^{20}καὶ δι’ αὐτοῦ ἀποκαταλλάξαι τὰ πάντα εἰς
20. The false teachers aimed at effecting a partial reconciliation
between God and man through the interposition of angelic mediators. The
Apostle speaks of an absolute and complete reconciliation of universal
nature to God, effected through the mediation of the Incarnate Word.
Their mediators were ineffective, because they were neither human nor
divine. The true mediator must be both human and divine. It was
necessary that in Him all the plenitude of the Godhead should dwell. It
was necessary also that He should be born into the world and should
suffer as a man.
δι’ αὐτοῦ] i.e. τοῦ Χριστοῦ, as appears from the preceding ἐν αὐτῷ, and
the following διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ, [δι’ αὐτοῦ]. This
expression δι’ αὐτοῦ has been already applied to the Preincarnate Word
in relation to the Universe (ver. 16); it is now used of the Incarnate
Word in relation to the Church.
ἀποκαταλλάξαι] sc. εὐδόκησεν ὁ Θεός. The personal pronoun αὐτόν, instead
of the reflexive ἑαυτόν, is no real obstacle to this way of connecting
the words (see the next note). The alternative would be to take τὸ
πλήρωμα as governing ἀποκαταλλάξαι, but this mode of expression is harsh
and improbable.
The same double compound ἀποκαταλλάσσειν is used below, ver. 21 and
Ephes. ii. 16, in place of the usual καταλλάσσειν. It may be compared
with ἀποκατάστασις, Acts iii. 21. Tertullian, arguing against the
dualism of Marcion who maintained an antagonism between the demiurge and
the Christ, lays stress on the compound, _adv. Marc._ v. 19
‘_conciliari_ extraneo possent, _reconciliari_ vero non alii quam suo.’
The word ἀποκαταλλάσσειν corresponds to ἀπηλλοτριωμένους here and in
Ephes. ii. 16, implying a _restitution_ to a state from which they had
fallen, or which was potentially theirs, or for which they were
destined. Similarly St Augustine on Gal. iv. 5 remarks that the word
used of the υἱοθεσία is not _accipere_ (λαμβάνειν) but _recipere_
(ἀπολαμβάνειν). See the note there.
τὰ πάντα] The whole universe of things, material as well as spiritual,
shall be restored to harmony with God. How far this restoration of
universal nature maybe subjective, as involved in the changed
perceptions of man thus brought into harmony with God, and how far it
may have an objective and independent existence, it were vain to
speculate.
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