The Victor Gives Gifts to His People
This is why it says:
“When he ascended on high,
he took many captives
and gave gifts to his people.”
(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) Ephesians 4:8-10 (NIV)
Paul quotes Psalm 68:18 “When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people” (4:8). Psalm 68 pictures the Lord returning in triumph (either to the Jerusalem sanctuary or to heaven itself), after the overthrow of Israel’s enemies. He leads many captives, and they follow in His triumphal procession. As conqueror, He has received gifts which He can bestow. Paul applies this to Christ. He has conquered His enemies and returned to His Father’s throne in triumph, now to bestow blessings on His people.
There is a significant change in Paul’s quotation of the Psalm from the original. The Hebrew Psalm spoke of God receiving gifts from men while Paul says ‘he … gave gifts to his people’ (4:8). The Jewish-Aramaic paraphrase on the Psalms, the Targum, speaks of the giving rather than receiving of gifts for this verse and this may have been Paul’s source. Paul could be taking the truth expressed in Acts 2:33 ‘Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.’ The ascension of Christ made possible the outpouring of the Spirit and so these gifts Paul is about to speak of.
‘(What does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.)’ (4:9,10). After His resurrection Christ was exalted in glory (1:20,21; 2:6). ‘Higher than all the heavens’ is language that takes the Jewish language of a plurality of heavens. The Jews did not necessarily understand this spatially. Paul is conveying that Christ has been exalted to the highest honour and glory possible (Philippians 2:9-11).
Paul adds in parenthesis that Christ’s having ascended into heaven implies ‘that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions’ (4:9). Because of the immediate context, the gifts of Christ to His church following His ascension, some have wondered if this ‘descent’ was His return at Pentecost to give His Spirit to the church. But the natural interpretation suggests that His descent preceded His ascent rather than followed it. Another understanding is that the descent is into Hades after the crucifixion where Christ manifested His victory to those who had died earlier (cf. 1 Peter 3:19; 4:6). He ascended to the highest heaven and He had been to the deepest depths of the earth. This could mean simply this earth, so low in comparison with His heavenly home (cf. Isaiah 44:33), or it could mean He suffered the greatest humiliation when He endured death (Philippians 2:8) and then descended to ‘the depths of the earth’ (Psalm 69:15; Romans 10:7).
There are two points being stressed here. First, it is Christ’s will and purpose for everything to be pervaded by His presence. He has descended and ascended ‘in order to fill the whole universe’ (4:10). He is supreme over all the powers of heaven and earth (cf. Colossians 1:16-18). There is nothing that is not subject to Him. The ascension meant a Christ-filled world (and not a Christ-deserted one) because of the giving of the Spirit. Second, the ascended Lord the church now worships, is the same as He who came down and lived among us, sharing our sorrows, trials and temptations.
This is why he says:
“He ascends into the heavenly heights
Taking his many captured ones with him;
Leading them in triumphal procession,
And gifts were given to men.”
Having first descended into hell, he ascended triumphantly into the heights of heaven to begin the restoration and fulfilment of all things Ephesians 4:8-10 (The Passion Translation)