-This. Means. War. That’s what Paul is saying. Isn’t it true - if you put my ambassador in prison, that is a blatant act of aggression against my country, against my sovereignty and good will. You have basically declared war on my country. Well, isn’t this precisely what Paul has been talking about? Tere is a war being waged against the kingdom of Heaven, a desperate battle, acts of aggression being perpetrated against both God and His emissaries (not to mention His glorious creation). Paul knows full well that there is a vast unseen spiritual theater where war is being waged, and that behind the scenes, behind the earthly rulers and authorities who have put him in those physical chains, there are other forces in play, there are cunning and devious and determined powers who are the real enemies, who are ruthlessly pursuing an agenda of not merely imprisoning the ambassadors of Heaven but also the Message they bring, the Gospel, the Good News. This is what they are trying to shut down at all costs. They cannot unpopulate Heaven, but they can try their darndest to prevent anyone else from gaining entrance.
-And so Paul is asking for release, to get out of prison, a get out of jail free card. Actually, no he is not. His goal is not his own personal freedom and comfort. Rather he wants the Gospel itself to be released, to be set free from the bonds of silence and compromise and timidity. He knows that the only thing which can imprison the powerful message of the Cross is neither a closed door of a prison cell nor a closed lock but rather a closed mouth. When I clam up about the Gospel, when I shut my proverbial trap I entrap that life-changing game-changing world-changing Good News. I am the only one who can effectively stop it. Which makes me the real (and potential) enemy. A true frien-emy. The world and the devil will ally and conspire to hinder and forbid the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ, they will even kill those who follow Him, but the only ones who can truly silence the Gospel are the people of Christ. Which is why Paul is instead asking for boldness.
-This is precisely the early church did when they were threatened (Acts 4.29) - they asked the Lord for boldness. And boldness is what we see consistently throughout the book of Acts (Acts 4.31, 9.27-28, 13.46, 14.3, 18.26, 19.8, 26.26, 28.31; 1Thessalonians 2.2). Indeed, boldness is for speaking (Acts 4.13, 2Corinthians 3.12). It is free and fearless confidence to speak the truth, esp in the face of opposition, real or potential. That’s the thing about news, right, including this incomparably Good News - it by its very nature needs to be communicated. A message must be communicated, esp this One. And Paul - like all believers - was a messenger, Heaven-sent. Paul understood that his was a debt (1Corinthians 9.16, Romans 1.14), an obligation to communicate the Good News to the world, to all who would listen. And so in the face of such forceful and determined opposition from both the Jewish and Roman authorities, he needs this boldness. He is doubling down to avail himself of whatever resources are at his disposal, whatever it takes for him to continue to faithfully and powerfully proclaim the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness thru Jesus Christ. He wanted these Ephesian believers to join him is asking the Lord to give him whatever boldness he would require in order to loose the Message of the Cross into the lives of his guards and opponents and to all who would listen. In spite of those chains. In spite of his circumstances. Because even tho he was an ambassador in chains, his was still an ambassador. He was entrusted with a Message. And he was bound (literally) and determined to deliver it. May God grant us a similar grace, may He find us similarly faithful...
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