Day 583: A big responsibility - Ephesians 5 vs 25 - 33

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church 26-27 and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and blameless. 28-30 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because  we are members of his body. 

31“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. Ephesians 5:25-33 (English Standard Version)

If submitting to a husband sounds a difficult task, look what husbands are called to do! (vs 25)

Most of the New Testament was written in Greek and the Greeks had a few words for love. There could be family love, even physical love, but the word used here describes the sort of love we see described in vs 26-27. How would you describe that sort of love?

It was a love that sought the very best for others. It had a good goal in sight and was willing to make extreme sacrifices along the way for the benefit of the one loved. That's the standard of love a husband is called to love his wife with. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13 that this sort of love is patient, kind, and doesn't insist on its own way. It's also not irritable or resentful. But he takes it even further. What's another way Christian husbands are called to love their wives? (vs 28-30)

The Bible sometimes uses the picture of the Church being Christ's bride. But it also uses a picture of the Church being Christ's body. He is the head, and believers are the limbs. And just as a man will look after his own body (flesh), so a husband is called to show the same concern for the comfort and well being of his wife. This leads Paul to quote words from the Old Testament where, after the Lord had taken a rib from the man He had created to fashion a helper for him, we read “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” (Genesis 2:24-25)

Paul admits that what we’re told in Genesis is profound. That means it's something that requires great thought and a depth of understanding. Why did God go about creating man and woman in that way? There could be many reasons - but what was the one Paul puts forward? (vs 32)

He seems to suggest that the creation act of man and woman, the oneness involved and the woman being from the man's body, is like a picture of what the relationship of the Church would be to the Messiah. Just as a man leaves parents and becomes one with his wife, so believers also leave family bonds to be united with the Saviour. On one occasion Jesus said: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10:37)

So Paul says that there is a deeper significance in the whole marriage union. This should make believers have a very high view of marriage. Hebrews 13:4 says to Christians: “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled.” How different this is to our modern world where marriage has been belittled. Many just shack up together with no commitment to faithfulness, and some men and women 'marry' others of the same sex. The mystery Paul spoke of is entirely lost on such people and the picture is distorted.

In vs 33 Paul sums up what he's been saying to Christian wives and Christian husbands. That's the pattern God calls believers to follow. It's a pattern that not only leads to blessing, but it’s a picture to unbelievers of how Christ loves the Church, and how the Church responds to such love.