Ephesians, lesson 15.

Lesson 15

Ephesians 5: 22-33, Husbands and wives

VV 22-24, 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. 24 Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

A wife is to submit to her husband just as she submits to the Lord. The husband is the head over his wife, just as Christ is head and Saviour over His bride, the church.

V 25, Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

Greek for love is “agape”, which means unconditional and sacrificial love. A husband is to love his wife just as Christ loved His bride, the church, and sacrificed His life for her.

VV 26-27, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

Christ sanctified and cleansed His bride, the church, by the washing of the word, to make her holy, spotless, and glorious.

VV 28-29, 28 So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

Greek for cherish is “thalpo”, which means to care with tenderness. A husband is to love and care tenderly for his wife as his own body, just as the Lord loves and cares tenderly for His bride, the church.

VV 29-31, 30 For we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones. 31 “For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

Christians are members of the body of Christ, the church. Christ is the head of the body and Christians are parts of the same body, the bones, the ligaments, the joints, etc. In marriage, a man is to leave his parents and be joined with his wife.

VV 32-33, 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Marriage between a man and a woman is a great mystery, just as marriage between Christ and His bride, the church, is a great mystery. A husband is to love his wife unconditionally and sacrificially and in return the wife is to respect her husband.