Ephesians 4:9Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

When you hear this, do not understand it as a change of place. Here he does the same thing as in the Epistle to the Philippians. There, persuading them to humility of mind, he points to the example of Christ (Phil 2:5-9). So also here he says, "He first descended into the lower parts of the earth." Otherwise his words, "being obedient even to death" (Phil 2:8), would have been superfluous. From the idea of ascent he leads us to the thought of descent. By the lower regions of the earth he means death, according to human understanding. Thus Jacob said: "You will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave" (Gen 44:29). Again it is said in the psalm: "I became like those who go down into the pit" (Ps 142:7), that is, like the dead. Why is this lower region mentioned here?

Speaking here about humility, Paul points to Christ as an example, as he also does in the Epistle to the Philippians (Phil 2:8). He says, in effect: as He did not refuse to descend, so you also must not refuse, through humility, to lower yourselves. That He descended is clear from the prophet's expression "He ascended." For when "He ascended" is said of God, it must necessarily be understood that He first descended. This is not so with a man. Where, then, did He descend? Into Hades. He certainly calls it "the lower parts of the earth," the nether places of the earth, according to common understanding. Thus Jacob also said: "You will bring down my gray hair with sorrow to the grave" (Gen 44:30). And David said: "lest I become like those who go down into the pit" (Ps 27:1).

But what does the word "ascended" mean, if not that in His body, through death, He descended into the nether regions? For this is what "the lower region of the earth" means.

"Now this, that He ascended, what is it but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" He of whom it is now said that He ascended, ascended because before this He had descended below. This is the meaning of the words: "Now this, that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended below?" Therefore one must examine what is written elsewhere: "No one has ascended into heaven except the Son of Man who descended from heaven" (Jn 3:13), namely, how He who descended first then ascended. When he said this, he showed that after descending from heaven He once ascended into heaven. Likewise, we must consider how this ascent and descent should be understood: according to the flesh in a spatial sense, localiter, or above the body, that is, spiritually, or in both ways.

It is true that He descended in order to ascend, and not as men do, who descended in order to remain there. Men were held in the nether regions by condemnation, which could not hold the Savior, because He conquered sin. Therefore, after His triumph over the devil, He descended into the heart of the earth so that His coming might be a proclamation to the dead, that all who long for Him could become free. He could not ascend from there unless He had descended to overthrow death by the power of His authority, and to rise with the captives for whose sake He accepted the Passion.

The ascent points to the descent. For after He first descended and ordered our salvation, then He "ascended," because by "the lower regions of the earth" the Apostle meant death. Thus the Prophet also says, "They laid me in the lowest pit" (Ps 87:7). And again: "My frame was in the lower parts of the earth" (Ps 138:15).

There is nothing that has not been filled by Christ, since He both descends into the lower parts of the earth and ascends above all the heavens. Some count these heavens as three, others as more (cf. 2 Cor 12:2). And what does it matter? In ascending, Christ ascends above all the heavens, for He is eternity, incorruptible life, and everything that lives by the Spirit. Before Christ's descent, all this existed in another condition. But after the mystery was accomplished, that is, after Christ's sufferings and His Ascension, it received salvation and was made perfect. In addition, Paul adds, "that He might fill all things," in other words, that He might make all things perfect and bring them to fullness, so that nothing would remain deficient. Or this should be understood as referring to His commandments, that they should have no defect and nothing could add perfection to them.

Ascent does not always imply descent, for we often ascend although we had not first descended, but were below from the beginning. Yet this apostolic word applies especially to Jesus Christ, for His ascent means that He first descended and then ascended. Hear the order of this saying. Jesus Christ, as the Son and Word of God, consubstantial with the Father and co-eternal with Him, was from the beginning in such infinite height that there is none higher. For what height is higher than the bosom of God, in which was "the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father" (Jn 1:18)? Since David, prophesying of Christ, said, "When He ascended on high" (Ps 67:19), Paul concludes from this that David, by the ascent, also foretold the descent.

The moral part of the epistle. General foundations of the Christian life. Rules for all believers in general. Eph 4:2-3. The Apostle commands them humility of mind, meekness, longsuffering, loving forbearance toward one another, and unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. The grounds for this then follow. Eph 4:4-6. Christians, having one hope of salvation, one faith, one God and Father, and one Lord and Savior, compose one body. "One body, one Spirit, as you were also called," and so forth. Eph 4:7-10. To each believer, as to a separate member in the organism, a special grace or gift is given from the dead, risen, and glorified Christ, for the body's common and harmonious growth. "Therefore it says: When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men," and so forth.

Teaching mutual communion, the Apostle commands us to serve one another according to the measure of the gift each has received through Christ. He cites David's mystical prophetic foretelling of the Son of God's descent to earth, for the distribution of grace-filled gifts, and of His ascent into heaven after the victorious accomplishment of salvation on earth. "He did not leave believers orphaned, but sent them the Holy Spirit, the source of all grace-filled gifts. The Spirit was not given while the Lord had not yet been glorified. But when He was glorified and received the glory which He had with the Father before the world was, then the Holy Spirit, the source of the gifts of grace, descended to earth.

Although grace, or more precisely its source, is one and the same for all Christians, they nevertheless receive various gifts from this source. Christ distributes them not according to any human merits, but according to His own judgment (v. 7). That Christ has the full right and power to act in this way was already understood by the holy men of the Old Testament. In Psalm 67, which is messianic, it was foretold that the Messiah, Christ, would seize the captives held by His enemy. Then He would lead them after Himself in a triumphal procession, and afterward distribute to these men the gifts He had acquired for them. Explaining how great the authority of Christ the Triumpher is, the Apostle draws a conclusion from the psalm's expression "He ascended," ἀνέβη.

In the words cited from the psalm, the Apostle indicated that the Lord distributes grace-filled gifts according to His own will. After the victory, He acquired for us as spoil all the divine powers that pertain to life and piety. Now he explains the same thought more fully, adding that He has authority to act thus because He was everywhere, set His seal everywhere, and fills all things. He did not merely ascend from earth to heaven. First He descended to earth and passed into the very lowest regions, beneath which there are none. Then He ascended above all the heavens, so high that there is nowhere higher to ascend. Behold who He is: the One who fills all things, rules over all things, and holds all things in His hands.