Ephesians 5:21-33 has often been a controversial text among women. Discussions about women’s role and reactions to the word “submission” overshadow one of the most beautiful facets of the text, which we will spend a moment highlighting.
What we are talking about is Christ and the church.
Please read the text below paying special attention to the references to Christ and the church (bolded for emphasis).
21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as
Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ,
so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
25 Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
28 In the same way husbands should love their 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 Christ does the church, 30 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.
Now, go back and read only the bolded sections.
Christ loves the church! He demonstrated this love by giving himself up for her. That kind of sacrificial love inspires respect and trust.
When we are hesitant to submit to the head, to Christ—to His teaching and to His Word—it is often because we have lost sight of the depth of love He has for us. He wants us to “be holy, without blemish.” He truly wants what’s best for us.
Do you trust that Christ wants what is best for you personally and for His church?
He “nourishes and cherishes” us. We are members of His body and He would never want to do things that cause us, and thereby Himself, harm, but rather what ultimately builds us up. Christ loves us, protects us, and saves us, even from ourselves.
Submitting to the head, that is Christ, who loves, protects, honors, and cares for us, becomes easier when we remember the depth of love demonstrated by Who He is and what He has done. It feels less like a chore of submission, but rather like the wisdom of allowing the head to make the decision instead of the foot trying to decide what the hand should do.
Christ is the head of the church and of each of us individually. As members of His body, may we remember to always seek Him as the head and submit to His will, rather than striving to enforce our own.