Ephesians 5:21-24

Ephesians 5:21-24

While being submitted to one another in the fear of Christ, wives are to their own husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is a head of the wife as also Christ is a head of the church.  He is a savior of the body.  But as the church is being submitted to Christ, thus also wives to the husbands in everything.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

The reality is that this passage simply makes more sense as beginning with verse 21 and not verse 22.  The Greek grammar supports this understanding as well.  Paul tells us that wives and husbands are to be submitted to one another.  In that context, the wife is to relate to her husband as she relates to Christ.  This really makes much sense.  When a wife and husband are submitted to one another, why wouldn’t the wife treat her husband with the same kind of respect and love as she gives to Christ?  But what we see here in this passage is that Paul speaks of mutual submission in marriage, not one-sided submission.

Why might it work best to understand marriage through the lens of mutual submission?  What is likely to happen when only one spouse submits?

Second Thought:

We’ll hear more about this in the following section, but we can introduce the concept here.  Paul does say that the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church.  But then look at what he says next.  Christ is the savior of the body.  How did Christ save the body, that is, the church?  Christ saved the church through sacrificial love.  Christ saved the church by abandoning the human agenda and picking up the agenda of God.  I’m not saying every husband needs to die for his wife.  But I am saying that the husband will be the head of the wife when the husband acts like Christ.  When the husband abandons his own agenda and picks up the agenda of God, then why wouldn’t a Christian wife follow her husband?

Why would a Christian marriage benefit from the husband abandoning his agenda and adopting the agenda of God?  Why would a wife follow such a man so readily?

Third Thought:

At the beginning of this passage, Paul tells us the reason that we can submit to one another is literally fear of Christ.  But this fear doesn’t mean a cowering phobia.  Rather, we fear Christ in awe and reverence.  We are told all throughout scripture that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.  In this passage we can understand that the foundation of a Christian family is in the fear of Christ.

How can you demonstrate fear of Christ?  How does a fear of Christ differ from a phobia of Christ?  What does Paul really mean instead of being terrified?

Passage for Tomorrow: Ephesians 5:25-33