Live Men Ascending

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS

LIVE MEN ASCENDING

Eph 4:7-8

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."  

NIV

There is some confusion here for us in this quote from the sixty-eighth Psalm. As part of our faith, it is a known fact that Jesus did ascend on high. We have a record of that happening after his resurrection and we believe Jesus is sitting at the right hand of God The Father and that he is also preparing a place for us so that where he is we will be also. There is no question in our mind, our heart, our spirit regarding that.  Where a little confusion for us lies is that this translation says the Psalm read he gave gifts to men, while the Old Testament Psalm translation says men gave gifts to Him, that he received gifts from men. In checking with the Hebrew, we still are not sure, as it uses a prefix in front of the Hebrew word for Adam. This word is not as a name but used for mankind. Although it is also used as the name of the first man. It really means man or mankind. But it is the prefix of Baa’ of Baa’ Adam, which has us a little uncertain. We cannot find a definitive answer as to the meaning of the prefix, yet in the interlinear version, it does use “for men” under the Baa’ Adam. So then we will consider it as such and move on to the significance of why Paul is using this quote. He had just made the point that we are one body, one Spirit, and we were called to one hope, one faith, one Lord, one baptism and one God over all. Now he goes on to talk about to each one of us as individuals, or as this corporate one, God has given us grace as it was apportioned by Christ. It is better said, we believe, that we have been given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ, as this is how the Greek interlinear states it. In order words, Jesus is the grace of God given to us. Jesus is the gift he gave to us. As he is our gift, we will always have this gift, he has not taken away from us. So then because he ascended on high, we too will be led in his train, and ascend on high as well. In some sense, we are his captives, but he is our gift, he is our eternal life. Before we had the grace of God, before we opened his grace in our lives, we were dead men walking. Now we are live men ascending.