them from trying to make him king. Did he go to resist the temptation of power? We know that he went to pray asking God to give him guidance. The third thing Jesus did here was to calm the fear of the disciples.

We, the body of Christ, who are growing toward the inner man are called to follow in Jesus’ footprints. We are called to use our resources to provide for those in need, to help calm the fear of others who live in the chaos and storm of life. Difficult tasks at best – impossible by ourselves. But as the body of Christ who gather here in this quiet place for prayer, asking guidance from God, can follow Jesus together making the world a better place by our words and deeds.