“For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.” – Ephesians 5:31-32
Photo Credit: Jaclyn Schmitz Photography
This is one of those “Paul, what are you talking about?” verses in the New Testament that you may have breezed over without paying much attention to what appears like a change in thought pattern that occurs at the end. In what seems to be the context, Paul is describing the roles of the husband and wife in marriage to the congregants at Ephesus. But then he slips the “I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” phrase in there. This is followed with the “Nevertheless” transitional statement in verse 33 that gets him back on track with his original message!
“Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.” – Ephesians 5:33
Whoa! Back the train up, please!!!
What Paul is trying to say here is there are some serious parallels to marriage between man and wife and the relationship between Christ and the Church. He’s using the concept of marriage to illustrate the depth of the Lord’s covenantal love towards us. There are many parallels in Scripture, but just consider the character traits mentioned in chapter 5 alone; wives (the Church) being submissive to Christ (husband); Christ loving the Church enough to give his life for it; Christ being the head of the Church as husbands are the head of their wives … and the list goes on and on.
There are other more subtle ways marriage is like the Church-Christ relationship. For instance, God opened Adam’s side to take a rib to make Eve (Genesis 2:21-22). Likewise, Christ’s side was pierced open (John 19:33-34) and the Church was birthed with His blood. Genesis says that Adam was created and formed from dust on the ground (Genesis 2:7), but God “fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man” (Genesis 2:22). The word “fashioned” used in that verse literally means “built.” So it was no coincidence that Jesus declared that He would “build” His Church (Matthew 16:15-18)! The allegories are numerous and very interesting to ponder.
Just the mere concept that two people can become one flesh hurts my head! Likewise, Christ coming back from heaven to unite Himself with His bride is not just a mind-blowing acknowledgment, but as Paul says…. It’s a great mystery indeed!
In Christ,
Dave
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