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Power to Grasp

I find it intriguing, both delightfully so and sometimes annoyingly so, when words don’t seem to fit…

For example, normally when I think of the words “power to grasp”, I think of physical strength to grasp an object.

So when I read this verse, I was definitely intrigued:

 “may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ” (Eph 3:18)

 I can see grasping, in a tactile manner, to explore the dimensions of width, length, height and depth of an object.  I can also see the need for power to grasp things that could potentially be immense.  But how do you grasp those dimensions when it comes to love?  And where does power come in?

So I decided to see what words were used in other translations in order to get a sense of what it might mean.  Here are some ways other versions translate “power to grasp”:

 

  • Able to comprehend
  • May be strong to apprehend
  • Power to understand
  • Strong enough to grasp
  • Power to comprehend
  • Power to know
  • Strength to comprehend

 

While it seems incongruous that it would take physical strength or power to grasp the dimensions of His love, perhaps comprehending or understanding the dimensions of if it does make sense. 

In addition, from what I can gather, the “to grasp” in this context implies more than just comprehending or understanding but it means to “take hold of something and make it one’s own”. 

It should also be noted that there is a paradox here.  The love of Christ, that love that is so immense in its width, length, height and depth, is said to be, in the verse that follows, a love that surpasses knowledge.  So how can we know something that surpasses knowledge?

In our own strength or our own knowledge or own understanding, we can’t!  So Paul’s prayer is asking the Lord to provide divine strength and divine enablement for us to able to comprehend and understand the immensity and vastness of Christ’s love for us.

 May we have the power to grasp, together with others who are His, how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ!

 

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