ACC ~ Ephesians 5 v21 - 27

OVERVIEW:

True marriages are in Christ (JEROME). They bring relationships into social harmony (CHRYSOSTOM). Marriage partners are to be acquiescent to each other as if to the Lord. Meekness characterizes the whole of the Christian life (JEROME), excepting the case in which one is given an unjust command. The simile of the body endears wives to husbands and husbands to wives (THEODORET). It astutely defines the church’s relation to Christ (JEROME). The analogy between Christ and the church has limitations, however, since husband and wife are of the same nature (AMBROSIASTER). Much is asked of husband, even more than is asked of the wife—readiness to die for the other (THEODORET, CHRYSOSTOM). Christianity, like marriage, is exclusive in its bonds. There is only one church that Christ loves, not two (CYPRIAN). Husband and wife are cleansed by the same bath of regeneration in baptism and ongoing repentance (AUGUSTINE). As the bride is made holy in faithful baptism (MARIUS VICTORINUS), so does Christ adorn the church (CHRYSOSTOM). So it is said that one spouse washes and cleanses another spouse through water by the Word (MARIUS VICTORINUS). Each looks for inward rather than outward beauty in the other (CHRYSOSTOM).

5:21 | Subject to One Another

CHRISTIAN LEADERS VIEW THEMSELVES AS SERVANTS. JEROME: Let bishops hear this, let priests hear, let every rank of learning get this clear: In the church, leaders are servants. Let them imitate the apostle. … The difference between secular rulers and Christian leaders is that the former love to boss their subordinates whereas the latter serve them. We are that much greater if we are considered least of all. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.21.

SUBMISSIVENESS EXCEPT TO UNLAWFUL COMMANDS. THEODORET: We must not be submissive to those who command us to act unlawfully. But to those who call us to live with piety, we must be subject to one another. Having laid down this general law of obedience, Paul next advises the Ephesians in detail on their duties to another. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.21.

5:22 | Wives Subject to Husbands, As to the Lord

BE SUBJECT AS IF TO THE LORD. JEROME: The union of Christ and the church is holy. So is the proper union of husband and wife holy. Just as a congregation of heretics, however, cannot rightly be called the church of Christ and cannot have Christ as its head, so it is that a union between husband and wife cannot be truly called holy if there is a disregard for the way of life taught by Christ. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.22-23.

5:23 | An Analogy of Headship

THE SWEET FRAGRANCE OF HARMONY IN MARRIAGE. CHRYSOSTOM: When they are in harmony, and their children are being reared well and their household is in good order, their neighbors will smell the sweet fragrance of harmony, along with all their friends and relatives. But if the contrary is true, everything is overturned and thrown into confusion. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 20.5.22-24.

FLESH DISTINGUISHED FROM BODY. JEROME: Note that the church is never called the flesh but always the body of Christ. Whatever lives according to the flesh must necessarily be embodied. That is true. But it is not true that whatever is body is consequently living according to the flesh. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 3.5.22-23.

THE PURPOSE OF THE ANALOGY. THEODORET: The apostle has been very constrained in setting forth this analogy [of the husband as the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, his body]. Its purpose is to encourage women to respect men and to implant in men an affection for their wives. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.22-23.

5:24 | The Church and Christ, Wives and Husbands

THE LIMITS OF THE ANALOGY: WOMAN AND MAN SHARE THE SAME NATURE. AMBROSIASTER: Here is Paul’s analogy: As the church takes its beginning from Christ and therefore is subject to him, so too does woman take hers from the man and is subject to him. There is a crucial difference, however, between Christ and the church as opposed to man and woman. The essential difference is that the woman is of the same nature as the man. The church, on the other hand, can participate in Christ in name but not in nature. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.24.

ONLY THOSE REARED IN PIETY WILL UNDERSTAND. THEODORET: As one who is giving instruction to the pious, Paul here adds the words “subject in all things.” It is evident from this analogy that he is speaking essentially to the pious, to those well trained in religious life. None of those reared in piety would think of putting their own affairs before God. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 5.24.

5:25 | Loving as Christ Loved the Church

THERE IS ONLY ONE SPOUSE THAT CHRIST LOVES. CYPRIAN: There is only one church that Christ loves. It is this church alone that is being cleansed by his washing. LETTER 69.2.3.

THE HUSBAND’S READINESS TO GIVE HIS LIFE FOR HIS WIFE. CHRYSOSTOM: Have you noted the measure of obedience? Pay attention to love’s high standard. If you take the premise that your wife should submit to you, as the church submits to Christ, then you should also take the same kind of careful, sacrificial thought for her that Christ takes for the church. Even if you must offer your own life for her, you must not refuse. Even if you must undergo countless struggles on her behalf and have all kinds of things to endure and suffer, you must not refuse. Even if you suffer all this, you have still done not as much as Christ has for the church. For you are already married when you act this way, whereas Christ is acting for one who has rejected and hated him. So just as he, when she was rejecting, hating, spurning and nagging him, brought her to trust him by his great solicitude, not by threatening, lording it over her or intimidating her or anything like that, so must you also act toward your wife. Even if you see her looking down on you, nagging and despising you, you will be able to win her over with your great love and affection for her. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 20.5.25.

5:26 | Cleansed by the Washing of Water by the Word

IN WHAT SENSE IT IS SAID THAT ONE SPOUSE WASHES AND CLEANSES ANOTHER SPOUSE. MARIUS VICTORINUS: Here we take “the church” to mean every believer and everyone who has received baptism. The believer is brought to faith by the washing in water and the invocation of the Word. But how is this applied to a husband’s conduct toward his wife? This is not entirely clear. One possible view is that the mystery of baptism is being rehearsed in this metaphor. On the other hand, if we refer this to the endurance of the husband, which entails his giving himself for the wife and bearing and suffering all that is hers, even sharing in all that she endures, she is being cleansed with water and the Word—that is, she is being purified in the Lord’s sight when he renders her pure and by his endurance makes her ready to be sanctified by washing and the Word. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.25-26.

5:27 | Holy and Without Blemish

THE BRIDE IS MADE HOLY IN FAITHFUL BAPTISM. MARIUS VICTORINUS: What Christ is accomplishing [in baptism] is that the church should be “holy and spotless.” It is “holy” in that it has been cleansed by the washing of water by the Word. It is “spotless” in that it is without spot or wrinkle. EPISTLE TO THE EPHESIANS 2.5.27.

IN FAITHFUL BAPTISM CHRIST ADORNS THE CHURCH WITH GLORY. CHRYSOSTOM: By what “word is she washed”? “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He did not simply bathe her; he adorned her, making her glorious, having no spot or wrinkle or anything lacking. Let us too seek that sort of beauty, and grace will make us able to refract it. The husband does not seek from the wife something she does not have to give. For you see the pattern: the church has received everything from Christ. HOMILY ON EPHESIANS 20.5.27.

HUSBAND AND WIFE ARE CLEANSED BY THE SAME BATH OF REGENERATION IN BAPTISM AND ONGOING REPENTANCE. AUGUSTINE: By the same bath of regeneration and water of sanctification all sins of the redeemed are cleansed and healed, not only those which are pardoned at this time in baptism but also those that are subsequently contracted by human infirmity or ignorance. ON MARRIAGE AND CONCUPISCENCE 1.38.